Megan Morris Tiara Kanney Meg Ciminera

Flex Performance Management System Proposal

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Table of Contents

What is Performance Management?………………………4

Benchmarking Data……………………………………………..6

Flex Performance Management System: Criteria & Process……………………………………………………………...9

Employee Training Plan………………………………………11

Communication Rollout Matrix…………………………….12

Budget………………………………………………………………13

Appendix……………………………………………………….….15

References………………………………………………………..21

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What is Performance Management?

Rationale

Performance management is a systematic process utilized by companies to improve overall organizational effectiveness, ensuring that the company is aligned with its mission and goals. This is done by evaluating its employees’ quality of performance with the use of a performance appraisal and employee development. Performance management systems "typically include performance appraisal and employee development programs (Pulakos, 2004, p. 1).

There are many reasons why implementing a performance management system is a strategic and beneficial addition within a company or organization. Most notably, a performance management system largely results in increased employee productivity and satisfaction. A performance management system is beneficial because it provides all employees with a clear understanding of their job responsibilities and expectations. It also helps the organization’s employees work towards a common goal. Finally, a performance management system provides employees with feedback and advice for improvement, which may lead to rewards and increased motivation.

Performance management systems monitor employee understanding of company expectations, providing upper management with potential gaps or ambiguity in a specific department or job. When organizations provide their employees with a clear understanding of their job responsibilities and expectations, and hold employees accountable to performing their jobs, personal responsibility within the company increases. A performance management system helps employees and managers “think about and clarify [their] role in the organization" ("The importance of Performance Management", 2014, p. 1).

A performance management system also helps the employees of an organization work towards common goals. According to Dr. Elaine Pulakos, when employees have a clear understanding of their job function and company goals, they develop a better understanding of where the company wants to go and how achieve these goals (Pulakos, 2004, p. 6). If employees are striving to achieve a common goal, it will ultimately result in an improvement of the organization’s performance.

Routine feedback is an important product of performance management systems. Giving employees feedback will improve the company communication and help identify employees’ strengths and

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weaknesses. Also, it provides employees with “a better understanding of how their performance is being assessed and monitored,” which inturn leads to an increase in employee confidence, and results in an increase in employee contribution ("The importance of Performance Management", 2014, p. 1).

In order to give the most successful and effective feedback possible, Dr. Elaine Pulakos provides some guidelines and tips including: “provide immediate positive and developmental feedback in a private location, ask for the employee's view about what could have been done differently, [and] be specific about what behaviors were effective and ineffective…” (Pulakos, 2004, p. 7).

After the employees have received feedback and advice for improving their work, and once their work has demonstrated an increase in quality, performance management offers a variety of rewards that show appreciation for a job well done. These rewards may include time off and/or bonuses. Along with rewarding employees, it is also beneficial to describe to the employee the impact their work had on the organization. This way, they will know their work is valued and appreciated (Lawler, 2014).

In contrast to the many reasons why a performance management system is beneficial, there are reasons provided by Dr. Marko Saravanja explaining why performance management systems sometimes fail. In his article "10 Reasons Why Performance Management Fails,” he explains that it is imperative that new performance management systems are piloted before company wide implementation as a way to identify and eliminate design challenges. A faulty system may result in low acceptance of the initiative, as well as a loss of time, capital, and company credibility. Dr. Saravanja also lists a lack of monitoring, lack of evaluation, and lack of leadership support as causes of performance management failure (Saravanja, 2011, p. 1).

With the benefits and warnings in mind, FlexTech plans to create an efficient and successful performance management system to enhance our employees’ performance and ultimately reach our company's overall highest capabilities and expectations. FlexTech's performance management objective is to create a user friendly performance management system that facilitates a checks and balance system within and among FlexTech’s project departments, creating a more cohesive and productive organization.

In order to reach and fulfill our company’s performance management system objective, FlexTech will pilot our performance management system, continually evaluate its effectiveness, regularly utilize it to evaluate employee performance, provide tips and advice for enhancing employee performance, and recognize exceptional performance and improvement.

