HRM 635 Performance Appraisals Aligning Strategic Goals to People Development

Sample Answer

Performance Appraisals Aligning Strategic Goals to People Development

The success of various organizations, such as healthcare organizations, depends on various factors. Therefore, the onus is on the organizational leaders to possess adequate knowledge that can help them identify the factors that can be modified to spur the organization to success. One such factor is performance appraisal, also called performance evaluation or performance review (Goel,2023).

This process involves an assessment of the employee performance with the major purpose of providing feedback to the employees concerning their performance (Al-Jedaia & Mehrez, 2020). In addition, such a process also helps in identifying the areas of improvement. Organizations should take proactive steps and carry out performance appraisals as appropriate. Therefore, the purpose of this assignment is to select a mid-sized to large organization and explore its performance management process.

As such, various aspects will be explored, including an explanation of how the organization uses performance appraisal assessment to manage employee performance, changes necessary to improve the performance appraisal process, a new appraisal tool that would benefit the company, and recommendations.

How the Organization Uses the Performance Appraisal Assessment to Manage Employee Performance

As highlighted earlier, performance appraisal is a process and method applied by organizations to assess the performance levels of their employees and provide them with feedback. Therefore, the organization selected for exploration is the Mayo Clinic. This is a healthcare organization based in Minnesota and has several branches across the US. The organization has been using performance appraisal tools to manage employee performance.

The organization currently uses a performance management system program tool to manage performance. At the center of this tool is ensuring that employee performance aligns with Mayo’s values and mission (Comfere et al.,2020). In addition, the tool plays a significant role in presenting opportunities that the staff can use to enhance their skills through continuous feedback and coaching. The tool focuses on a triple-action approach, which entails performance planning, review, and coaching.

In the planning phase, the tools enhance the hospital’s ability to set objectives and goals for its employees to help them stay on track and identify any gaps that could exist in employee knowledge and performance for proactive measures to be taken. Review of performance entails constant audits as a way of performance evaluation. Such an effort triggers feedback provision to help bridge the performance gaps (Comfere et al.,2020). In addition, performance coaching entails working together between the staff and leaders to help identify the areas that require improvement for appropriate steps to be taken.

This tool, therefore, focuses on feedback throughout the year rather than performing the review annually. Mayo Clinic has used various strategies to communicate and implement its practices. One of the strategies is the use of a performance management guidebook, which contains important information such as the goals and the process used in conducting various processes such as performance development, coaching, and reviews.

The guide also has important information that can help the staff, including templates for personal goal setting. The new employees also get to know about the organization’s practices through an onboarding process conducted by the organization (Kang et al.,2023). During such a process, the new employees get to know the hospital’s values and mission as well as the expectations regarding aspects such as performance expectations.

The leaders are tasked with communicating the practices and performance expectations throughout the year. One of the current practices at Mayo Clinic is the provision of prevention, treatment, and management of patient care practices, which are all supported by deliberate efforts to improve staff performance.

Proposed Changes to Improve the Appraisal Process

It is evident that Mayo Clinic has a robust performance appraisal tool that enables them to appraise employee performance throughout the year. However, it is important to note that there are improvements or adjustments that can be made to help improve the appraisal process. It is important to note that the current tool focuses on individual performance; therefore, one strategy for making improvements is to focus on organizational and team performance to help boost the process. A strategy for accomplishing this is through the use of a team-based approach to setting goals and evaluation of performance (Buljac-Samardzic et al.,2020).

The implication is that the organization will need to set the team goals aligning with the organization’s set objectives. As such, the performance evaluation should be based on team performance, and the focus should be on how best the set goals have been achieved or met. Such an approach will be key in enhancing collaboration between the staff and ensuring that they share a common purpose of improving individual and organizational performance.

The Proposed Appraisal Tool and Benefits

It is evident from the earlier discussions that Mayo Clinic has a performance appraisal tool in place. However, there are other tools that can be considered to help improve the appraisal process, hence an improvement in the organization’s performance. One such tool is management by objectives tools (Islami et al.,2019). This tool has been shown to be effective in performance appraisal to help enhance employee performance and effectiveness.

