HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT INTERVENTIONS

PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT

Performance Management. An ongoing, continuous process of communicating and clarifying

job responsibilities, priorities, performance expectations, and development planning that
optimize an individual’s performance and aligns with organizational strategic goals.

Performance management is a corporate management tool that helps managers monitor and
evaluate employees' work. Performance management's goal is to create an environment where
people can perform to the best of their abilities and produce the highest-quality work most
efficiently and effectively.

Human Resources has established modules to assist in managing employee performance.

Human Resources recommends in addition to setting goals at the beginning of the evaluation
period and evaluating performance at the end of the evaluation period, that feedback sessions
are held throughout the year. These meetings include:

 Initial Meeting: Goal Setting and Development Planning – During the first meeting, at the
beginning of the evaluation period, the employee and supervisor will mutually develop goals
that align directly with the goals of the department, school and university. A development
plan that supports goal completion will also be developed and agreed upon.

 Quarterly Feedback Sessions (October, January, April for the fiscal year evaluation
period) – During the feedback sessions, the employee and supervisor will discuss the
employee’s progress toward goal completion and any support that may be needed.

 Final Meeting: Evaluation Review – During the final meeting at the end of the evaluation
period, the employee and supervisor will discuss overall performance and goals and
development plan outcomes.

Performance Appraisal
The term “performance appraisal” refers to the regular review of an employee’s job
performance and overall contribution to a company. Also known as an annual review,
performance review or evaluation, or employee appraisal, a performance appraisal evaluates
an employee’s skills, achievements, and growth, or lack thereof.

How Performance Appraisals Work

Performance appraisals are usually designed by human resources (HR) departments as a way

for employees to develop in their careers. They provide individuals with feedback on their job
performance, ensuring that employees are managing and meeting the goals expected of them
and giving them guidance on how to reach those goals if they fall short.

Because companies have a limited pool of funds from which to award incentives, such as
raises and bonuses, performance appraisals help determine how to allocate those funds. They
provide a way for companies to determine which employees have contributed the most to the
company’s growth so that companies can reward their top-performing employees accordingly.

Performance appraisals also help employees and their managers create a plan  for employee
development through additional training and increased responsibilities, as well as to identify
ways that the employee can improve and move forward in their career.

Ideally, the performance appraisal is not the only time during the year that managers and
employees communicate about the employee’s contributions. More frequent conversations
help keep everyone on the same page, develop stronger relationships between employees and
managers, and make annual reviews less stressful.
Types of Performance Appraisals

Most performance appraisals are top-down, meaning that supervisors evaluate their staff with
no input from the subject. But there are other types:

 Self-assessment: Individuals rate their job performance and behavior.

 Peer assessment: An individual’s work group or co-workers rate their performance.
 360-degree feedback assessment: Includes input from an individual, supervisor, and
peers. The 360-degree version also solicits input from the employee’s colleagues or co-
workers.

Reward System
A reward system is the set of mechanisms for distributing both tangible and intangible returns as
part of an employment relationship.
4 types of employee reward systems
While there are several ways to reward employees, here are four options you can implement to
help boost your team's morale:
1. Monetary
You can create a reward system based on monetary compensation, like a bonus. A bonus can
give your team members something to look forward to and to work efficiently to earn. You might
give out bonuses either at the end of the year or every six months. This type of reward system
works best with employees motivated by money. It can also help create bonds within your team
if you make earning the bonus a friendly competition.
Besides bonuses, here are other monetary rewards you can use in your program:
 Profit-sharing plans
 Stock options
 Additional paid time off
 Tuition reimbursement

2. Non-monetary
For teams that prefer perks other than bonuses, a non-monetary rewards system may help
motivate them. This kind of system offers them something. For example, you can present them
with a small prize or fringe benefit if they were the top performer in their department. This can
encourage your team members to work more productively, which can help projects reach their
deadlines on time or early.
Here are other non-monetary rewards you can use to encourage the company's employees :
 Catered lunches
 Opportunities to leave work early
 Remote work if possible
 Flexible work schedule