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Benchmarking Data

Interviews with Human Resource Professionals

In preparation for developing and implementing a new performance management system, FlexTech decided to reach out to several HR professionals in order to acquire adequate benchmarking data. A questionnaire (see Appendix A) was developed, and sent to three HR professionals in three different organizations. FlexTech plans to use these findings to assist and support the decisions made during the creation of our new performance management system. HR professionals’ names as well as organizations have been withheld for privacy reasons.

Organization A

Organization A is a mid size technology company, with headquarters located in upstate New York. FlexTech representatives spoke with the VP of Human Resources to acquire this data. Organization A’s performance management system consists of 3 parts: self-evaluation, performance review, and individual goal setting --with the option for managers to utilize the 360-degree feedback model if they choose to. Traditionally, all employees are evaluated on an annual company wide schedule. New employees, as well as employees who have transferred into a new role are evaluated after 6 months, and then again on the annual schedule. In addition to the formal annual evaluation, employee performance is evaluated informally through coaching, project and customer evaluations, and department metrics.

Both employees and supervisors are given feedback through a series of regular meetings. Daily and weekly meetings occur regularly between supervisors and employees. The opportunity to give feedback also exists at regularly held team, management, and company wide meetings. A system of checks and balances is in place in Organization A’s performance management system as managers rate and rank their staff members

Organization A’s performance management system is both qualitative and quantitative. Employees are evaluated on the following core competencies: Goals & Accomplishments, Customer Service, Leadership, Job Knowledge, Quality of Work, Initiative, Teamwork, Attendance/Punctuality/ Dependability, Organizational Skills, Openness & Flexibility, Judgement, Quality Improvement Focused, and Communication Skills. Organization A values Customer Focus, Quality, Respect, Accountability, as well as Integrity, and works to incorporate these overall organizational values in its performance management system.

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Organization A’s performance management system also impacts employee compensation. After annual reviews are complete, they look at the ratings and rankings of staff. The rankings are divided into top performers, middle performers, and bottom performers, then promotions and other company areas are reviewed. Based on the budget, Organization A then determines where promotions, bonuses, and raises will be allocated.

Organization A’s performance management system is homegrown, and consists of a series of Microsoft Word Documents. The performance management process is communicated to employees and supervisors via email, as well as the company intranet. They are currently looking at purchasing an online system to use in the future.

Organization B

Organization B is a medium sized private liberal arts college, located in the Northeast. FlexTech representatives spoke with a Human Resources Specialist in the Employee & Organizational Development department to obtain this data. Organization B has a comprehensive performance management system that consists of a self-assessment, a formal performance review document, and a formal performance evaluation meeting. All employees are reviewed annually in July. Additionally, new employees are evaluated at the end of their probationary period. Organization B believes that employee performance review is a continual process that takes place regularly with a supervisor's frequent, informal assessments of and conversations about an employee's work performance. They encourage supervisors to have regular meetings with their employees, and emphasize that there should be no surprises at annual review time. If employees are not meeting their supervisor’s expectations, they should know beforehand.

Organization B encourages supervisors to give “on the spot” informal feedback to employees, whether it be praise or constructive comments. Supervisors are encouraged to have an open door policy regarding receiving feedback from employees, and two way conversations are encouraged. The checks and balances that exist in Organization B’s performance management system consist of both the employee and the supervisor reviewing and signing off on the annual performance review. The supervisor’s supervisor must also review, comment, and sign off on all annual performance review forms.

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Organization B’s performance management system is more qualitative in nature as employees are evaluated on the following core competencies: Job Specific Knowledge, Skills, Behaviors (Collaborative, Communicative, Inclusive, Adaptable, Service-minded, Sustainable), Initiative, Leadership, and Results Achieved/ Significant Accomplishments. Organization B’s performance management system aligns with organizational goals and values as it encourages supervisors to keep these in mind when performing evaluations. The performance management system is not closely linked to employee compensation.

