ONE QUESTION (DUE 5/31/16 by 1700 MST) Explain ways the form used for hourly emp
ID: 458510 • Letter: O
Question
ONE QUESTION (DUE 5/31/16 by 1700 MST) Explain ways the form used for hourly employees contributes to errors and distortions in the appraisal process. How would you revise the form to reduce those errors? Explain other steps that need to be taken to further reduce distortions in the process. There are no “right” or “wrong” answers, only well-substantiated opinions based on critical analysis. Regardless of your responses, be sure to substantively support your answers with references to the text and/or outside sources. WORK MUST BE ORIGINAL THOUGHTS
Sorry I'm late, sighs Fatima as she flops into a chair next to you at a local coffee shop. Something came up at work. Lately, there's always something going wrong. Fatima is part of your study group for the PHR certification exam that meets at the coffee shop once a week and she's having trouble making the weekly meetings on time. She goes on to explain that her job in HR at Modern Office Supply has become one discipline problem after another and she doesn't know how much longer she can stand the negativity and tension. Modern Office Supply has 200 employees in two locations in Kansas City, selling office furniture and supplies from an orig-inal Warehouse Showroom, and a second retail-only location that opened three years ago. Fatima joined the company two years ago after a college internship. She works with another HR manager who has been with the company since it started 15 years ago. Fatima explained to the study group that discipline and morale has been going downhill as long as she's been there. Employees are complaining that the family atmosphere: is dis-appearing and they are starting to feel disconnected. She explains that the company picnic last week was a disaster, with most of the warehouse staff showing up late after having their own pre-party. I didn't tell Ben, the senior HR manager, but I think they may have even met with a union organizer,says Fatima wearily. When your study group pressed Fatima for more information she shared the following: ? Ben has asked Fatima to make sure that performance appraisals are all up-to-date. She has found that only 60 percent of the appraisals are current. She has met with indifference or resistance from the managers who are behind in completing appraisals. ? There is only one appraisal form for all non-exempt hourly workers. Ben created the form several years ago so it would be fast and easy for supervisors to complete without much training. Employees are rated either 1 (Unsatisfactory), 2 (Improvement Needed), 3 (Satisfactory), 4 (Very Good), or 5 (Outstanding) on the following work traits: ? Adaptability ? Appearance ? Communication ? Decision making ? Dependability ? Interpersonal effectiveness ? Quality of work ? Quantity of work ? Teamwork Each trait has room for a supervisor comment. Space is left at the end for the supervisor to make comments and suggestions and for the employee to write a comment. ? Supervisors complete the form quickly and often write good job or can do better in the space for comments. Ditto marks are often used in the comment space rather than repeating written comments. Completed forms are frequently sealed in an envelope and given to employees with instructions to read them over and return them to HR with comments and a signature. A few employees report that they haven't received appraisals in years, although their files contain unsigned copies of the forms. ? Ben is sure that he's trained the supervisors on how to complete the forms, but there hasn't been any training that Fatima has been aware of since she started with the company. Complaints from customers and co-workers about rude behav-ior and late deliveries prompted Fatima to meet with delivery driver Gale today about improving his performance. Gale felt he was being singled out as a minority and added, I'm no worse than any other driver here! He produced a copy of his last appraisal form with 4 (Very Good) marked in every category except for 3 (Satisfactory) for Quality of Work and Quantity of Work. Fatima took quick look at the appraisals for four other drivers, including the ones that complained about Gale, and found similar ratings in most categories except 4 (Very Good) for Quality of Work and Quantity of Work. Fatima completed a written warning and made a note to speak to Gale's supervisor. ? Rosa, a new customer service representative, came to Fatima in tears because she thinks her manager hates her. Her performance appraisal was a mix of 2 (Improvement Needed), 3 (Satisfactory), and one 4 (Very Good) rating for Adaptability. Rosa's supervisor, Kelly, was surprised when Fatima questioned her about the appraisal. It's a tough job, she said. Rosa's only been here a year and she still has a lot to learn. I can't honestly say that she's Very Good yet. I only have a couple of reps that actually deserve an Outstanding rating. Evaluations at the retail location seem to be slightly higher and as a result, salaries of the retail location employees have grown slightly higher than at the original warehouse showroom over the last three years causing tension between the two groups of employees. ? All managers are evaluated annually by Hector, Modern Offices' owner and founder. He uses an MBO process that includes meeting with each manager to assess the prior years perform-ance and jointly set goals for the next year. Hector loves the per-sonal contact with the management staff, but growth and expansion in the last three years has left Hector with more man-agers, less time for their assessment meetings and little discus-sion about personal performance the rest of the year. Hector doesn't seem to review the prior year's goals before the meet-ings anymore, so managers are beginning to set easily achiev-able goals, knowing that Hector is getting out of touch and that the meeting doesn't have any consequences. Fatima adds, Ben set up the performance management system years ago when the company was about half the size it is now. It worked when Ben and Hector knew everyone, but we've really out-grown it and it shows. We can't afford a modern web-based system right now, but something has to be done. All I do anymore is listen to complaints and file disciplinary warnings. Ben won't fire anyone who deserves it because the appraisals aren't current and he's afraid they'll sue or claim discrimination. I'm starting to hate my job. Your PHR study group agrees that the issues at Modern Office would be improved by applying some of the concepts you're review-ing for the certification exam. Fatima agrees and asks you to help her create a proposal to improve the performance management process at Modern Office.
Explanation / Answer
First of all any method which doesn’t have any direct or indirect positive or negative impact on the process is useless and impractical. The basic issue of the appraisal process of Modern Office Supply is its ineffectiveness and clumsiness. So in order to make the process up and running first step would be to make it make an impact. A good work should be appreciated and should be rewarded, and vice versa. The process should be having an impact on the workforce contribution proportionally. Then only will the appraisal will be taken seriously by the workers as well as the management.
Any feedback not given on time, is unusable and hopeless. So the most important step to make the process efficient is to make it be updated and effective on time. A cycle needs to be followed and each appraiser and appraisee should have to close the process on time.
The form, which is manually filled and accepted by the appraisee, should be online. The filled forms should be send via email so that the appraisee is informed and has to accept it and work accordingly without any issues.
The letters should be updated in the system along with the final rating in a separate place and tracked.
The final rating should be for cumulative of each Traits or qualities rated (online automated) with proper weightage for each trait (as pre decided)
The mid appraisal meeting would be planned so that each employee knows what he or she is expected to perform and how good or bad he is at that time, so that he can improve or change his or her work habits, accordingly
The number or ratings should be more than reasonable as per the work done. Words like unsatisfactory or improvement needed makes little or no difference, as per word meaning. More apt and distinct rating descriptions like
The "below expectation" rated employee should be put under training so that they are given apt knowledge of the work and time to improve. If still the employee is unable to cope up, in the given frame, then the management can decide if he or she can be utilized somewhere else (with his/her skills) and have to be shown the door.
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