3. Assistance
An assistance system is when companies support employees in maintaining a healthy work-life
balance by providing services that benefit their physical and mental health. This program type
may help employees have clearer minds and healthier bodies, which can improve their work
performance. While not a traditional reward, assistance programs can help employees feel
valued and supported.
Benefits you can offer under an assistance program include:
 Discounts to local health services, like gym memberships or spa treatments
 On-site visits from mental health professionals
  Instructional sessions on techniques to manage stress, grief or other challenges

4. Recognition
A recognition rewards system is about sharing an employee's accomplishments with the rest of
an organization. This can look like having an employee of the month celebration or an end-of-
year awards ceremony where you can talk about several employees' work-related victories. By
doing this, you can encourage team members to work harder to receive this level of
acknowledgment.
Recognition can be as simple as offering verbal praise to your team members daily, weekly or
monthly. You may also write them a note detailing how much you appreciate them and their
dedication to their role. This is another way to help create a positive working environment for
everyone.

Functions and benefits of a reward system

Here are some reasons you might implement a reward system:
 Higher attendance: You may notice an increase in attendance when you use a reward
system because it can provide more motivation to show up to work and do their tasks. It
may also encourage employees to stay at the organization longer.
 Better work quality: Your team's work quality may increase because its members are
working toward something else besides their base salary. This benefits everyone
because you receive work of a higher quality and team members get rewarded for their
improvement.
 Greater job satisfaction: Employees may experience enhanced job satisfaction with a
reward system because organizations value and appreciate their contributions. Because
of this show of gratitude, your team members may feel more loyalty to the company.
 Faster project completion: If your team members are working productively and doing
their job well to earn a type of reward, it can help meet deadlines for projects early. This
can improve the image of your organization because you're meeting project deadlines
earlier than expected and with quality work.

DEVELOPING TALENT
Coaching and Mentoring
Coaching involves working with organizational members, typically managers and
executives, on a regular basis to help them clarify their goals, deal with potential
stumbling blocks, and improve their performance. This intervention is highly
personal and generally involves a one-on-one relationship between the OD prac-
titioner and the client. Almost every OD intervention involves some coaching.
However, the intervention described here helps managers to gain perspective on
their dilemmas and transfer their learning into organizational results; it increases
their leadership skill and effectivenes
Coaching involves working with organizational members, typically managers and executives,
on a regular basis to help them clarify their goals, deal with potential stumbling blocks, and
improve their performance. This intervention is highly personal and generally involves a one-on-
one relationship between the OD prac-itioner and the client. Almost every OD intervention
involves some coaching. However, the intervention described here helps managers to gain
perspective on their dilemmas and transfer their learning into organizational results; it increases
their leadership skill and effectiveness.
Similar to coaching, mentoring involves establishing a relationship between a
manager or someone more experienced and another organization member who
is less experienced. Unlike coaching, mentoring is often more directive, with
the mentor intentionally transferring specific knowledge and skill and guiding
the client’s activities, perhaps as part of a career development process (see
career planning and development proce
Coaching can be seen as a specialized form of OD, one that is focused on
using the principles of applied behavioral science to increase the capacity
and effectiveness of individuals as opposed to groups or organizations. It is
one of the fastest-growing areas of OD practice.
Similar to coaching, mentoring involves establishing a relationship between a manager or
someone more experienced and another organization member who is less experienced. Unlike
coaching, mentoring is often more directive, with the mentor intentionally transferring specific
knowledge and skill and guiding the client’s activities, perhaps as part of a career development
process Coaching can be seen as a specialized form of OD, one that is focused on using the
principles of applied behavioral science to increase the capacity and effectiveness of individuals
as opposed to groups or organizations. It is one of the fastest-growing areas of OD practice.
A mentor is someone who shares their knowledge, skills and/or experience, to help another to
develop and grow. A coach is someone who provides guidance to a client on their goals and
helps them reach their full potential.

