HRM textbook

310 PART 3 TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
immediate corrective action as required. By comparison, performance appraisal
systems usually rely on paper forms, or perhaps online or computerized appraisal
forms.
We can summarize performance management s six basic elements as follows: 73
* Direction sharing means communicating the company s goals throughout the
company and then translating these into doable departmental, team, and individual
goals.
* Goal alignment means having a method that enables managers and employees
to see the link between the employees goals and those of their department and
company.
* Ongoing performance monitoring usually includes using computerized systems
that measure and then e-mail progress and exception reports based on the
person s progress toward meeting his or her performance goals.
* Ongoing feedback includes both face-to-face and computerized feedback regarding
progress toward goals.
* Coaching and developmental support should be an integral part of the feedback
process.
* Recognition and rewards provide the consequences needed to keep the employee s
goal-directed performance on track.
Using Information Technology to Support
Performance Management
Performance management needn t be high-tech. For example, in many production
facilities, work teams simply meet daily to review their performance and to get their
efforts and those of their members aligned with their performance standards
and goals.
On the other hand, information technology enables management to automate
performance management and to monitor and correct deviations in real time. We can
sum up this IT-supported performance management process as follows:
* Assign financial and nonfinancial goals to each team s activities along the strategy
map chain of activities leading from the team s activities up to the company s
overall strategic goals. (For example, an airline measures ground crew aircraft
turnaround time in terms of improve turnaround time from an average of
30 minutes per plane to 26 minutes per plane this year. )
* Inform all employees of their goals.
* Use IT-supported tools like scorecard software and digital dashboards to continuously
display, monitor, and assess each team s and employee s performance.
(We discussed this in Chapter 3, Strategy.)
* Take corrective action before things swing out of control. Figure 9-15 presents an
example of an online performance management report for an employee.
FIGURE 9-15 Summary
of Performance Management
Process Report
Source: Performance Management
Report from www.activestrategy.
com/images/7.2/PGM.jpg,
accessed April 29, 2009. Used with
permission of ActiveStrategy, Inc.