MGT-555 PERFORMANCE AND CAREER MANAGEMENT MANAGING PERFORMANCE LECTURE NO

RECAP On going monitoring and evaluation Compensation - Reward Systems Legal Issues 2

MANAGING PERFORMANCE “A leader becomes complete only after giving something back” --- LAURENCE S. LYONS 3

Managing Performance Performance management systems are NOT likely to help employees develop and improve their performance if managers do not have the necessary skills to help employees accomplish their goals. 4

Managing Performance(contd.) Such skills include; – being able to serve as coaches, – to observe, and – document performance accurately, – To give both positive and negative feedback, – And to conduct useful and constructive performance review discussions. 5

Coaching Coaching is a collaborative, ongoing process in which the manger interacts with his or her employees and takes an active role and interest in their performance. In general, coaching involves directing, motivating, and rewarding employee behavior. Coaching is a day to day function that involves observing performance, complimenting good work, and helping to correct and improve any performance that does not meet expectations and standards. 6

Coaching (contd.) Coaching is also concerned with long term performance that does not meet expectations and standards. Coaching is also concerned with long term performance and involves ensuring that the developmental plan is being achieved. Being a coach is similar to serving as a consultant and for coaching to be successful, a coach must establish a helping relationship. 7

Coaching (contd.) Although many theories on coaching exist, there are four guiding principles that provide a good framework for understanding successful coaching. A good coaching relationship is essential: for coaching to work, it is imperative that the relationship between the coach and the employee be trusting and collaborative. The coach needs to try to walk in employees shoes and view the job and organization from his or her perspective. The employee is the source and director of change: the coach must understand that the employee is the source of change and self growth. After all, the purpose of coaching is to change employee behavior and set a direction for what the employee will do differently in the future. 8

Coaching (contd.) The employee is whole and unique: the coach must understand that each employee is a unique individual with several job related and job unrelated identities and a unique personal history. The coach must try to create a whole and complete and rich picture of the employee. The coach is the facilitator of the employees growth: the coach main role is one of facilitation. A coach must direct the process and help with the content but not take control of these issues. 9

Coaching (contd.) In more specific terms, coaching involves the following functions: Giving advice to help employee improve their performance. Providing employees with guidance so that employees can develop their skills and knowledge appropriately. Providing employees support and being there only when the manager is needed. Giving employees confidence that will enable them to enhance their performance continuously and to increase their sense of responsibility for managing their own performance. 10

Coaching (contd.) Helping employees gain greater competence by guiding them towards acquiring more knowledge and sharpening the skills that can prepare them for more complex tasks and higher level positions. Coaching involves a consideration of both short term and long term objectives, including how the employee can benefit from acquiring new skills and knowledge that could be useful in future positions and in novel tasks. 11

Coaching (contd.) Coaching help turns feedback into results. For this to happen, coaches need to engage in the following: Establish development objectives: the manager works jointly with the employees in creating the developmental plan and its objectives. Communicate effectively: the manager maintains regular and clear communication with employees about their performance, including both behaviors and results. Motivate employees: managers must reward positive performance. When positive performance is rewarded, employees are motivated to repeat the same level of positive performance in the future. 12

Coaching (contd.) Document performance: managers observe employee behavior and results. Evidence must be gathered regarding instance of good and poor performance. Give feedback: managers measure employee performance and progress towards goal. They praise good performance an point out instance of substandard performance. Diagnose performance problems: managers must listen to employees and gather information to determine whether performance deficiencies are the result of a lack of knowledge and skills, abilities or motivation or whether they stem from situational factors beyond the control of the employee. 13

Coaching (contd.) Develop employees: managers provide support and resources for employee development by helping employees plan for future and by giving challenging assignments that force employees to learn new things. 14

Coaching styles A manager personality and behavioral preference are more likely to influence his or her coaching styles. There are four main coaching styles: Driver Persuader Amiable Analyzer 15

Coaching styles(contd.) First, coaches can adopt a driving style in which they tell the employee being coached what to do. Assume that the coach wants to provide guidance regarding how to deal with a customer. In this situation, the preference for a driver is to say to the employee “you must talk to customer in this way”. Such coaches are assertive, speak quickly and often firmly, usually talk about facts and tasks, are not very expressive and expose a narrow range of personal feelings to others. 16

