| PERFORMANCE APPRAISALS — THE
HORNS OF A DILEMMA |
| Since pre-historic times, humans have
participated in performance appraisals. Whether it was
throwing a spear at a saber-toothed tiger to attain the
status of chief of the tribe, or becoming dinner for the
tiger because of poor aim, humans have experienced the
effects of both positive and negative performance.
According to Dulewicz (1989), there is "a basic human
tendency to make judgments about those [with whom] one
is working, as well as about oneself." While the
consequences of performance appraisals are rarely life
or death in the workplace, they can be severe. The real
potential for damage may be greater than the probability
of positive outcomes.
Standard performance reviews require making
judgments, and the challenge then becomes judging in a
fair, equitable and legally defensible manner. Unless
performance review processes are structured and
systematic, there is little chance of meeting the
challenge.
Performance review system goals may be divided into
two major types. The first type is when the performance
review is intended to determine differential
compensation between employees at varying levels of
performance. The second type is when a performance
review is used as a developmental tool, designed to help
everyone in the system improve performance over time.
Each type has its advocates, but the general trend in
recent years appears to favor the developmental
approach, as the compensation model contains more
negative than positive outcomes.
Developmental performance reviews that achieve the
goals of being fair, equitable and defensible usually
fall within one of three broad categories. These include
rating scales, essays, and results-based appraisals,
with rating scales of some type being the most widely
used. This type of ratings approach is characterized by
the organizational relationship of the individual(s)
participating in the rating process. A downward format
is where the boss does the rating. An upward format is
where subordinates rate their superiors, and a lateral
format is where peers participate in the review of one
of their own. The 360 degree review, or a review by
co-workers from all three groups (boss, subordinates and
peers), has the balance lacking in the other three types
of limited appraisals.
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Today's market is saturated with 360
degree instruments, ranging from hastily prepared
instruments developed in-house, to thoroughly researched
and scientifically validated tools. As with any other
employment related assessment, businesses seeking
results and defensibility are well advised to carefully
investigate the science (validity and reliability)
behind the instrument. Once the results of the
appraisal are completed, the real work begins. How does
an organization accomplish positive change and
development in an individual where the review has
earmarked clear gaps in the individual's performance
between the groups of participants? Employee buy-in is
an important factor. The more the employee is involved
in self-auditing the results, the more buy-in and change
is likely to occur. In the ideal situation, the results
of the review form the basis for the real and meaningful
communication that fosters growth.
If the results are widely valued and systematically
analyzed within the organization, training and
development programs can be formulated around the
desired outcomes, leading to positive, measurable
organizational change. A well designed, properly
executed 360 degree appraisal may be the most useful
form of performance review in business today. Consider
including a 360 degree performance appraisal as a part
of your organization's developmental process! |
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FISHING FOR BETTER APPLICANTS — DEEPEN YOUR
POOL
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| Expanding Job Markets
Increase Recruiting Challenges
In today's growing job market, the search for the
elusive quality applicant becomes more difficult.
When your business begins to feel like there are no
quality applicants to be found, consider the model
of the fisherman. When drought strikes: The lake is
dry. There are no quality applicants to be found.
Move to a new lake, build one, or find a new water
source! Are you tapping all the sources in your
area? Have you worked with your state and local
bureau of employment, college placement departments,
and senior services? Have you tried online
resources? Most communities have not-for-profit
agencies seeking to place workers that have been
rehabilitated after injuries, or retrained after
having lost a job due to mergers, downsizing or
plant closings. Reaching the age of 65 years is no
longer synonymous with retirement. Older, more
experienced workers, now finding themselves out of
work many times posses the added bonus of a better
work ethic. Find new water and you’ll catch fish
again!
When the fish quit biting: Change your bait!
Examine your recruiting advertising. Are you still
using the same tired ads in the same unproductive
venues? Change your bait, and the fish may bite
again! Compare the two ads in the next column: For
one Profiles client, the second ad produced a new
“bite” of quality applicants! It cost more and took
some thought, but it worked!
When the pond contains only small fish: grow them
bigger! Investing in your existing employees,
carefully identifying their potential for growth,
and nurturing their development may be your best
option to grow big fish for your business. They
already have the skills you need, combined with
loyalty to your organization. Give them the chance
to grow! Providing resources and opportunities for
growth can be challenging, but almost always pays
dividends in the long run. Compared to a long,
tedious trip in search of bigger fish, fish food may
be cheap! |
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HVAC Installer
Stable company seeks hard worker for
long term employment. Dependable, honest,
enjoys working with hands. Construction
environment, great benefits with
retirement option. Skills can be taught
while employed. Sharp uniforms,
professional looking. Satisfaction with
job well done. Call 555-2222 for appt.
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HVAC Installer
Want to learn a trade while you
make a good living?
Leave that low-paying, dead-end job
behind, and start down the road to a
better career! If you like working with
your hands, know how to work hard, are
dependable and honest, we need you! We
will teach you skills on the job, help
with your ongoing education, and provide
long-term benefits that allow you to meet
your personal and family goals! If you are
motivated and have long-term goals, Call
us at 555-2222 today! We can offer you a
way to start, and a way to go for the rest
of your life!
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IN SEARCH OF “COMMON SENSE”
BY JOHN W. HOWARD & JOHN HAUBER |
| Often when we ask a hiring manager or business owner
what they look for in a prospective employee, the
concept of “common sense” comes bounding to the
forefront. We talk about it, we see it as desirable, and
most of us assume we have it (just as all of the
children in Lake Woebegone are “above average”).
Unfortunately, we seem to lack agreement on exactly what
it means. A Google internet search on the term yields
over eight million hits, with a strong preponderance of
political viewpoint sites, each convinced their position
“has it.” The more confident among them even name their
group or site with the words, as though wearing the
label insures the characteristic. In fact, that’s a
valid question — is common sense a characteristic at
all? Is it just a label, with no consistent grounding in
human behavior? Is it a political term? Or does it,
perhaps, mean “thinking just like I do?” Since common
sense is valued in the business world, given the general
lack of agreement, we have decided to scientifically
pursue this elusive idea, and will keep you apprised of
any progress we may make! |
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| EARLY MEASUREMENT OF EFFECTS OF
A STRATEGIC HIRING SYSTEM |
| A good-sized credit union is thoroughly
committed to a learning culture, and development of
superior leadership from within its own ranks. It was a
natural step in their evolution to institute a strategic
hiring system with multiple goals; to reduce turnover
and increase retention of quality employees, to improve
the overall quality of employees hired, and to hire
people who were likely to succeed and develop within
their service and sales oriented culture.
To accomplish these goals the credit union, working
closely with their Profiles representative, adopted a
“funnel” model of selection. At the wide end of the
funnel, applicants are screened for suitability on the
basis of their application documents. Those chosen to
enter the interview process first complete an
honesty-integrity assessment (the Step One Survey II™,
or SOSII). With a strong applicant pool, the credit
union applies a relatively high criterion to the scores
on that instrument. The criterion, combined with an
initial interview (using the assessment’s interview
guide) selects approximately 40% of the pool to continue
the process. At this point, candidates remaining in the
pool complete a job match assessment specific to
customer service jobs (the Customer Service
Perspective™). If their match to the success pattern for
the job under consideration is favorable, they also
complete a job match assessment specific to sales, the
Profile Sales Indicator™ (PSI). A final interview is
conducted, considering the complete file of information
on hand (assessments, employment history, reference
checks, and interview results) and a job offer decision
is reached.
This very comprehensive strategic hiring system is
expected to produce a superior set of hiring decisions
within the context of the goals stated above. When will
effects be apparent?
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This program was implemented in the
Spring of this year, with 20 hires under the system
between the end of March and the middle of July. At the
end of July, supervisors were asked to rate these
employees on a simple, three-tier system:
- top-excellent, expected to be a top performer;
- middle-average, acceptable, expected to become a
good employee, but not a top performer;
- bottom-below average performance, may not be a
long-term employee.
The table below summarizes the very preliminary
findings. Supervisors’ ratings weakly correlated on the
Customer Service Perspective job match scores. There was
a stronger correlation between the employee’s
performance on the Company Service Perspective score (a
measure of agreement with the company’s approach to
customer service). A positive correlation also appeared
with the job match on the Profiles Sales Indicator, and
with the distortion scale (only) on the Step One Survey
II.
Of the 18 employees hired in the six months prior to
the system, five failed to remain employed for four
months beyond their hire; of the 17 hired under the new
system, only one has been terminated thus far.
These preliminary findings and the turnover results
support the desired goal of the hiring system, and
provide support for continuation of this effort. A more
thorough data analysis will follow in the 4th quarter. |
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"Results! Why, man, I have gotten a lot of results. I know
several thousand things that won’t work!" -Thomas Edison
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