Performance management has been one of the most praised, most criticised and most debated management practices for decades’ (Hutchinson, 2013). Critically analyse the reasons for this situation, and make recommendations as to how the practice of performance management can be improved.
In the past decades, performance management is one of the most admired, censured and argued management practices. (Hutchinson, 2013) A performance management that is well tuned can accomplish organizational success. This essay will examine this state, analysis the performance management practice and comment on it critically.
Performance management defined as a process that is systematic for improving organizational performance by the performance of individuals and teams development. It means when understanding and managing performance within and agreed basis of planned objectives, criteria and capability requirements, the organization can get better results. (Armstrong and Murlis, 1994) Individuals are much less appraising then performance management. Performance management can also define as an integrated approach and strategy to organizations to be successful sustainably that focus on improve the performance and employee development; performance is about how it is achieved and not only about the objectives. Performance management provides to the accomplishment of culture adjustment and integrated with other key HR activities, for example: human capital management and learning, development management and reward management, HRM claims a strong relationship between performance management. (Armstrong, 2009)
The purpose of performance management is to improve and develop individuals and teams performance, so the organizations can get benefits from it. According to Lee (2005), the real aims of performance management can despite in three ways, to correct underprivileged performance, to develop performance and to sustain well performance, all performance management systems should be proposed to create information and data exchange, so the qualitative and characterize performance can discuss, comprehend and agree by the involving individuals. Performance management can manage the both performed poor and great employees; it helps the employees with poor performances to get improvement and retain the employees with excellent performance for future positions. Also, if the organizations crave the employees to be good in certain behaviors, the organizations need to include the required performances in the employee’s appraisal. It can help the organizations congruence their strategy. On the other hand, performance management can help the managers to reward employees accurately, identify of the needs of employees, the manager can adjust their salaries, provide training programs and promote opportunities to the staff through the system. Provide guidance, freedom, and encouragement can help most employees to finish their work faultlessly, so the performance management system should not be a control system. (Egan, 1995)
William Deming (1986) has defined a performance management cycle, it is a natural process of management, not a coincidence, and those processes taking place in this cycle are plan, act, monitor and review. Firstly, it agree the objectives and requirements, generating plans to meet those aims and improve performance and prepare the plans for development to boost the skills and knowledge of the organizations. Secondly, the reference to the plans and new demands carried out the work required to achieve aims. Thirdly, it monitors on the achieving objectives development and react to new demands. Finally, it holds a meeting for review the evaluation process and classify which action need to improve and develop performance for finish the performance management cycle to move to the other cycle.
Objectives can be occupational, indicating to the achievement of role requirements. Individuals enhance their knowledge and skills to improve their performance need to be concern of taking the form of developmental objectives. A good objective need to be SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-framed), many organizations use the SMART analysis to set their own objectives, the objectives are clear and well-defined, able to challenge the high standard performance, agreed and understood by the manager and the individual, achievable within the capabilities of the individual and define timescale, and also work as a team.
Performance management is concerned with analyzing and evaluating performance in achieving objectives and executing plans of development. The investigation of performance will be concerned with hard measures of achievement against purposes and soft assessments of the performance of people as it has affected achieved results. It will base on actual information so the process described as evidence-based performance management. Winstanley and Stuart-Smith (1996) have stated that performance management should run in understood and agreed ethical principles agreements, they argued that the system need to be respect for the individual, individuals should not be treated as means to other ends but ends in themselves. Also, the involving parties in performance management should respect the needs and obsessions of each participant; the performance management needs to operate in a fair way. Nevertheless, the opportunity to analyze the basis upon which decisions were made should be provided to the people that affected by decisions developing from performance management.
An effective performance management system can supports managers and fellows to work as a team, communicate and provide feedback. (Rogers, 2004) Performance management is not easy due to it is demanding. Engelmann and Roesch (1996) have shown that when the employees get the wrong feedback on their work performance would cause poor self-esteem and motivation, managers and employees do a few or no communication of performance and inefficient use of time and action would make the performance management become inefficient. Due to the inefficient problem, Sterbler, Bevan and Robertson (2011) have provided a numbers of requirement principles for performance management to become effectively, they suggested that the aims need to be clear and the success criteria need to be measurable, that should also be designed, easy and possible to operate, focus on performance improvement and role clarity, provide clear and correct training and development frame, lastly, review the performance regularly and openly.
The objectives of performance reviews are motivation, development and communication. Provide useful feedback, respect, encourage and give promote opportunities to employees can motivate them to take control over their development and performance. Feedback is one of the important performance management processes. Feedbacks specify areas for development or improvement and provide opportunity to distinguish achievements, it refers to affected significant behaviors and results in specific ways. The individual have the potential to carry out by generate an origin for developing and expansion abilities relevant both to the current role and future role. Development can be concentrated on the current role, allow employees to supplement and increase the range of the employees required responsibilities and skills. Communication can help the involving parties to communicate about relationships, problems and goals.
Performance management has been criticized and attracts a numbers of critical attentions with different commentators. Crosby (1995) argued that the performance management process is challenging because of the complication and difficulties complicated in one person to sum up the performance of another, despite the excellent designed and planned management scheme, there are a lot of performance management schemes that are designed and managed poorly, appraisal is an unpredictable and basically subjective process and means of despotic or forced control, and it always ignores the factors or performance management system.
The appraisal of performance requires delicate social and psychological skills; a number of managers may not acquire for this requirement,