FOREIGN LITERATURE:

ARTICLE # 1
HOW IMPORTANT ARE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS:

(By: William King)

ABSTRACT

Performance appraisal works as a motivational factor for the employees to work hard
and put more effort in their work. It not only evaluates the employees performance but
also assists the company to evaluate their overall business performance and overcome
the deficiencies. Performance appraisal depends on the performance of the employee it
may be different for the two employees having the same education but the difference
may be in their dedication towards the work, their personal traits and the commitment
level, these things lead to a varying performance appraisal of the two same level
employees. It is quite clear, the one who puts more effort and time must be given some
extra reward for his performance in the form of promotions, salary increments this not
only encourages the employee but also motivates them to perform better. On the other
hand if the employees are not given rewards or bonuses, employee’s performance will
decline.

Conducting performance appraisal is not an easy task it may sound very easy to select
the hard working employee and reward them but in reality this procedure is very
difficult and requires advance planning and careful thinking. As a fair performance
appraisal acts as a motivation, encouragement and creates the sense of competition
among the employees, a flawed appraisal will completely shatter the employee’s
confidence, performance and loyalty towards the company. In the appraisal process the
judgments should be made on the basis of some relevant statistics. Feedback should be
collected from the managers, coordinates and peers which plays a major role in
evaluating the employees performance. Assessment criteria should be simple and easily
understandable. Give employees a transparent review system, where employees can
judge themselves against their fellow workers, at any given time. Monitor the
performance on regular basis instead of waiting for the month end before you go
through the evaluation process. Don't try to stuff the performance appraisal plan with
too many attributes and benchmarks, keep the requirements simple and easy to
comprehend.

Communicating and discussing the overall performance with the employees is the most
essential part of conducting appraisals. Past performance is also considered when
judging the employee because at times it happens that the employee was performing
well previously except the present month and this gives the basis for asking the reason
for the shortfall in his performance is something is bothering him at workplace. It is
highly prohibited to discuss anybody’s problems or dismissal in front of his colleagues.

The main objectives of performance appraisal should be kept in mind which is to

encourage and motivate the workforce and not to mark their short comings or hurt
somebody's feelings. Bottom-line is that performance appraisal is a difficult process and
taking it lightly may not be a smart act; you need to be extra cautious and fair when
planning and implementing some performance appraisal program.
 ARTICLE # 2

THE HOW-TO'S OF EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS

(BY ANDREW E. SCHWARTZ)

ABSTRACT
Managers consider performance appraisal as a boring task and due to this they overlook
the importance and problem solving nature of a properly conducted appraisal. Many
managers perceive it as an evaluation of their own supervisory capabilities and this
leads to stress, anxiety and fear in both the employees being reviewed and the
supervisor conducting the performance appraisal.

Due to these negative thoughts the appraisal may not be accurate. A successful
manager is to overcome these negative feelings by understanding the importance of
performance appraisal for them as well as for the employees.

It is as important for the supervisors as for the employees. It helps the supervisors to
ensure that their goals are being met. Most of the times the negative feelings regarding
the performance appraisal arises when the managers are not fully aware of the
advantages of the properly conducted performance appraisal and it is necessary for the
managers to understand why performance appraisal is important for the job situations.
All employees need to have periodic discussion sessions with their supervisors to
evaluate their efficiency and performance and allows the supervisors to assist the
employees if they are lacking in any area.

In order to develop feasible performance appraisal strategies there should be a step to

step method which will help clarify the appraisal situations for managers and the true
importance of appraisal will be clear to all.

PREPARATAION

In this step both the appraiser and the appraise must participate and discuss the
accomplishments and that how these accomplishments can be enhanced in the future.
Supervisors and peers must be asked about the individuals performance and find out if
any changes are needed in the environment, in shifts or in arrangements between the
employee and other workers to accomplish future performance goals.

SETTING THE SCENE:

This is the actual meeting step where the discussion takes place between the supervisor
and the employee. The venue could be the supervisors work area. Some prefer to have
discussion the employee without any barrier, this encourages a more relaxed
atmosphere which leads to friendly and open communication between both parties.

GETTING THE POINT ACROSS:

To avoid misunderstandings the supervisor need to update the employee regarding

their agenda that is what they will be discussing and in what manner because this
directs the situation towards conflict and distraction.