Coaching styles(contd.) Second, coaches can use a persuading style in which they try to sell what they want the employee to do. Someone who is a persuader would try to explain to the employee why it is beneficial for the organization, as well as for the employee himself, to talk to a customer in a specific way. 17

Coaching styles(contd.) Third, other coaches may adopt an amiable style and want every one to be happy. Such coaches are likely to be more subjective than objective and direct employees to talk to customers in a certain way because it feels like the right thing to do or because the employee feels it is a right way to do it. 18

Coaching styles(contd.) Finally, coaches may have a preference for analyzing performance in a logical and systemic way an then follow rules and procedures when providing a recommendation. To use the same example, such analyzer coaches may tell employees to talk to a customer in a specific way “because this is what the manual says.” 19

Coaching process The coaching process is accomplished in following steps: The first step involves setting developmental goals. The developing goals are a key component of the developmental plan. These goals must be reasonable, attainable, and derived from a careful analysis of the areas in which an employee needs to improve. The second step in coaching process is to identify resources and strategies that will help the employee achieve the developmental goals. These can include on the job training, attending courses, self guided reading, mentoring, attending a conference, getting a degree, job rotation, a temporary assignment, and membership or a leadership role in a professional or trade organization. 20

Coaching process(contd.) The third step involves implementing the strategies that will allow the employees to achieve the developmental goals. The fourth step is to collect and evaluate data to assess the extent to which each of developmental goals has been achieved. The final step is the coach provides feedback to the employee, and based on the extent to which each of the goals has been achieved, the developmental goals are revised and the entire process begins again. 21

Observation and documentation of developmental behavior and outcomes Observing employees progress in achieving developmental goals is not as easy as it may seem. Consider the following constraints that managers might experience in attempting to observe an employees performance regarding developmental activities. Time constraints: managers might be too busy to gather and document information about employees progress towards his developmental goals. 22

Observation and documentation of developmental behavior and outcomes(contd.) Situational constraints: managers are often unable to observe employees as they engage in developmental activities and therefore may not have firsthand knowledge about their performance. Activity constraints: when the developmental activity is highly unstructured, such as an employees reading a book, the manager may have to wait until the activity is completed to assess whether the activity has been beneficial. 23

Observation and documentation of developmental behavior and outcomes(contd.) The importance of documenting an employees progress toward the achievement of developmental goals cannot be over emphasized. It is critical to document employee performance in general. Why is this so important? Consider the following reasons: Minimize cognitive load: observing and evaluating developmental activities and performance in general, is a complex cognitive task. 24

Observation and documentation of developmental behavior and outcomes(contd.) Create trust: when documentation exists to support evaluations, there is no mystery regarding the outcomes. Plan for the future: documenting developmental activities and their outcomes enables discussion about specific facts instead of assumptions. Provide legal protection: specific laws prohibit discrimination against members of various classes in how developmental activities are allocated. 25

Observation and documentation of developmental behavior and outcomes(contd.) What can manager do to document performance regarding developmental activities and performance in general, in a useful and constructive way? Consider the following recommendations. Be specific: document specific events and outcomes. Use adjectives and adverbs sparingly: the use of evaluative adjectives and adverbs may lead to ambiguous interpretations. Balance positive with negatives: document instance of both good and poor performance. 26

Observation and documentation of developmental behavior and outcomes(contd.) Focus on job related information: focus on information that is job related and specifically related to the developmental activities and goals at hand. Be comprehensive: include information on performance regarding all developmental goals and activities and cover the entire review period as opposed to a shorter time period. Standardize procedure: use the same method and format to document information for all employees. Describe observable behavior: phrase your notes in behavioral terms and avoid statements that would imply subjective judgment or prejudice. 27

Giving feedback Giving feedback to an employee regarding her progress towards achieving her goals is a key component of the coaching process. Feedback is information about past behavior that is given with goal of improving future performance. Feedback includes information about both positive and negative aspects of job performance and lets employee know how well they are doing with respect to meeting the established standards. 28

Giving feedback(contd.) Feedback is not a magic bullet for performance improvement, however it serves several important purposes. Helps build confidence: praising good performance builds employee confidence regarding future performance. Develops competence: communicating clearly about what has been done right and how to do the work correctly is valuable information that helps employees become more competent and improve their performance. Enhances involvement: receiving feedback and discussing performance issues allow employees to understand their roles in the unit and organization as a whole. 29