Organization B’s performance management system was created in-house and is available to employees and supervisors in both paper and electronic forms. It consists of a series of forms and documents. The performance management process is communicated via a detailed section on the organization’s website, as well as through email, and the organization’s electronic newsletter.

Organization C

Organization C is a small medical staffing company, with headquarters located in North Carolina. FlexTech representatives spoke with the VP of Human Resources to collect this data. Organization C does not have a formal performance management system in place because most of their employees are field salespersons, but they do have methods of evaluating employee performance. In order to evaluate performance, managers visit sales territories to perform “ride alongs.” Ride alongs consist of riding with the sales representative for about two days, and at the end of the second day the manager gives the sales rep a document with ratings and feedback. This process occurs twice per quarter.

Informal feedback is given to employees via weekly one-on-one phone calls between managers and sales reps while discussing sales territory activity. Employees are only given feedback through the ride along document, and managers are only given feedback during weekly one-on-one phone calls. Organization C’s employee performance evaluation is quantitative in nature. Employee success is closely tied to the revenue they generate, the more revenue generated means a more successful employee. Organization C evaluates employees on the following core competencies: Analytical Thinking, Influence & Impact, Action/Results Oriented, as well as Communication & Collaboration.

Organization C’s main goal is to generate revenue while providing exemplary customer service; they hope to ensure commitment to these goals through the bi-quarterly ride alongs. This process does not impact employee compensation, as it is primarily based on commission.

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Flex Performance Management System

Performance Management Process

FlexTech is proposing to implement a performance management system that utilizes a 360-degree evaluation system. This performance management system will be administered three times a year, two informal reviews and a formal year end review. Each review period, all employees will be asked to review themselves, their co-workers, and their manager, evaluating their soft skills and competencies. The managers will do the same, evaluating the team they are managing. These evaluations will provide all employees with consistent, anonymous feedback, receiving credit for achievements, as well as advice and feedback on how to improve performance.

Aside from their evaluation within their project teams, managers will meet once weekly for status updates. These meetings will act as a checks and balance system for FlexTech. All managers will hold each other accountable for meeting deadlines and making progress. Managers can question one another about specific projects and make any clarifications as well. These meetings also provide management the opportunity to turn to co-workers for support and advice about their departmental projects or provide opinions on other’s.

Value of Performance Management

Performance management is an important part of understanding your co-workers, especially when building a company. Workplace evaluations can help one understand the impact of current programs and policies, while allowing one to identify areas that are in need of improvement. Providing employees with periodic feedback on their strengths and weaknesses will help foster an environment fueled by continuous growth and development and a workforce that is more self-aware. As a result, the company will experience continuous growth.

Evaluation Structure FlexTech’s anonymous performance management evaluations will be available on the company intranet, FlexNet. FlexTech has decided to provide this survey electronically for ease of access and sustainability purposes. Each survey will prompt the evaluator to identify the co-worker being evaluated and their department. This section will be followed by a series of questions that utilize the

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likert scale(strongly agree, agree, neither agree or disagree, disagree, strongly disagree) to evaluate the co-worker’s soft skills and competencies. Upon completion, the evaluator will be provided the opportunity to leave any personal comments or concerns surrounding the co-worker’s attitudes, progress, and performance. At the end of the evaluation, employees will be asked how they prefer to receive their feedback, in a one-to-one meeting with their supervisor or via email.

Employee Evaluation Timeline These surveys will be offered on FlexNet for one week, every four months throughout the company's fiscal year. The surveys will be similar in format each time to make sure employees understand what to do. The survey’s questions will be altered slightly depending on new policies implemented and what specific areas managers are interested in evaluating. The evaluation schedule will be imbedded in the employees’ schedules, to reduce inconveniences. Failure to complete these evaluations will result in consequences that will be documented on the evaluations, and will be discussed at the year end review. The importance of these surveys will be widely known throughout the organization, as they are not only for personal benefit but for the benefit and betterment of FlexTech.