Through the use of this tool, the organization follows various steps to achieve an appropriate appraisal process. One of the steps is objective setting, where the organization should follow a SMART objective strategy or approach. It also involves progress tracking through aspects such as key performance indicators and real-time monitoring. There is also the aspect of feedback and communication, which forms an integral part of this tool.

This tool has various benefits, which can make it a fit to be used by the Mayo Clinic. One of the major and known benefits is that the tool is easy to implement and can easily be used for appraisal. The staff is also motivated to work towards achieving specific goals since the goals are succinctly formulated, and the employees are aware of the expected roles and accountability aspects.

This approach also offers a platform for employee counseling and guidance, which are important aspects for improving employee performance and the organization’s performance and effectiveness (Islami et al.,2019). Another benefit of this tool is that it fosters communication between the organization leaders and other staff members concerning the goals and action plans to improve individual performance and the organization’s effectiveness.

Suggested Recommendations

It is important to suggest recommendations for consideration by the company leadership that would help meet the performance appraisal expectations of fair and realistic criteria and professional development and motivation of the employees. One of them is that the organization should consider the management by objectives approach (Ogbu Edeh et al.,2019). As earlier indicated, this approach hugely motivates employees to achieve the set goals.

Another recommendation is to incorporate informal performance feedback alongside formal feedback. Informal feedback can be done anytime and anywhere. It can play a significant role in improving communication between the leaders, staff, and team members to focus on achieving the organizational goals and objectives (Aguinis, 2019). The approach is likely to improve employee performance as appropriate.

Conclusion

Performance appraisal plays an important role in identifying performance gaps and using appropriate strategies to bridge the gaps. It is important for organizations to use relevant performance appraisal tools to accomplish the aim effectively. This write-up has focused on the Mayo Clinic and its employee performance appraisal.

References

• Al-Jedaia, Y., & Mehrez, A. (2020). The effect of performance appraisal on job performance in governmental sector The mediating role of motivation. Management Science Letters, 10(9), 2077-2088. http //dx.doi.org/10.5267/j.msl.2020.2.003
• Aguinis, H. (2019). Performance management for dummies. John Wiley & Sons.
• Buljac-Samardzic, M., Doekhie, K. D., & van Wijngaarden, J. D. (2020). Interventions to improve team effectiveness within health care a systematic review of the past decade. Human Resources for Health, 18(1), 1-42. https //doi.org/10.1186/s12960-019-0411-3
• Comfere, N. I., Matulis III, J. C., & O’Horo, J. C. (2020). Quality improvement and healthcare The Mayo Clinic Quality Academy experience. Journal of Clinical Tuberculosis and Other Mycobacterial Diseases, 20. https //doi.org/10.1016%2Fj.jctube.2020.100170
• Goel, D. (2023). Performance appraisal and compensation management A modern approach. PHI Learning Pvt. Ltd..
• Islami, X., Mulolli, E., & Mustafa, N. (2019). Using Management by Objectives as a performance appraisal tool for employee satisfaction. Future Business Journal, 4(1), 94-108. https //doi.org/10.1016/j.fbj.2018.01.001
• Kang, J. Y., Lee, M. K., Fairchild, E. M., Caubet, S. L., Peters, D. E., Matti, L., & Howell Jr, T. G. (2023). Do Organizational Values and Leadership Impact Staff Engagement, Wellbeing, and Patient Satisfaction?. Journal of Healthcare Leadership, 209–219. https //doi.org/10.2147/JHL.S421692
• Ogbu Edeh, F., Nonyelum Ugwu, J., Gabriela Udeze, C., Chibuike, O. N., & Onya Ogwu, V. (2019). Understanding performance management, performance appraisal and performance measurement. American Journal of Economics and Business Management, 2(4). https //papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3513042