ACC 148: Performance Management System

Student Activity Sheet #2

Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________

Lesson title: Purposes and Characteristics of and Ideal PMS References:

Lesson Objectives: At the end of the lesson, I should be able to: Performance Management 3rd
1. describe the multiple purposes of a performance management ed., Herman Aguinis
system
2. list down the different characteristics of an ideal performance Performance Management for
management system Dummies, Herman Aguinis
3. explain the different characteristics of an ideal performance
management system

Productivity Tip:
“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you
choose.” – Dr. Seuss
A. LESSON PREVIEW/REVIEW
1) Introduction (2 mins)
Performance Management aims to be productive in evaluating employee performance and
improving it in order to achieve organizational goals. however, it also has different purposes. A
performance management system can truly be rewarding in different ways. However,
performance management can only be rewarding if it is done in the right manner, lest, it becomes
a waste of resource. In this module, we will learn the what characteristics does an ideal PMS have.

2) Activity 1: What I Know Chart, part 1 (3 mins)

What I Know Questions: What I Learned (Activity 4)
1 How does a PMS help
strategically?
2 What are the different
characteristics of an ideal PMS?
3 What does it mean for a PMS
to be practical?
B.MAIN LESSON
1) Activity 2: Content Notes (13 mins)
Purposes of Performance Management Systems
Generally, a performance management system (PMS) is used for administering salaries, identifying
employee’s strengths and weaknesses, and giving performance feedback. However, PMS can also
serve the following purposes: strategic, administrative, informational, developmental,
organizational maintenance, and documentation purposes. These purposes are summarized in

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 ACC 148: Performance Management System
Student Activity Sheet #2

Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________

the table below.

Different Purposes of Strategic Management

Strategic: To help top management achieve strategic business objectives
Administrative: To furnish valid and useful information for making administrative decisions
about employees
Informational: To inform employees about how they are doing and about the organization’s and
the supervisor’s expectations
Developmental: To allow managers to provide coaching to their employees
Organizational maintenance: To provide information to be used in workplace planning and
allocation of human resources
Documentational: To collect useful information that can be used for various purposes (e.g., test
development, administrative decisions)
Source: Performance Management by Herman Aguinis.

Characteristics of an Ideal PMS

Having and implementing and ideal PMS is a very difficult task. Practical reasons will tell you that
there certain qualities of an ideal PMS that makes it hard to achieve. However, to enjoy better the
benefits of PMS, an ideal one should be put in place. But what does an ideal PMS look like? In this
part, we will tackle the different characteristics that makes PMS ideal.

1. Strategic congruence
PMS should be congruent with the organizational strategy. It would mean to say that individual
goals being set for and being set by the employees should be aligned to organizational goals.

2. Context congruence
System has to be congruent within the context of organizational culture and to the culture of that
region/country. This is so that changes can be more acceptable and not resisted by employees.

3. Thoroughness
System should be thorough regarding these four dimensions: (1) all employees should be
evaluated, (2) all major job responsibilities should be evaluated, (3) evaluation should include
performance that covers the whole review period, not just the weeks or months before the review
period, (4) feedback should given on both positive aspects of the performance and on the areas
that still need improvement.

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 ACC 148: Performance Management System
Student Activity Sheet #2

Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________

4. Practicality
Systems should be affordable, and easy to use, and the benefits from using the system must be
greater in value than what the system costs.

5. Meaningful
System must be meaningful in many ways. Evaluations conducted for each job function must be
important and relevant. Performance evaluations must emphasize that only functions under the
direct control of the employee are to be evaluated. It makes no sense if you are evaluating
something that cannot be improved by the employee, such as third-party involvements.
Performance evaluations should happen on a regular basis. Results of evaluations should be used
for important administrative decisions. There is no value seen on performance assessments that
are not used for improvement and decision-making.

6. Specificity
Good systems are specific. It should provide guidance that is both concrete and detailed about
what is expected of employees and how they can meet those expectations.

7. Identification of effective and ineffective performance

The system should provide a clear-cut difference between an effective and ineffective
performance. It should help managers and employees differentiate between a poor and good
performance.

8. Reliability
Systems should be reliable; thus, it should be consistent and has no errors. This means that when
evaluating an employee, ratings between different raters should be somewhat similar if the
system is clear and appropriate.

