Criteria for effectiveness of a performance management system
Organizations use different ways to measure the performance of their employees. An effective performance management system must have strategic congruence, valid, reliable, acceptable, and specific (Phillips & Gully, 2013).
Strategic congruence: The performance management system adopted by the organization must match with the organization’s culture, goals, and strategy.
Validity: The validity of a performance management system represents its ability to assess all relevant aspects needed in the performance. When the performance system aims at improving productivity, the aspects used in the system must be relevant to the job performed by the employee.
Reliability: A performance management system must show consistency. Individuals evaluating the employee's level of performance must consider the reliability of the evaluating method to achieve consistent results.
Acceptability: The people targeted by the performance management system must accept it without any question. All the organization’s stakeholders must be satisfied with the performance measurement system.
Specific: The performance management system must give the target people the expected results. Employees need a brief on what the organization expects from them before signing the performance measurement.
How Google meets these criteria
Organizations have unique sets of core values different from competitors that promote business success in the business environment. Google has the most advanced and effective human resource management practices in the world and applies its unique strategies to meet the criteria of an effective performance management system. First, Google hires only the best employees in the job market. The strategy allows the company's workforce always to adhere to Google values, organization objectives, and culture; hence, leading to the success of the performance management system. Second, the performance management system adopted by Google aims at providing great results. Google informs her employees of the expected outcome from any performance appraisal program promoting reliability and specificity. Moreover, the company's performance management system helps maintain talented employees by fulfilling their needs and desires; hence, fulfilling the criteria of acceptability and reliability.
Errors arising in the way Google collect performance data from managers, and how to minimize these errors
Google uses a comparison process to rate the performance of an individual employee against other employees instead of matching the performance level with the organizational goals. The mode of collection introduces contrast errors where employees compete against each other and not towards achieving the company goals. Google could avoid the contrast error by directing managers to help employees focus on organizational goals through working in teams whereby the company rewards a team and not individual employees.
Steps that might be involved in Google’s performance management process
Google Inc uses a scale to rate the performance of their employees. The first step in the performance measurement process involves the creation of a group of peer reviewers by employees and their leaders. The reviewers create a list of things expected from employees and things they need to do to create change. In the second step, groups of leaders from different employees' groups review the ratings of all staff members. The process helps reduce bias. The valuation of individual employee starts with the most recent behavior demonstrated in the company (Taylor, 2015).
References
Phillips, J. M., & Gully, S. M. (2013). Human resource management. Mason, Ohio: South-
Western Centage Learning.
Taylor, C. (2015, June 22). How Google does performance management. HC Online. Retrieved
March 15, 2016, from http://www.hcamag.com/hr-news/how-google-does-performance-management-201828.aspx
