Conducting Employee Evaluations and Performance Appraisals - Essay Example

Organizational Behavior Organizational Behavior Organizations, being social s considerably rely on human beings to achieve their goals. Human resources are the most important type of resources in an organizational context. As such, they play a key role in the success of these organizations, especially in the service delivery and the production process. However, as these organizations comprise of groups, there is likely to be issues emerging from among the employees. Understanding organizational behavior is the only best way of managing employees in an organization. While proper management of organizational behavior leads to good relationships among the employees, poor organizational behavior management can lead to poor performance among the individual employees and groups (McGinnis, 2006). Group dynamics affect the operations of organizations. In most cases, group dynamics negatively affect the employee performance. Various theories explain factors responsible for the various behavioral types employees exhibit towards each other. The variance theory explains the various causes of behavior in an organizational context. The organizational structure, people, technology and the working environment are the most important factors influencing organizational behavior (McGinnis, 2006). If there is the absence of joy and happiness in the workplace, diagnosing the causes of these incidences is the only way of solving these problems. Meetings are an important component for effective management. Despite the escalated issues affecting the organization bovver time, and issues in the meetings, the organization has not done away with the meetings. The role played by meetings in the management process and policy formulation strategies has considerable effects in any organization. They help in the policy implementation process by designing the way and direction the organizations should take. In an effort to achieve normal operations in the organization and meetings serve their intended purpose, discipline is essential. Calling of names, flaming emails between co-workers, official charges brought to HR, uncivil behavior in meetings leading, sometimes, to screaming, name-calling, and physical threats is an indication of unmotivated, stressed and an organizational work that lacks morals. Changing the organizational structure is one of the ways of achieving the change (Hofstede, et al., 1997). According to systems theory, organizations are organs comprised of different parts performing a similar task. However, the criteria of organizing these parts determine the organizational behavior. Although an organization using departments has strong functional expertise, there is a high likelihood of lack of collaboration between the employees in these functions. Further, hierarchical organizational structure affects the success of the organization; the higher the number of hierarchies, the higher is the loss of job satisfaction among the employees in the lower levels. Individual thinking and perception influences such behavior (Hofstede, et a., 1997). Employees in the lower levels could have a bad perception about their seniors, especially that they have a lower stake in the organization. At the same time, they could believe that the senior employees down look upon them, leading to such in eventualities in the organization. Thus, in addition to providing the subordinates with an opportunity to express them, it is important to consider the organizational structure. The flatter is the organizational structure, the greater the cohesiveness of employees in the organization. Additionally, whenever holding meetings, it is important for the employees to feel part of the group. The chair arrangement should be in the form of a discussion, rather than a presentation format. With all employees assuming the same level in the meeting, it reduces the boss-servant relationship, thus reducing the aggression between the members. Thus, I would ensure a flat organization with functional departments by introducing a quality assurance department that would overlook at the entire employee performance. Performance evaluation Employee evaluation is an important element in the appraisal process. Every organization conducts employee evaluation in order to reward them and in other cases establish strong and weak performers. According to the law, employee evaluation should be a fair process, free of discrimination and bias. As such, fair employee evaluation is an evaluation process that follows the recommendations of the law. It is an effective and an unbiased process of combining both written and oral elements of employees in order to establish their ability to perform their duties and responsibilities. In such a case therefore, the evaluation criteria used on one employee should cut across all the employees in the organization. It is also imperative to use similar performance measures in the evaluation process. Various factors, relative to an organization make fair employee evaluation desirable.  Baskin (2002) argues that fair employee evaluation is not only important to associations seeking for safety in cases related to unlawful dismissal and unequal employment opportunities, but also an important element to the organizational performance.  Baskin points out that it matters whenever an evaluation process is fair or unfair. Not only does it benefit the employee, it also benefits the employer. Fair employee evaluation and appraisal is an important element for increasing employee morale, motivation, and productivity in the organization. Further, it helps in retaining high performing employees, increases efficiency and employee effectiveness. The differences in the leadership styles influence this reasoning. While transactional leaders believe that employee rewards are subject to their performance, transformational leaders believe otherwise. According to Armstrong (2012) on transformational leaders, the higher is the motivation of these employees the better is their performance. Subsequently, they motivate employees through fair employee evaluation in an effort to achieve organizational productivity. A highly motivated workforce, both intrinsically and extrinsically is a recipe for high organizational performance. However, improper employee evaluation and appraisal processes, either marred with bias and discrimination considerably increases the chances of litigation of the employer. Thus, fairness in the evaluation process is not only beneficial to the employee, but largely to the organization involved. Despite the willingness of an organization to provide their employees with a fair evaluation, certain factors hinder this process. Psychological processes are an important hindrance to fair employee evaluation. Perception is one of the psychological processes affecting fair employee evaluation. Whenever the evaluator considers an employee as weak, then there is a high likelihood of the evaluation bias in the results. Personality is yet another process. Personality determines the character of an individual. While some people are introverts, others are extroverts. If the evaluator dislikes the character of an individual during the appraisal and evaluation process, there is a high likelihood of biasness in the results. Introverts are less communicators and less active in most events. As evaluation is a social process heavily relying on effective communication process, such people are likely to suffer. In addition to psychological processes interfering with the evaluation process, organizational processes could also hinder the process. Employees on an alternative work schedule Goals of company influence the evaluation process. Companies, which set their goals high, will have a rigid evaluation process, while those that have relatively achievable goals will have a flexible evaluation process. As employee behaviours help in achieving these goals, it is important for the organisation to consider the kind of behaviours exhibited by their employees and establish whether they influence their performance. Measures used in determining the performance of employees is yet another determining factor. Different organizations use different performance measures for their employees. Departments also use different performance measures. While marketing department uses sales volumes, the accounts department uses accuracy and the customer care department uses number of clients served. The level of training is also an important factor. Some of the employees have higher training than others do. Subjecting all of these to the same evaluation criteria is unfair. High training increases the chances of better performance among then employees, thus disadvantaging the less trained employees. No Asshole Rule By: Robert I. Sutton Although considered as bad and sources of stress for the rest of the employees, narcissists play a big role in the organization. They intimidate the rest of the employees with their behavior, keep them on their toes and harass them whenever need be. Managers and business leaders know this very well, and thus hire narcissists and assholes in their organization. Most of the managers have survived this way. While the Narcissists and assholes will cause considerable fuss and commotion, at times brushing everybody the wrong way, they are performers. They work hard and whenever they achieve anything, it is to the benefit of the organization. Their high spirit and behavior bring awake the rest of the employees, subsequently keeping them ion their toes. Despite the fact that Narcissists and assholes get hired, they cause considerable damages in the organization. The fact that their damages in most cases do not negatively affect the organizational performance is the main reason why they retain their jobs. They increase the number of cases presented to the human resource, they destabilize the organizational culture, in most cases interfering with the formal and informal groups, leaving a trail, of a mess in their path. Some narcissists and assholes do not know their boundaries; hence may end up disrupting meetings whenever in need of the manager or assistance. Narcissists and assholes inflict a number of costs to themselves. As their behavior is least pleasant to other people, they end up loners with little or no friends. Few people want their company, as they know their friendship rarely lasts. They thus find themselves working on tasks alone, solving problems single-handed. In some instances, they get summons, which could culminate to suspension. On the other hand, because of their character, they work with little stress. In fact, some of them are high performers, as they have little time for chitchat in the office. They meet deadlines easily and thus get promotions easily. It is wrong for organizations to hire assholes to help in improving the performance. Although these individuals have a considerable influence in the overall performance of the organization, their harassment is uncalled. This is one of the ways of achieving results. While an asshole is a member of the subordinates, it could escalate issues among the