9. Acceptability and fairness

Good systems are acceptable and is seen to be fair by all participants. Not everybody perceives
fairness the same. It is simply subjective. The only way to know whether it is acceptable and fair is
if it is to ask those who will be evaluated by the system.

10. Openness
Good systems should disclose everything. Evaluations should be done frequently and regularly,
and feedback should be given accordingly in an ongoing manner. Standards that are put in place
should be communicated clearly. It is important that all communicated information are factual,
open, and honest.

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 ACC 148: Performance Management System
Student Activity Sheet #2

Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________

11. Standardization
Good systems should be standardized. It should be applied across all necessary employees and
maintained to be done every time.

12. Ethical
Good systems should comply with ethical standards. Privacy of employees should be respected,
and evaluators should only evaluate performance dimensions to which she has sufficient
knowledge and information.

2) Activity 3: Skill-building Activities (with answer key) (18 mins + 2 mins checking)
Exercise 1. Matching type. Match the purpose to its description by writing the corresponding letter
on the space before the number.
Purpose Description
1. Strategic A. allow managers to help employees improve
2. Administrative B. to collect information for different purposes
3. Informational C. to provide useful information for organizational planning
4. Developmental D. help achieve business objectives
5. Organizational maintenance E. to inform employees of their performance
6. Documentational F. for making administrative decisions

Exercise 2. Try to remember the different characteristics of an ideal Performance Management

System. List down six (6) characteristics and explain them in two sentences for each.

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 ACC 148: Performance Management System
Student Activity Sheet #2

Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________

3) Activity 4: What I Know Chart, part 2 (2 mins)

Now let’s check your final understanding of purposes and characteristics of an ideal performance
management system. I hope that everything about the topic is clear to you. This time you have to fill out
the What I Learned column.

4) Activity 5: Check for Understanding (5 mins)

Exercise. Identification. Identify the characteristic that is being described in the sentence. Write
your answer on the space provided before the number.

______________________________1. Systems should be affordable and easy to use.

______________________________2. PMS should provide guidance that is both concrete and specific.
______________________________3. PMS should align with organizational strategy.
______________________________4. Good systems should be consistent and has minimal or no errors.
_________________________________5. System should align with organizational culture.
_________________________________6. Evaluations to be conducted should be relevant and important.
_________________________________7. Good systems should be thorough.
______________________________8. Good systems apply performance management among necessary
employees.

C. LESSON WRAP-UP
1) Activity 6: Thinking about Learning (5 mins)
A. Work Tracker
You are done with this session! Let’s track your progress. Shade the session number you just
completed.

B. Think about your Learning

1. Please read again the learning targets for the day. Were you able to achieve those learning targets?
If yes, what helped you achieve them? If no, what is the reason for not achieving them?
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 ACC 148: Performance Management System
Student Activity Sheet #2

Name: _________________________________________________________________ Class number: _______

Section: ____________ Schedule: ________________________________________ Date: ________________

2. In today’s session, which part of the lesson was least clear to you?
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_________________________________________________________________________________

FAQs
1. Which characteristics are the most important?
It is important that all the characteristics are evident in a good system. That is the ideal. However,
if we are to rank them, the most important ones will be strategic congruence, context congruence,
practicality, meaningfulness, reliability, and ethicality. Congruences are important because
systems need to fit the organizational mold. It will not work if it is not aligned.

2. Can all the different purposes be pursued by an organization?

Yes, it can. The different purposes are correlated which makes the use of PMS become easier with
each purpose.

KEY TO CORRECTIONS
Exercise 1.
1. D 2. F 3. E 4. A 5. C 6. B

Exercise 2.
1. Strategic congruence – good systems align with the strategic objectives of a business.
2. Context congruence – good systems align with organizational culture and regional culture.
3. Thoroughness – good systems are thorough. It should evaluate all relevant employees, all major
responsibilities, performances of the whole period, and should give feedback for improvement.
4. Practicality – good systems are affordable and easy to use.
5. Meaningful – evaluations conducted should be important and relevant
6. Specificity – it should provide guidance that is concrete and detailed

Activity 5.
1. practicality 5. Context congruence
2. specificity 6. meaningful
3. strategic congruence 7. thoroughness
4. reliability 8. standardization

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