Criteria Through extensive research FlexTech has identified specific criteria that employees must adhere to. The performance management system will evaluate employees’ soft skills and competencies. These results will help management gauge where improvements need to be made and what initiatives are currently working. They will also provide individual employees with a progress report outlining their personal inefficiencies and or attributes. A comprehensive list of the questions can be found in Appendix B.

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Employee Training Plan

Training Plan

FlexTech employees will be provided with access to two different training options for the Flex Performance Management System. One training option will consist of a step-by-step video walking the employee through the entire evaluation process. The other will consist of a user guide of the steps for completing the performance evaluation. Both training options will be emailed to employees during the initial rollout, and will be available on FlexNet. The user guide, as well as screenshots from the instructional video, are included in Appendix C.

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Stakeholders O

bjective C

omm

unication Channel

Timing

Introduction of Flex Managem

ent System

CE

O

Persuade C

EO

to adopt Flex M

anagement S

ystem

In person presentation; Perform

ance M

anagement departm

ent January 2014

If approved, proceed. If denied, revise and re-pitch idea to CE

O

Project M

anagers Introduce Flex M

anagement

System

In person presentation; P

erformance

Managem

ent department

February 2014

Upper M

anagement Pilot Flex M

anagement System

Flex M

anagement S

ystem to be launched on FlexN

et, visible only to CE

O and P

roject Managers

February 2014 C

EO

and Project

Managers

Flex Managem

ent System

training

Em

ail links to instructional video, user guide, and Flex M

anagement S

ystem evaluation

February 2014

CE

O and P

roject M

anagers R

evise and finalize Flex M

anagement

In person feedback session

April 2014

If finalized, proceed. If revisions are needed, revise and repeat the pilot process

Com

pany wide introduction of Flex M

anagement System

E

mployees

Introduce Flex Managem

ent S

ystem

In person presentation; Perform

ance M

anagement departm

ent June 2014

Com

pany wide Pilot of Flex M

anagement System

Flex M

anagement S

ystem to be publicly launched on FlexN

et June 2014

Em

ployees Flex M

anagement S

ystem

Training E

mail links to instructional video, user guide, and

Flex Managem

ent System

evaluation June 2014

FlexTech R

evise and improve Flex

Managem

ent System

Feedback forum

on FlexNet provided to all

employees to voice concerns and suggestions for

improvem

ent

Initiate in July 2014; continue bi yearly

Flex Managem

ent System

2014 Rollout Schedule

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Budget

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Budget Hours:

6 Supervisors X 4hrs/yr = 24hrs

16 Employees X 2hrs/yr= 32hrs

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Appendix A

Performance Management Questionnaire

● Do you have a performance management system in place to evaluate employee performance?

○ If so, what does it entail?

○ If not, why not? Do you have anything in place to evaluate employee performance?

● How often do you evaluate employee performance with this system?

● Are there any informal ways you evaluate employee performance?

● How do you give your employees feedback?

● How do employees give supervisors feedback?

● Is your performance management system more qualitative or quantitative?

● Are there any checks and balances in this system?

● What core competencies do you evaluate employees on?

● What medium is this system (paper, electronic, etc.)?

● How does your performance management system align with organizational goals and values?

● How does your performance management system handle employee compensation?

● Is there any particular way you communicate the use of this system to employees/supervisors?

● How much did it cost to implement this system? Did you outsource its creation?

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Appendix B

Performance Review Survey Questions

1. Is ________ patient when necessary?

2. Is ________self-confident?

3. Is _________open to feedback?

4. Is _________open to criticism?

5. Does __________have hidden agendas?

6. Is__________ trustworthy?

7. Is__________ respected by others?

8. Is___________ sincere and straightforward?

9. Is__________ selfish?

10. Is___________ punctual?

11. Does____________ accept responsibility for mistakes?

12. Can______________ be trusted with sensitive information?

13. Does______________ pursue new experiences, knowledge and skills?

14. Does_______________ know their own strengths and boundaries?

15. Does_______________ recognize the value of people with different talents and skills?

16. Does________________ bring conflicts into the open for appropriate resolution?

17. Does______________ listen effectively?

18. Does_______________ adjust to change without frustration?

19. Does______________ follow-through?

20. Does______________ dress appropriately for the workplace?

21. Does_______________ take pride in their work?

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Appendix C

User Guide

1. Log into FlexNet.

2. Go into forms and find the Performance Assessment page.

3. Read the message and instructions and click the link.

4. Take the assessment: Keep in mind you need to take this assessment for each person in your individual department and yourself, therefore after you have taken it, reload the link and complete it as many times as necessary.

5. Lastly, the final question asks how you want your feedback on your personal assessments. Only answer this question on your self-evaluation.

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Performance Assessment Message & Link

Sample Evaluation Questions

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Appendix D

Upper Management Flex Performance Management System Pilot

Announcement: Sample Email To: Jwalsh@FlexTech.com, GFernau@FlexTech.com, JBarish@FlexTech.com, JSegal@FlexTech.com, MMorris@FlexTech.com From: HR@FlexTech.com Date: Mon, Feb 3, 2014 at 9:00 AM Subject: Flex Performance Management System to Pilot Good Morning, As discussed over the past few months, FlexTech will be piloting its new performance management system with upper management. This two-month pilot will provide upper management ample time to interact with this new evaluation system and provide feedback to the HR Performance Management team. FlexTech Performance Management System will be available on FlexNet. You will also find links to the system’s user guide and instructional video on FlexNet. If you have any comments or concerns within the coming weeks please email Megan Morris (MMorris@FlexTech.com). Have a Great Week! HR Department-Performance Management FlexTech HR@FlexTech.com | 607.487.7214 ext. 4

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Company-Wide Flex Performance Management System Pilot

Announcement: Sample Email To: FlexTech@FlexTech.com From: HR@FlexTech.com Date: Mon, June 2, 2014 at 9:00 AM Subject: Flex Performance Management System to Pilot Good Morning, As discussed over the past few months, FlexTech will be piloting its new performance management system. This pilot will allow all employees to learn and use the system, while providing feedback to the HR Performance Management team. FlexTech Performance Management System will be available on FlexNet. You will also find links to the system’s user guide and instructional video on FlexNet. If you have any comments or concerns within the coming weeks please email Megan Morris (MMorris@FlexTech.com). In July a forum will be added to FlexNet where all employees are encouraged to voice their opinions and concerns about the new system. Have a Great Week! HR Department-Performance Management FlexTech HR@FlexTech.com | 607.487.7214 ext. 4

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References

Works Cited

Lawler, Edward. "Reward Practices and Performance Management System Effectiveness." CEO USC. Version G 03-21 (449). Center for Effective Organizations, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. <http://ceo.usc.edu/pdf/G0321449.pdf>.

Pulakos, Elaine. "Performance Management- A roadmap for developing, implementing, and evaluating performance management systems."Effective Practice Guidelines. SHRM Foundation, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. <http://www.oshr.nc.gov/Guide/PerformanceMgmt/docs/PM_Roadmap%20to%20design_implement_eval_Pulakos.pdf>.

Saravanja, Marko. "10 Reasons Why Performance Management Fails and how to remedy them." Regenesys Business School. Integrated Performance Management Systems, 7 Mar. 2011. Web. 10 Feb. 2014. <http://regenesys.co.za/2011/03/10-reasons-why-performance-management-fails-and-how-to-remedy-them/>.

"The Importance of Performance Management." FFAS Human Resources. United States Department of Agriculture, n.d. Web. 9 Feb. 2014. <http://www.fsa.usda.gov/Internet/FSA_Fil

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