Discussion: Analyzing the Effectiveness of Performance Management Programs

By Day 5

Respond to two or more of your colleagues’ postings in one or more of the following ways:

• Ask a probing question, substantiated with additional background information, evidence, or research.
• Share an insight from having read your colleagues’ postings, synthesizing the information to provide new perspectives.
• Offer and support an alternative perspective using readings from the classroom or from your own research in the Walden Library.
• Validate an idea with your own experience and additional research.
• Make a suggestion based on additional evidence drawn from readings or after synthesizing multiple postings.
• Expand on your colleagues’ postings by providing additional insights or contrasting perspectives based on readings and evidence.

Classmate 1: (Dara)

” When assessing the effectiveness of a performance management program, there are essential items to review. Leaders must understand that their primary focus is supervising their staff (Risher, 2011). Their performance should be assessed based upon the performance of their team and their effective usage of the performance management program (Risher, 2011). Further, an organization with an effective program should have extensive, ongoing leadership training in place. Leaders should understand, from day one, how to effectively evaluate and provide feedback to their staff. Employees must also be surveyed as to their understanding of the program and how their goals tie into the broader organizational mission and strategy (Brown & Hish, 2011). Finally, a review of the tool itself should reveal that it is customized per the competencies of the different roles in the company (Risher). I’ve worked with several performance management systems; however, they’ve often been used, “out of the box.” Without customization of competencies, employees don’t see the process as relevant to their careers. Employees need the feedback they receive to be specific if they are expected to engage with the tool (Risher, 2011). “

Classmate 2: (Clarke)

‘Evaluating Performance Implementation

When assessing the implementation of a program and its effectiveness, outcome evaluations play a critical part. Outcome evaluations assess the ability to create and increase positive change and success. This evaluation provides information to ensure that the organization objectives are working properly and for what they were originally intended. These questions are better applied when phrased as, “did the program succeed with..” and “what aspects of the program are..”. Measuring the outcomes of the performance assessment is the research that provides human resource leaders with the effectiveness of the plans put forth and how well they are being executed.

Monitoring and Evaluating Performance

The process of monitoring and evaluating performance management relies on the ability to control all stages from beginning to the end. Aligning the gathered information with the duties of the job present a picture displaying the decisions leading to the actual performance. Methods used for these types of measurements include surveys, activity reports and interviews. When applying these methods one must then decide on how often these will take place, being weekly, monthly or quarterly; depending on the task at hand. Utilizing a set schedule will continue the process of implementation and improvement to each dimension of the organization being assessed. “