employees, negatively affecting their output. There is nothing as bad as having an unruly employee whose behavior the managers cannot tame. On the contrary, it is better for the managers to use the rule of intimidation to tame their workforce, other than an asshole whom everybody would know serves the purpose for the managers. Comparison between Bullying and Mobbing Bullying, a term used to describe the repetitive patterns of negatively intrusive volitional behavior against one or more targets comprises of a number of elements such as constant trivial criticisms of an individual, unwillingness to value and acknowledge efforts or ideas of others, undermining an individual and discrediting others, among other unacceptable behaviors (Duffy & Sperry, 2014). On the other hand, mobbing, which is a form of bullying, does not constitute any form of violence but as an emotional abuse of a group discrediting, humiliating and isolating an individual from among the group (Duffy & Sperry, 2014). Although quite different, the two concepts have similarities. Both use similar behavioral mechanisms in order to achieve their goals. They have similar goals, which in most cases is either punishing or pushing an individual out of the work place. Both mobbing and bullying will target an individual’s emotions, challenging that individual’s efforts and capabilities in handling situations. They both have similar results. However, they are relatively different. Although used interchangeably, their differences are far reaching than just the motives. Mobbing should have a leader, commonly known as the ringleader. The bully is the person who performs all acts of bullying, while the rest of the group members rally behind him. Other incidences refer to mobbing as a collective attack against one person. On the other hand, bullying takes place between two people and in some cases can lead to physical confrontation, which is absent in mobbing. However, whenever there is the existence of psychopaths, the chief bully intimidates the target into fighting the minor bully, thus getting away with the crime. Highly stressing organizational environments increases these incidences. As people try to relieve off their stress, they could turn against each other. Further, if other employees believe that one of them is a spy, or a foot soldier of the management, there is a high likelihood of such behaviors happening. Finally, stiff competition among the employees increases chances of such incidences, especially where the bully feels that the target is a threat to their success. Improving the organizational communication is one of the ways of stopping bullying and mobbing among the employees. Organizing team building is yet another solution. Performance as a method of employment evaluation Performance is the best employment evaluations that organizations can use on their employees. Performance is an indication of effectiveness and competence among employees in an organization. It is possible to measure an employee performance through time series or by the use of standards such as unit sales, number of client served or distance covered. Performance is also an element of motivation for most of the employees. There are two main types of methods used to motivate employees in an organization, monetary and non-monetary (Armstrong, 2012). While monetary is an indirect form of motivation, non-monetary directly comes from the individual. The feeling of achievement of an employee working in an organization i8ntrinsicalkly motivates them to work hard. Thus, using performance as a measure of employment evaluation is not only a good method of employee evaluation, as it is quantifiable, but also a good source of intrinsic motivation for the workforce. While evaluating employees, it is important to consider various parameters and measures of evaluation. Interviews are the most effective methods of evaluation. It is important to understand that evaluation should be a discussion between the evaluator and the employee. Therefore, giving the employee an opportunity to describe him or herself and assign weight to their performance in it is a form of motivation. it should not be a one sided affair where the evaluator call the shots and comes up with a verdict. Giving the employee a chance to rate their performance and give personal recommendations on how to improve is important. The use of past performance is yet another important measure. Comparison always necessary as it shows the employee performance trend. In case of an increasing trend, the evaluator should congratulate the employee and look for ways of maintaining the trend. On the other hand, it is important to look for ways of improving a decreasing performance trend. References Armstrong, M. (2012). Armstrongs handbook of human resource management practice. London: Kogan Page. Baskin, M. (2002). Legal Guidelines for Associations for Conducting Employee Evaluations and Performance Appraisals, asae.com. retrieved from http://www.asaecenter.org/Resources/whitepaperdetail.cfm?ItemNumber=12208 Duffy, M. P., & Sperry, L. (2014). Overcoming mobbing: A recovery guide for workplace aggression and bullying. Ekka, N. (2009). Importance of a fair appraisal system, shine.com. retrieved from http://info.shine.com/Career-Advice-Articles/Appraisal/Importance-of-a-fair-appraisal-system/1885/cid776.aspx Hofstede, G., Hofstede, G. J., & Minkov, M. (1997). Cultures and organizations. New York: McGraw-Hill. McGinnis, S. K. (2006). Organizational Behavior and Management Thinking. Health Care Finance: Basic Tools for Nonfinancial Managers, 37. Read More