Assessing Performance (Week 5)

Performance management and feedback are crucial for ensuring that employees are aligned with
organizational goals and are continuously developing their skills.
 Organizational citizenship behaviour (OCB) voluntarily behaviour directed toward individuals e.g.
Courteous and helpful towards others.
 Counterproductive Work Behavior (CWB) intentional acts that cause harm toward organizations e.g.,
stealing, bullying, sabotage.
Broader Performance Measures
 Addressing Performance Deficiencies: Timely identification and addressing performance issues through
employee development programs.
 Channeling Employee Behaviors: Ensuring that employee actions are directed towards achieving specific
objectives.
 Providing Specific Feedback: Offering detailed and constructive feedback to aid in career development.
Purposes of Performance Assessment
 Administrative: aligns rewards, promotions, and terminations with HRM philosophy to manage human
capital effectively.
 Developmental: Focuses on building employee capabilities, identifying training needs, and providing
developmental feedback.
 Strategic: Informs strategic decisions by providing performance data from various parts of the organization.
The Process of Performance Management – A Cycle
 Performance and Development Agreement: Define Role Requirements, Set SMART Objectives, Plan
Performance and Personal Development.
 Performance Review: Reviews should reflect the initial performance and development agreement, provide
constructive feedback, recognize achievements, engage in open communication to discuss performance and
development, and use objective metrics as much as possible.
 Managing Performance Throughout the Year: Monitor, Measure, Meet, Mend, Move On.
Why Performance Management?
 Employee Development: Helps employees grow and improve their skills.
 Determine Rewards and Compensation: Aligns rewards with performance.
 Enhance Motivation: Motivates employees by recognizing their efforts.
 Facilitate Legal Compliance: Ensures fair and consistent evaluations.
 Facilitate HR Planning: Helps in workforce planning and development.
Problems with Immediate Supervisors Conducting Performance Evaluations:
 Lack of Information: Supervisors may not have all the necessary information.
 Insufficient Observation: Limited observation of daily work can lead to inaccurate assessments.
 Technical Knowledge Gaps: Supervisors might lack understanding of the technical aspects of the job.
 Lack of Training: Supervisors may not be trained in effective evaluation techniques.
 Perceptual Errors: Biases and errors can affect the objectivity of evaluations.
Common Biases in Performance Assessment
 Halo and Horns Bias: Favorable or unfavorable evaluations based on limited information.
 Primacy and Recency Effects: Dominance of early or late information in memory and judgment.
 Fundamental Attribution Error: Ignoring situational influences on behavior and attributing it to internal
factors.
 Similarity Attraction Theory: Preference for individuals perceived as similar to oneself.
 Leniency-positive, negative and motivated – all depends on the characteristics of the person doing the
rating.
 Central tendency error - Occurs when raters are reluctant to provide readings at the extremes of a scale and
tend to group around the midpoint of the skill, resulting in a potential restriction of range.

What to Evaluate?

1
 Traits Measures: Assess how well the employee fits with the organizational culture.
 Behavior-based Measures: Focus on specific actions and behaviors.
 Results-based Measures: Evaluate based on measurable outcomes and achievements.
How to Evaluate?
 Absolute Measurement: Employees are measured strictly by absolute performance requirements or
standards of their jobs.
 Relative Assessment: Employees are measured against other employees and ranked on their performance
relative to each other.
Improving Performance Assessment
 Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales (BARS): Uses specific behaviors as anchors for performance levels.
 Behavior Observation Scales (BOS): Measures the frequency of specific behaviors.
 Rater Error Training (RET): Educates raters about common errors and how to avoid them.
 Multi-source Feedback (MSF): Also known as 360 feedback, it involves ratings from differing levels of
seniority.
 Electronic Performance Monitoring (EPM): Provides reliable and dynamic performance data.
Enhancing Performance
 Providing Feedback: Crucial for understanding and improving performance.
 Goal Setting: Using SMART goals to direct efforts and improve performance.
 Incentives: Motivating employees through rewards and recognition.

Training and Development and Career Management (Week 6)

Training and development (T&D) is a strategic investment that benefits individuals, organizations, and
society by equipping employees with new skills, knowledge, and abilities. T&D fosters personal growth,
enhances organizational performance, and contributes to economic development.

