Human Resource Management (ENG) — Ünite 5 Soru-Cevap

Performance is a criterion of how much an individual can achieve his/her goals.

Performance management is the process of creating a work environment where people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities. Performance appraisal is the process of recognizing, observing, measuring, and developing human resources in the organization.

In general, the main purpose of performance appraisal is to enable employees to perform better by nurturing their motivation through an award system, rules and regulations in the workplace (Gizaw, 2010, p.1).

There are seven reasons why performance appraisal is increasingly considered by businesses (Bayyurt, p.578):

1. Labor costs.
2. Competition.
3. The role change in organizations.
4. Change in external demands.
5. Special development initiatives.
6. Information Technologies.
7. National and International quality awards.

The benefits of performance appraisal to the business:

• Business efficiency and profitability increase.
• It helps the business achieve its goals and implement its mission.
• Things to be done in the business can be clearly identified.
• The product quality of the business improves.
• The training needs of the employees and the training budget can be determined more easily.
• It becomes easier to set wage standards and reward achievements.
• The development potential of the individuals in the business is more
  accurately determined.
• Finding and selecting qualified staff becomes easier for new tasks and transfers in the business.
• The strengths and weaknesses of the company can be determined for the
  personnel.
• It provides flexibility in eliminating shortterm human needs in the business (such as absenteeism, labor turnover).

The benefits of performance appraisal to employees:
• Reveals what the superiors expect from the employees and how they evaluate their performance
• Identifies the strengths and weaknesses
• Enables the employees to understand that they should take responsibility for their performance.
• Supports the career development of employees.
• Establishes a fair evaluation environment in the organization.
• Increases the motivation of the employees.

The performance appraisal process consists of six stages:

1. Determination of performance standards
2. Communicating performance expectations to employees
3. Measure actual performance
4. Comparison of actual performance with standards
5. Discuss the appraisal with the employee
6. Initiate corrective action

Performance standards can be listed as follows (Şimşek and Öğe, 2012, p. 317);
a. They should be simple, easy to understand and work-related.
b. They should be suitable for the intended purpose or the user’s needs.
c. They should be able to present the current situation with all its reality.
d. They must be numeric. As the numerical standards are more easily understood, it becomes much more meaningful and strong as it is supported by qualitative ones.
e. They must be flexible so that they should be able to respond to the changing needs of organizations. Especially when strategies change, they should be reviewed and changed if necessary.
f. They should explain performance both physically and in monetary terms.
g. They should allow an analysis of both internal and external factors.

Before deciding which performance appraisal method to use, attention paid to the following points will increase the effectiveness and success of the appraisal (Bakan and Kelleroğlu, 2003, p.113);
• The structure of each method, what it measures and the problems that may raise should be analyzed well.
• The method to be used must be appropriate to the organizational structure and policies.
• The method to be used should be accepted and adopted by employees and managers.

Whichever type of performance appraisal method is chosen, it is important that the chosen method should be compatible with the organization, the structure of the human resource, the organizational culture, the production field of the organization, and the similar features of the organization.

Traditional performance appraisal methods are

• Ranking Method
• Paired Comparison
• Graphic Rating Scales
• Forced Distribution Method
• Critical Incidents Method

The ranking method is about ranking employees from the best to the worst on a particular trait, choosing the highest, then the lowest, until all ranked (Aggarwal and Thakur, 2013, p. 617)

Critical Incidents Method
It is a method of systematically monitoring the positive and negative behaviors and actions of superiors during the task and recording the results of this monitoring process (Üzüm and Uçkan, 2018, p.260). These records are about actions that are performed at work, and they determine the success or failureof the employee and usually include definitions about the work behavior and working conditions of employees. The manager then informs the employee about these feedbacks. In this method, the appraisal is based on the work-related behaviors of employees instead of personal characteristics such as independence
and loyalty (Akçakanat, 2009, p. 29). The critical incidents method is a method that will contribute to the organization if used with other performance methods.