Apart from the employees performance the personal growth and development should
also be focused during the discussion. It is important for the supervisor to listen and
understand the emotional and logical content of an employee’s response and give them
the feedback that you understand them. This makes the environment relaxed.

LISTEN AND LEARN:

In employees self appraisal, the supervisors primary role is Active listening. After the
employee has completed his self appraisal, the supervisor must discuss first the
agreeable points, then the disagreeable points. The disagreeable points should be
discussed in a manner that the employee do not get defensive. When the employees
poor performance is identified, he must be encouraged to improve it and solve his
problems with the help of the management that makes the employee feel that the
supervisor is on his side. After evaluation of the performance the next step is to set
specific goals so that the performance can be evaluated periodically.

Sometimes supervisors face a lot of difficulty in explaining the problems such as working
independently, a lack of enthusiasm or repeated mistakes. Sometimes the manager has
to guide the employee at every step and they do only what they are being told to do
and are considered as careless employees.
The symptoms of the careless employees are well documented:

Employees come to work daily, and spend their full time in office working only to the
extent they are being told to. Employees are usually unable to understand what is the
supervisor’s criteria of acceptable performance in such a situation employee is unaware
of the expectations the supervisor have and his performance is evaluated as poor
performance. But before concluding that a poor performance exists, the supervisor
must ensure he has solid proof regarding this issue. If the supervisor clearly states the
required performance level that will be easier to act upon it.

WHOSE FAULT IS IT?:

The two major causes of performance problem are: Deficiencies in knowledge,

Deficiencies in evaluation.

1. DEFICIENCIES IN KNOWLEDGE: Employees can not perform efficiently unless he has

the appropriate knowledge or training. It is basically more of the supervisor’s
problem then of an employee’s. It is the manager’s responsibility to make sure
workers have the necessary and the required knowledge to do their jobs and that
they have demonstrated the skills to do the work. This deficiency can be overcome
by means of presentations, formal training programs, on-the-job training, or
individual coaching and instructing by supervisors are the ways of solving this
problem. Follow up after training, to insure that the worker fully understands the
skills and is confident with their newly gained knowledge is the job of supervisor.
2. DEFICIENCIES IN EVALUATION: After learning the skills and knowledge, execution is
another step and the success or failure is the sole responsibility of the employee.

The following are four methods for solving execution deficiency problems.
 1. Set Objectives: Set individual objectives that are specific to each individual’s
performance. If a employee does not know how well or poorly they are
performing, they will not change their performance.
2. Provide Feedback: Feedback is necessary so that the employees can improves
their performance and understands that his performance makes a difference to
the company.
3. Remove Obstacles: The supervisor is responsible for making sure his or her
workers have all the time, tools, equipment and materials necessary to do the
job and that nothing prevents them from doing their jobs correctly.
4. Eliminate Punishment: Instead of punishing the employees they should be
rewared for the good jobs. If individuals figure out that doing a good job leads to
punishing results, they will avoid doing their jobs properly.

Case Studies — Strategies That Have Worked:

Following are some additional strategies that can be used for dealing with the
employees who require constant supervision.

Indifferent Worker ( standard variety): Such employees do only what is required, reject
efforts to arouse their enthusiasm and passively resist change. They never break rules or
cause trouble but they make it clear they are completely indifferent to the job and the
department.

Supervisors need to find something that interests these workers. Once the topic or area
of interest is identified they respond to, ask questions about it and offer opinions and
make them participate. Also, concentrate on future objectives and place them with the
group of motivated workers. This approach will develop the relationship with these
workers.

Indifferent Worker (Who Lacks Self-Confidence): Employees who have real aptitude
and ability, yet they are unable to do a really good job due to a lack of self-confidence.
They depend on others for detailed instructions. They hesitate to take initiative, are
sensitive to ridicule or criticism and may be quite shy. Often, they are like this only
because they have not come under the influence of a supervisor who understands them
and can help them gain self-confidence.