2
Benefits of T&D:
 Individual Benefits: increased earning potential; enhanced promotion prospects; boosted self-confidence
and job satisfaction; improved career adaptability and resilience.
 Organizational Benefits: a more skilled and competitive workforce; increased productivity and efficiency;
improved employee retention and engagement; enhanced organizational innovation and adaptability.
 Societal Benefits: economic growth and development; increased national competitiveness; fostering
innovation and entrepreneurship.
The Training Cycle: effective T&D follows a cyclical process:
1. Training Needs Analysis (TNA): Identifies specific training needs at the organizational, task, and individual
levels.
2. Training Design: Develops training activities based on identified needs, considering objectives, methods,
and learning theories.
3. Training Delivery: Implements the training program, ensuring effective learning and engagement.
4. Training Evaluation: Assesses the effectiveness of the training and provides feedback for improvement.
Training Methods: Digital Training (e-learning, webinars); Blended Learning (digital and face to face combo);
Game-Based Training (gamification) and Team-Based Training.
Transfer of Learning: for T&D to be effective, employees must transfer their new skills to their jobs. Factors
influencing transfer include personality, self-efficacy, motivation, and managerial support.
Training Evaluation: measuring the effectiveness of T&D is crucial. Common evaluation methods include:
 Kirkpatrick's Model: Evaluates reaction, learning, behavior, and results.
 Sitzmann and Weinhardt's Indicators: Focus on utilization, affect, performance, and financial impact.
Training and Development in Practice:
 Leader Development: Developing effective leaders through targeted training programs.
 Diversity and Inclusion: Promoting a more inclusive workplace through diversity training.
 Organizational Learning Cultures: Fostering a culture of continuous learning and innovation.
A career is more than just a job, it's a dynamic sequence of employment-related experiences. This includes
positions, roles, activities, and personal narratives. While traditionally viewed as linear progressions, modern
careers are increasingly diverse and adaptable.
Modern Career Forms:
 Professional Careers: Focus on developing expertise and building a reputation within a field.
 Entrepreneurial Careers: Involve creating and managing one's own business.
 Boundaryless Careers: Defy traditional boundaries, emphasizing mobility and flexibility.
 Protean Careers: Emphasize self-direction, values-driven approach, and adaptability.
Career Anchors: Deep-seated beliefs that guide career choices (e.g., security, autonomy).
Career Orientations: Reflect individual preferences and motivations.
Career Management: individuals play a more active role in self-managing their careers with organizational
support.
Career Success can be subjective (satisfaction, learning, and work-life balance) or objective (financial rewards
and promotions) Key indicators include:
 Human capital: An individual's skills, knowledge, and abilities.
 Organizational sponsorship: Support and mentorship from within the organization.
 Sociodemographic variables: Factors like age, gender, and education level.
 Stable individual differences: Consistent personality traits and behaviors.

Improving Career Success:

 Developing career competencies like reflection, networking, and self-profiling.
 Leveraging social capital through strong relationships.
 Prioritizing work and long hours within reason.
Diversity and Career: emphasizes well-being and respect for basic rights, challenges faced by marginalized
groups, discrimination, etc.

3
Career Choice:
 Self-understanding and career exploration are crucial.
 Holland's RIASEC model helps identify vocational personality types.
 Career adaptability is essential for navigating changing career landscapes.
Job Search Strategies: Focused strategy is most effective. Self-regulation, self-discipline, and self-compassion
are vital for success.
Career Stages and Age: Women's careers often involve balancing personal and professional demands, younger
and older workers have unique strengths and contributions

Work Motivation (Week 7)

The term "motivation" refers to the driving force that directs and sustains a person's behavior. It encompasses
three key elements:
 Direction: This refers to what a person is trying to achieve or accomplish. It's the goal or objective that
guides their actions.
 Effort: This refers to the intensity or vigor with which a person pursues their goal. It's how hard they work
and how much energy they expend.

4
 Persistence: This refers to the duration of a person's effort. It's how long they continue to work towards their
goal, even in the face of obstacles or setbacks.