Giving feedback(contd.) Consider the following suggestions to enhance feedback: Timelines: feedback should be delivered as close to the performance event as possible. Frequency: feedback should be provided on an ongoing basis. Specificity: feedback should include specific work behaviors, results, and the situation in which these behaviors and results were observed. 30

Giving feedback(contd.) Verifiability: feedback should include information that is verifiable and accurate. Consistency: feedback should be consistent. Privacy: feedback should be given in a place and at a time that prevent any potential embarrassment. Consequences: feedback should include contextual information that allows the employee to understand the importance and the consequences of the behaviors and results in question. 31

Giving feedback(contd.) Description first, evaluation second: feedback should first focuses on describing behaviors and results rather than on evaluating and judging behaviors and results. Performance continuum: feedback should describe performance as a continuum, going from less to more in the case of good performance and from more to less in the case of poor performance. 32

Giving feedback(contd.) Pattern identification: feedback is most useful if it is about a pattern of poor performance rather than isolated events or mistakes. Confidence in the employee: good feedback includes a statement that the manager has confidence that the employee will be able to improve her performance. Advice and idea generation: feedback can include advice given by the supervisor about how to improve performance. 33

Praise Good feedback includes information about both good and poor performance. Although most people are a lot more comfortable giving feedback that they are on poor performance, some guidelines must be followed when giving praise so that the feedback is useful in terms of future performance. 34

Praise (contd.) Praise should be sincere and given only when it is deserved. If praise in given repeatedly and when it is not deserved, employee are not able to see when a change in direction may be needed. Praise should be about specific behaviors or results and be given within context so that employees know what they need to repeat in the future. 35

Negative feedback Negative feedback includes information that performance has fallen short of accepted standards. The goal of providing negative feedback is to help employees improve their performance in the future; it is not to punish, embarrass, or chastise them. It is important to give negative feedback when it is warranted because the consequences of not doing so can be detrimental for the organization as a whole. 36

Negative feedback(contd.) Inspite of need to address poor performance, managers are usually not very comfortable providing negative feedback. Why is this so? Consider the following reasons. Negative reactions and consequences: manager may fear, the employee may react negatively Negative experience in the past: managers themselves may have received negative feedback at some point in their careers and have experienced firsthand how feelings can be hurt. 37

Negative feedback(contd.) Playing “god”: manager may be reluctant to play the role of an all knowing, judgmental god. Need for irrefutable and conclusive evidence: managers may not want to provide negative feedback until after they have been able to gather irrefutable and conclusive evidence about a performance problem. 38

Negative feedback(contd.) Regardless of whether the feedback session includes praise or a discussion of needed areas of improvement, it should provide answers to the following questions. How is your job going? Do you have what you need to do your job? Are you adequately trained? Do you have the skills and tools you need to do your job? 39

Negative feedback(contd.) What can be done to improve your and your units/organizations job/products/services? How can you better serve your internal and external customers? 40

Performance review meetings The performance management system can involve as many as six formal meetings, including the following System inauguration. Self appraisal Classical performance review Merit/salary review Developmental plan Objective setting. 41

Performance review meetings(contd.) Most organizations merge several meetings into one labeled “performance review meetings”. The typical sequence of such a meeting is following Explain the purpose of meeting Conduct self appraisal Share ratings and explain rationale Discuss development Ask employee to summarize Discuss rewards. Hold follow up meetings Discuss approval and appeal process Conduct final recap 42

Performance review meetings(contd.) What can supervisor do to improve defensive response? Establish and maintain rapport: it is important that meeting take place in a good climate. This can be achieved by choosing a meeting place that is private and by preventing interruptions from taking place. Be empathetic: it is important for the supervisor to put herself in the shoes of the employee. The supervisor need to make an effort to understand why the employee has performed at a certain level during the review period. 43

Performance review meetings(contd.) Observe verbal and non verbal clues: the supervisor should be able to read verbal and non verbal signals from the employee to determine whether further clarification is necessary. Minimize threats: the performance review meeting should be framed as a meeting that will benefit the employee, not punish him. Encourage participation: the employee needs to have her own conversational space rather, she should listen without interrupting and avoid confrontation and argument. 44

Summary Managing Performance 45

Thank You 46