Supervisor should assign them the work that he knows they can do well and avoid
making others in the group carry more of the load than they should. Emphasize
teamwork. Always let the employee know supervisors are willing to help.
 ARTICLE # 3

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

(By: Yusuf H. Shirazi)

ABSTRACT

Personal management concept in Pakistan has now undergone a transformation into

Human Resource Management. This gives employees the perspective that they are also a
part of the organization.

Many Multinational Companies and local entrepreneurs believe the availability of quality
human resource in the country an important factor for investment consideration. To
motive the workforce it is important to have motivated management. Managers are the
basic resource of the business enterprise and its scarcest resource. Managers are the most
expensive resource in most businesses and the one that depreciates fastest and needs the
most constant replenishment. It takes years to build a management team; but it can be
destroyed in a short period of misrule. How well managers are managed determines
whether business goals will be reached. A manager's job is based on tasks to be
performed in order to attain the company’s objectives. It has a clearly measurable
contribution to the success of the enterprise.

It would be obvious from the above that for a successful business one would require
attracting and retaining high caliber employees. It may be difficult to attract the right
employees. It is even more demanding a task to ensure that their capability and talents are
fully and effectively utilized in the organization. Quality and high potential staff usually
looks for careers not jobs, hence to succeed it is imperative that proper management
systems are in place.

 PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Corporations expect all management activity to be in alignment with the Corporate Goals
and consequently seek to ensure managerial motivation and capability on a continuous
basis. In return, managers essentially expect fair rewards commensurate to their current
contribution. A framework to achieve this is provided by a Performance Appraisal
System.

For the System to be effective, it is vital that all those appraised should be satisfied that
their appraisals are fair and constructive, that a balanced view has been taken of their
performance an it is being probed and encouraged. Equally important is the methodology
of setting and agreeing objectives which provide the basic reference for performance and
its evaluation.

 OBJECTIVE SETTING

Objective Setting can be defined as an exercise to analyze and break-up a managerial job
in terms of its major parts in which results are required, and consequently defining the
standard (Level) of result required in each area. In most jobs normally there may be no
more than 6 or 7 objectives:

 ASSESSING PERFORMANCE AGAINST OBJECTIVES

Assessment of performance is a realistic comparison between standards agreed and those

achieved in the light of the following considerations:

A. Unanticipated constraints: events that were not predicted at the beginning of the year
when standards were agreed .
B. Initiative shown or otherwise.
C. The complexities of the objectives and the challenge implied in the agreed standards
easy or highly demanding.
D. The individual work load - high, average or low.
These four considerations by no means constitute a comprehensive list but can be the
major ones. Further depending upon individual cases only some of them or even more
may be applicable.

Personal Competencies is an assessment of personal qualities. To facilitate reference and

sharpen assessment a range of personal competencies, considered relevant to managerial
jobs may be defined. An individual may be assessed in each competency in relation to his
job.

Having completed assessment of both aspects the picture would now be complete in its
various elements, as follows:

 JOB EVALUATION SYSTEM

A job evaluation system ensures that management job are accurately placed relative to
one another in the hierarchy of the Company and are fairly and justly rewarded in relation
to one another.

The Hay Job Evaluation System has been developed over a period of years by a Group of
International Consultants known as the Hay Management Services Limited on the basis
of their experience as Management Consultants all over the world. By virtue of this it is
an International system and has been used by a large number of Corporations all over the
world. In Pakistan it has been used by Multinationals like ICI Pakistan, Pakistan Tobacco
and Engro etc.

The data collected through job analysis in the Hay format is concise and inherently
provides an opportunity to the management in the communication of the organization's
purpose and objectives to all employees at all levels of the organization. It contributes to
the definition of people required for jobs, in terms of knowledge, skills, attributes and
competencies for successful achievement of the organization's purpose. It helps to focus
employees on producing most appropriate outcomes from jobs, particularly if used in
conjunction with a performance management program. The system ensures employees go
through the process by participating in their job analysis which helps clarify and design
the job. It provides key input to the foundation data used in other human resource
management processes, such as, job evaluation, objective setting and reward for
performance. It enhances their personal contribution and satisfaction by knowing exactly
what is expected of them in their jobs.

For effective learning to take place at individual level it is essential to foster an

environment where individuals are encouraged to take risks and experiment, where
mistakes are tolerated but where means exist for those involved to learn from their
experience: