Healthcare

Human Resource
Management
Flynn Mathis Jackson Langan

Chapter 9
Performance Management
in Healthcare Organizations
PowerPoint Presentation by
Tonya L. Elliott, PHR
 Learning Objectives

After you have read this chapter, you should

be able to:
 Discuss the importance of the performance appraisal
process
 Compare and contrast the administrative and
development uses of performance appraisals
 Review the informal versus systematic appraisal
processes
 Identify who should conduct appraisals
 Describe the various methods of appraising performance
 Identify the various rater errors that occur during the
appraisal process
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 Job Criteria

Job Criteria
Factors employees must meet for satisfactory job
performance
Trait-based Considers Example:
subjective positive attitude
personal traits

Behavior-based Considers Example:

behaviors of the persuasion skills
individual

Results-based Considers Example:

results that are completing
easy to identify projects on time
& evaluate
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 Job Criteria Relevance

Ensure job description is accurate and appropriately

tied to performance standards before conducting an
evaluation

Potential Problems
 Deficient – omitting significant criteria
 Contaminated – including irrelevant criteria

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 Performance Appraisals

Performance Appraisal
The process of evaluating an employee’s performance

Legal Issues
Avoiding discrimination – appraisals must be:

Objective Job Related

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 JCAHO and Performance Appraisals
Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations

Standards affecting performance appraisals:

 Management of human resources
 Leadership
 Improving organization performance

Components of JCAHO-acceptable performance

appraisal systems include:
 Job descriptions identifying duties and required
competencies
 A performance evaluation process and supporting
documents
 Competency assessment checklists
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 Conflicting Roles for Performance Appraisal

Figure 9-1

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 Informal vs. Systematic Appraisal

Informal appraisal process

Conducted at manager’s discretion
Used to praise good work
Used to motivate to improve behavior

Formal appraisal process

Systematically defines an organization’s policies &
procedures
Official form used to document important aspects of
job and employee’s performance

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 Who Conducts Appraisals

Supervisor Subordinate
Supervisor typically conducts review in face-to-face meeting

Employee Manager
Some organizations have employees rate their managers

Team/Peer Team/Peer
Teams or peers generally have first-hand knowledge of one
another’s performance, while managers may not
Team members must feel comfortable in offering honest
feedback
Downside includes potential disagreements in peer group

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 Who Conducts Appraisals (cont’d)

Self-Rating
Employees rate themselves
Requires they examine their own strengths & weaknesses

Outside Raters
Organization may employ an outside expert to evaluate an
employee’s performance

Multi-source Ratings
“360-degree appraisal”
Feedback on performance provided from many individuals
(peers, subordinates, self, and manager)

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 Performance Appraisal Methods

Category Methods
Graphic-rating scale
A continuum X ------------------- Y
Checklist method
Check items that describe employee’s performance

Comparative Methods
Ranking
 Compares employees against each other
Forced distribution
 Use of statistics to sort rated employees along a bell curve

Employee order: #1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10…

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 Performance Appraisal Methods (cont’d)
Narrative Methods
Essays
 Describes employee performance
Critical incident
 Documenting incidents that are highly favorable
and unfavorable representations of employee’s
performance
Field-review
 Outside party reviews manager’s comments
about each employee and then rates each
employee
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 Performance Appraisal Methods (cont’d)

Behavioral/Objective Methods

Behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS)

 Employee behavior is measured against a scale of
performance levels

Management by objectives (MBO)

 Specifies performance goals that the employee &
manager agree to complete within a defined
period
 Usually tied to organizational objectives

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 Rater Errors

Recency
Using only recent events to judge employees’
performance
Central-Tendency
Rating all employees with a narrow range
Leniency
Giving all employees high ratings
Strictness
Giving all employee low ratings
Rater Bias
When manager has a bias against a certain employee or
employee group based on manager’s own values or
prejudices

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 Other Rater Errors

Halo effect
 When a manager rates an employee high or low
on all job standards based on one characteristic

Contrast errors
 When a manager compares employees to each
other rather than to job performance standards

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Feedback Systems

Figure 9-6

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 The Appraisal Interview

Key Factors Preparation

Effective communication

Reactions of managers
 Significant time commitment
 Balance judging performance with supporting
development and mentoring

Reactions of employees
 Variety of reactions to their appraisals
 Need manager’s support on self-development &
improvement

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 Dealing with Performance Problems
Figure 9-7

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 Performance Improvement Plans

Performance Improvement Plans

 Based on information managers receive about an

employee’s performance

 Implemented when manager & employee meet to

discuss expectations and construct the
improvement plan

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 Performance Improvement Plans (cont’d)

Key Components:

1. Description of the problem

2. Clear job expectations
3. Plan that improves performance
4. Resources available to the employee
5. Process to evaluate performance
6. Timeline for improvement
7. Consequences if performance does not improve

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