Modern performance appraisal methods are:

• Management by Objectives Method (MBO)
• Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS)
• 360- Degree Appraisal Method
• Assessment Centers Method
• The Balanced Scorecard Method (BSC)

The problems that can be encountered during the performance appraisal can
be listed as follows (Ak, 2015, p.2);

• The Halo Effect
• Tolerance and Flexibility
• Biases
• One-Way Measurement
• The Average Trend
• Near History Effect
• Influenced by The Employee’s Position
• Contrast Effect

The Halo effect is that the evaluator, who sees the excellence of an employee in certain business intervals, is affected by this and evaluates this employee higher than in other areas. In other words, when evaluating the performance of the
employee, the evaluator is affected by the first good performance and can make other performance evaluations incorrect (Ak, 2015, p. 3).

This type of error occurs when the performance appraisal is made considering the performance of the employee over the last few months or weeks. The assessor does not care much about the employee’s past activities (Bakan, 2014, p.257). However, performance appraisal should be carried out to cover the whole period.

Career generally refers to the tasks to be followed by the individual throughout his/her working life. In the past, there was a false belief that career was necessary only for professionals. Today, it is believed that career is a concept which applies to all employees. Career is a path in which the individual progresses in a job that he/she has chosen, and as a result he/she gains more money, takes more responsibility, obtains higher status, and more power and respect (Can Akgün and Kavuncubaşı, 1995, p.63). Even though the concept of career is associated with individuals who have jobs with high status or rapid progress, it in fact applies to all employees of the organization. All the staff can
make a career without any work or organizational location being important.

1. Career Path
2. Career Mobility
3. Career Plateau
4. Career Trail
5. Career Map
6. Career Values

Career management is the process of determining an alternative job, occupation, and organization appropriate to the individual’s abilities, interests, values, and preferred lifestyle.

The goals of career management can be listed as follows (http:// www.managementstudyguide.com/objectives-ofcareer-development systems.htm):
1. Ensuring better communication within the organization
2. Helping to make career decisions
3. Using employee’ abilities better
4. Identifying realistic goals
5 Creating a pool of skilled employees
6 Increasing career satisfaction
7. Getting to plan ahead

These benefits are explained below.
1. Employee’s knowledge, skills and ability can be better utilized in achieving organizational  goals.
2. Human resources that the organization may need in the future may be better predicted.
3. Confidential expectations of employees about career can be revealed and thus
possible frustrations can be eliminated.
4. If there are conflicts between the organization and the career goals of the individual, these goals become clear and consistent.
5. Employees who make a major contribution to the organization can be prevented from leaving the organization.
6. Employee motivation can be increased and their contribution to the organization can be positively affected.
7. Training programs can be arranged in accordance with the employees’ career plans.

The problems encountered by managers:
• The individual characteristics of employees and career opportunities in the organization do not match.
• There could be a failure to provide continuity in the feedback system regarding
career planning.
• Performance analysis is not performed effectively by employees.
• The manager is unable to perform a good guide and advisor role.
• The manager cannot establish good communication with the employees.

Career planning is to improve the knowledge, skills, and abilities of the
individual in order for him/her to progress in the organization.

Individual career planning is a process in which individuals should identify what they need to do in order to reach their goals.

The individual career planning process consists of four stages listed below (Fiske, 2008):
1. Self-assessment. An individual should know himself/herself very well before
planning a career. . For this, there are some questions that the individual needs
to answer. These questions are: Who am I? What are my interests? What skills do I have? What are my business values? What is my working style?
2. Discovering. At this stage, it is necessary to determine the jobs, occupations and work areas that are suitable for the skills and interests.
3. Focusing. Short, medium and long-term career goals are determined. At this stage, the individual should make an accurate assessment between career opportunities and his/her interests, abilities, and personality traits.
4. Job Search. It is the final stage of career planning. The individual should now apply for jobs. To do this, first of all, he must prepare a CV in which he describes himself very well.

Career development is an individual’s ability to develop himself/herself continuously throughout a series of stages, each of which can be distinguished by a unique set of issues, themes and tasks, and official techniques that the organization offers to its employees.