Career Planning and Development

rganizations are becoming more and more reliant on their “intellectual capital.” The
war for talent, the changing nature of the workforce, shifting social expectations about
work and family, and increasingly knowledge-based strategies have pressured organi-
Providing career planning and development opportunities as well as management and
Organizations are becoming more and more reliant on their “intellectual capital.” The war for
talent, the changing nature of the workforce, shifting social expectations about work and family,
and increasingly knowledge-based strategies have pressured organizations to rethink their role
in managing careers and developing their human capital.

Providing career planning and development opportunities as well as management and

leadership development programs help to recruit and retain skilled and knowledgeable workers.
Many talented job candidates, especially minorities and women, are showing preference and
more loyalty for employers who offer career and leadership development opportunities.
Career planning and development interventions are an important tool in developing and
retaining an effective workforce. Growing numbers of managers and professional staff are
seeking more control over their work lives. Organization members, especially women,
minorities, mid-career workers, and new college recruits, are not willing to have their careers
“just happen” and are taking an active role in planning and managing them. For example, a
study by the Hay Group found that technology professionals were willing to leave their jobs for
better career development opportunities.
Management and Leadership Development Intervention
Management and leadership development programs are one of the most popular OD
interventions aimed at developing talent and increasing employee retention. These programs
build an individual’s skills, socialize leaders in corporate values, and prepare executives for
strategic leadership roles. A large number of organizations offer leadership development
programs, including Procter & Gamble, Federal Express, PepsiCo, Cisco Systems, IBM,
Microsoft, and Hewlett-Packard.
Management and leadership development interventions can be differentiated from career
development. In management and leadership development, the focus is on developing the skills
and knowledge the organization believes will be necessary to implement future strategies and
manage the business. In career development, the focus is on building the skills and knowledge
the individual believes will best equip them for the career they prefer. Ideally, there is
considerable overlap between the two.
The term training is typically used when the goal is development of the workforce, while the
terms management development and leadership development are normally applied when the
goal is development of the organization’s management and executive talent.
There is a wide range of training and development interventions, and not all involve OD. For
leadership development to be considered an OD intervention, it must focus on changing the
skills and knowledge of a group of organization members to improve their effectiveness or to
build the capabilities of an organization system. For example, a leadership development
program that provides information about the organization’s strategy would not qualify as an OD
intervention.
APPLICATION STAGES
Management and leadership development interventions generally follow a process of needs
assessment, setting instructional objectives and design, delivery, and evaluation.
1. Perform a needs assessment. Similar to the diagnostic process in the general model of
planned change, a needs assessment typically determines the competencies believed to
characterize effective leaders in the organization.
This can be done by interviewing well-respected executives or reviewing lists of published
leadership competencies. The logic assumes that if the right leadership skills and knowledge
can be identified, a program can be developed to educate and equip participants with these
competencies.
2. Develop the objectives and design of the training. This step first establishes outcome
objectives for development intervention. These objectives should describe both the results
expected from a competent leader and how those results were achieved. For a leadership
development program, an appropriate objective might be “the ability to produce an acceptable
strategic plan for a strategic business unit” or “to increase participants’ commitment to the
strategic direction of the corporation.”
The design of the training involves making choices from among a wide variety of techniques.
The more traditional methods of classroom lectures, 360-degree feedback, simulations, case
studies, or experiential exercises have been augmented by more recent emphases on rotational
assignments, on-the-job training, coaching, or action-learning projects.
3. Deliver the training. This stage implements the development program. Participants apply, or
are invited, to attend the program, complete the activities included in its design, and return to
their normal work routines.
5. Evaluate the training. This final step assesses the training to determine whether it met its
objectives. The four criteria most commonly used to evaluate training effectiveness are reaction,
learning, behavior, and results.