Unit 6

Question 1

1. What purposes does performance management serve?

Answer 1

a. The purpose of performance management is to ensure that workers’ activities and outputs contribute to an organization’s goals
b. It is useful to view modern performance management efforts as an extension of this dynamic. Employers seek to influence (or control) workers’ behaviour to maximize productivity, and workers may resist if they suspect the outcomes will be disagreeable. Pushing workers too hard can be counterproductive to organizations.
c. HR practitioners can often be in the difficult position of having to mediate the demands of workers and those of senior management.

Question 2

2. Is it fair to characterize performance management as a way employers control workers? Why or why not?

Answer 2

a. Workers may resist both the evaluation and the realignment of their activities and outputs because this represents an alteration of the wage-effort bargain that was struck. That workers can resist performance management reflects the unique nature of labour as a commodity.

Question 3

3. In what ways can an organization terminate an employment relationship? How can organizations avoid a wrongful dismissal lawsuit when they do so?

Answer 3

a. Given that any discipline or termination can open the door to a claim for wrongful dismissal, it is critical that HR staff document misbehaviour, interventions, and discipline/termination in great detail. The employer will rely upon this documentation to justify discipline and dismissal in court.
b. When an employer wants to terminate an employment relationship, it can only lawfully do so
i. (a) by mutual consent,
ii. (b) by the provision of adequate notice (or pay in lieu of notice), or
iii. (c) for just cause.

Question 4

e. Adequate Notice and the Non-culpable Dismissal

Answer 4

i. There may be instances when an employer wishes to terminate an employment relationship for reasons other than just cause. For example:
1. The employer may wish to reduce its workforce because orders for its products have slowed
2. The employer may simply wish to terminate a specific employee because the employee has proven unsatisfactory, but not in a way that merits summary dismissal under the just-cause doctrine.
3. An employer may have just cause for dismissal, but wishes to end the relationship more amicably than by firing the worker for cause (perhaps to forestall a lawsuit).

Question 5

f. Mutual Consent

Answer 5

i. An employee and an employer may mutually decide that they wish to end an employment relationship. They can do so and typically would exchange written confirmation of their joint intent.

Question 6

g. Constructive Dismissal

Answer 6

i. An interesting wrinkle in termination is constructive dismissal. Constructive dismissal is a form of wrongful dismissal that occurs when an employer makes unilateral changes in the terms and conditions of the employment contract that are unacceptable to the employee so that the employee quits of his or own volition.

Question 7

360-degree evaluation

Answer 7

• 360 Degree Feedback is a system or process in which employees receive confidential, anonymous feedback from the people who work around them. This typically includes the employee’s manager, peers, and direct reports

Question 8

balanced scorecard

Answer 8

• A balanced scorecard is a strategic management performance metric used to identify and improve various internal business functions and their resulting external outcomes. Balanced scorecards are used to measure and provide feedback to organizations.

Question 9

behaviourally anchored rating scale

Answer 9

• Behaviourally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS) are designed to bring the benefits of both qualitative and quantitative data to the employee appraisal process. BARS compare an individual’s performance against specific examples of behaviour that are anchored to numerical ratings.

Question 10

Consideration

Answer 10

• the act of considering; careful thought; meditation; deliberation: I will give your project full consideration. something that is or is to be kept in mind in making a decision, evaluating facts, etc.: Age was an important consideration in the decision. … a thought or reflection; an opinion based upon reflection.

Question 11

constructive dismissal

Answer 11

• If your employer has done something that seriously breaches your contract, you might be able to resign and make a claim to an employment tribunal. This is called constructive dismissal. To be successful you’ll need to prove your employer seriously breached your contract and that you resigned in response to it.

Question 12

Discipline

Answer 12

• the practice of training people to obey rules or a code of behavior, using punishment to correct disobedience.

Question 13

forced distribution method

Answer 13

• The forced distribution method of performance appraisal derives its name from the fact that those responsible for providing evaluations, the raters, are “forced” to distribute ratings for the individuals being evaluated into a “pre-specified” performance distribution.

Question 14

Insubordination

Answer 14

• defiance of authority; refusal to obey orders.

Question 15

just-cause dismissal

Answer 15

• Just cause refers to conduct that is of such a serious nature or extent that it essentially breaks the employment relationship.

Question 16

management by objectives

Answer 16

• Management by objectives (MBO) is a strategic management model that aims to improve the performance of an organization by clearly defining objectives that are agreed to by both management and employees.

Question 17

non-culpable dismissal

Answer 17

• Employers may dismiss employees for non-culpable or innocent absenteeism where the employee is incapable of regular attendance at work in the foreseeable future

Question 18

performance appraisal (or evaluation)

Answer 18

• A performance appraisal is a regular review of an employee’s job performance and overall contribution to a company. Also known as an annual review, performance review or evaluation, or employee appraisal, a performance appraisal evaluates an employee’s skills, achievements, and growth–or lack thereof.

Question 19

performance management

Answer 19

• Performance Management - Definition Performance management is an ongoing process of communication between a supervisor and an employee that occurs throughout the year, in support of accomplishing the strategic objectives of the organization.

Question 20

performance measure

Answer 20

• “A performance measure is a quantification that provides objective evidence of the degree to which a performance result is occurring over time.” It doesn’t matter if you call them KPIs, metrics, performance indicators, performance measures, or whatever other term we might use.

Question 21

progressive discipline

Answer 21

• Progressive discipline is a strategy for dealing with sub-standard job-related behavior that assists the employee in improving their performance.

Question 22

reasonable notice

Answer 22

• To extend this concept into practical outcomes, reasonable notice allows the employee to claim payment in the notice period of virtually all aspects of the remuneration and benefits that were being received before the termination.

Question 23

rating errors (or bias)

Answer 23

• Rater bias can be defined as an error in judgment that can occur when a person allows their preformed biases to affect the evaluation of another. Rater biases are a common issue when it comes to performance reviews.

Question 24

simple ranking

Answer 24

• A ranking is a relationship between a set of items such that, for any two items, the first is either “ranked higher than”, “ranked lower than” or “ranked equal to” the second. In mathematics, this is known as a weak order or total preorder of objects. … If two items are the same in rank it is considered a tie.

Question 25

Turnover

Answer 25

• the rate at which employees leave a workforce and are replaced.

Question 26

wrongful dismissal

Answer 26

• A wrongful dismissal occurs when an employee is dismissed, or terminated, by their employer, but not given reasonable notice.

Question 27

1. What are the main purposes of performance management?

Answer 27

a. Performance management is the process of creating a work environment in which people can perform to the best of their abilities in order to meet a company’s goals. It is an entire work system that flows from a company’s goals.
ii. By taking a developmental approach to the performance management process, managers help employees understand that the feedback they are getting is designed to improve their future competencies and further their careers and are not being conducted simply to judge them.

Question 28

3. Which method of measuring performance is most appealing to you as an HR practitioner and why? How might you feel differently if you were a worker being evaluated?

Answer 28

a. Performance reviews are the result of a process by which a manager evaluates an employee’s performance relative to the requirements of his or her job, the goals set with his or her manager, and then uses the information to show the person where improvements can be made and how.

Question 29

4. What are the major sources of error in performance evaluation, and what effects do they have on the organization and workers?

Answer 29

a. The manager has prepared inadequately.
b. The employee is not given clear objectives at the beginning of the performance period.
c. The manager may not be able to observe performance or have all the information.
d. The performance standards may not be clear.
e. Ratings are inconsistent among supervisors or other raters.
f. The manager rates the employee’s personality rather than performance.
g. Raters may be subject to perceptual biases such as the halo and/or contrast effect.