Most businesses face the challenge of establishing functional performance management. The main objective of implementing performance management is to enhance and raise the par of employee performance. The most common component of performance management is performance appraisals. According to Martocchion (2016), performance management is defined as “the process by which individual performance is guided, assessed and rewarded”. On the other hand, performance appraisals are defined as “well-established ways of providing milestones, feedback, guidance and monitoring for staff” (Martocchio, 2016). The essence of having effective performance appraisals is to help establish effective merit pay programs. For companies to have efficient merit pay programs, they ought to indicate consistency in their appraisal programs. The most commonly used plans of performance appraisals include goal-oriented systems, trait systems, behavioral systems, and comparison systems.
There are numerous problems that limit the efficiency of the appraisal system implemented in precision. For one, none of the employees has a respective job description. Therefore, the employees lack a concise understanding of their expectations as per their respective roles (Martocchio, 2016). This also implies that the supervisors lack a clear understanding of what each employee is expected to do. Job descriptions are used as tools in appraisals to develop objective measures. Secondly, the company can face a legal law suit based on their across-the-board payment system. According to the 1963 Equal Pay Act, some employees would be rewarded by the law if they sued on the basis of illegal pay discrimination (Debrincat, 2015).
There is poor communication between the employees and their respective supervisors. As stated in the case, the supervisors only address the employees when discussing the appraisal performances or when the employee is experiencing a work-related problem. Communication is critical in getting the employees to comprehend the need for a new appraisal system as well as its regulations. It will also ensure that each employee comprehends what is expected of them. The company should also anticipate resistance from the employees. This resistance can best be addressed through effective communication (Falcone, & Tan, 2013). Whenever undertaking an appraisal, the level of accuracy and validity of the results has a significant impact. Therefore, the supervisory ratings used should be fair, reasonable, and accurate. At Precision, most people are rated as being average. This implies that there is a flaw in the accuracy of the used measures.
The first recommendation is to have the supervisors undergo training. Taking an effective appraisal interview is not an easy task. Moreover, not all supervisors have the relevant skills to undertake such tasks. The lack of skills is bound to have a negatively influence the validity of the appraisals. According to researchers in the human resource field, training of supervisors helps avoid accuracy errors in appraisals. Secondly, the firm needs to establish measurements that are more objective and specific (Falcone, & Tan, 2013). Scholars indicate that employee performance is bound to improve if firms cease using subjective measurements. Such a shift can be attained by using behavioral-based appraisal systems and training supervisors on accuracy. Finally, Precision needs to integrate performance appraisal goals into the system. Using appraisal systems is mean to acknowledge the higher performing set of candidates as opposed to identifying the most proficient individual. The goals set for the appraisal should be comprehensive in that both the employees and organization stand to benefit (Debrincat, 2015). The company is struggling to remain competitive in the industry. This can only be realized by ensuring that employee performance is above par.
References
Debrincat, G. (2015). The effectiveness of performance appraisal systems: Employee relations and human resource management.
Falcone, P., & Tan, W. (2013). The performance appraisal tool kit: Redesigning your performance review template to drive individual and organizational change. New York: AMACOM, American Management Association.
Martocchio, J. J. (2016). Strategic compensation: A human resource management approach. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson Education Internet.