Common Sense Approaches to Employee Motivation

Traditional Approaches:
 Theory X: This theory assumes that people are inherently lazy, avoid work, and need to be controlled and
motivated through external rewards or threats. It often leads to a top-down, authoritarian management style:
o Financial Incentives: Offering bonuses, commissions, or other monetary rewards can be a powerful
motivator, but it can also lead to short-term thinking and decreased intrinsic motivation.
o Threats of Punishment: Using fear of negative consequences, such as demotion or termination, can
be a short-term motivator but can damage morale and productivity in the long run.
Modern Approaches:
 Theory Y: This theory assumes that people are intrinsically motivated, seek self-development, and are
capable of self-direction. It emphasizes a more participative and empowering management style.
o Social Factors: Recognizing the importance of social interactions and relationships at work,
managers can create a positive and supportive work environment to motivate employees.
o Intrinsic Motivation: Focusing on factors that are inherently rewarding, such as personal growth,
achievement, and recognition, can lead to sustained motivation and higher job satisfaction.
Other Common Approaches:
 Goal Setting: Setting clear, achievable goals can provide direction and motivation for employees.
 Feedback and Recognition: Providing regular feedback and acknowledging employees' accomplishments
can boost morale and motivation.
 Empowerment: Giving employees autonomy and responsibility can increase their sense of ownership and
motivation.
 Training and Development: Investing in employee training and development can help them grow their skills
and feel valued.

Required Behaviors:
 Join & Stay (recruitment, low absenteeism, low turnover);
 Dependable Behavior (meeting and exceeding standards);
 Innovative and spontaneous behavior

Organizational Actions:
 Legal compliance (rule enforcement under legitimate authority)
 Rewards (earned through membership, individual rewards, identification with leadership, relationships with
peers)
 Intrinsic motivation (identification with organizational vision, mission, values)

Context theories emphasize the role of environmental factors in influencing employee behavior. They suggest
that the context in which work is performed, rather than individual characteristics or internal needs, plays a
significant role in motivating employees.
 Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (physiological, safety, love/belonging, esteem, and self-actualization).
People are motivated to satisfy lower-level needs before moving on to higher-level needs.
o Application to Work: Managers can motivate employees by meeting their needs at each level. For
example, providing a safe work environment (safety), fostering a sense of belonging
(love/belonging), and recognizing achievements (esteem).
o Limitations: not sequential, time uncertainty, rewards satisfy multiple needs and individual variation
of motivating factors.
 Alderfer's Modified Approach simplifies Maslow's hierarchy into three levels: existence, relatedness,
and growth.

5
 o Application to Work: Managers can focus on meeting employees' needs at each level, such as
providing basic necessities (existence), fostering relationships (relatedness), and opportunities for
growth and development (growth).
o Limitations: Similar to Maslow's theory, individual differences and the specific context of the
workplace may affect the relevance of these needs.
 McClelland's Achievement Motivation Theory proposes three dominant motives: achievement
(challenges and feedback); power (control and influence); affiliation (social relationships).
o Application to Work: Managers can design jobs that align with employees' dominant motives. For
example, for those with a high need for achievement, provide challenging tasks and opportunities for
feedback.
o Limitations: The theory may not fully capture the complexity of individual motivation, and other
factors like personality and culture may also influence motivation.
 Herzberg's Two-Factor Theory proposes two sets of factors that influence job satisfaction and
dissatisfaction:
o Hygiene factors (prevent dissatisfaction: salary, working conditions, and job security);
o Motivators (promote satisfaction: achievement, recognition, and responsibility).
o Application to Work: Managers can improve job satisfaction by addressing hygiene factors and
focusing on creating opportunities for employees to experience motivators.
o Limitations: The theory may be overly simplistic and may not fully explain the complexities of job
satisfaction and dissatisfaction.

Process theories of motivation focus on the cognitive processes that influence an individual's decision to exert
effort and persist in a task. They explore how people evaluate their goals, beliefs, and expectations to determine
their level of motivation.
 Expectancy-Based Models:
o Vroom's Expectancy Theory: suggests that people are motivated to exert effort if they believe that
their effort will lead to expectancy, instrumentality, valence.
o Porter-Lawler Model: Builds on Vroom's theory by adding the concept of perceived equity.
 Equity Theory:
o Adams' Equity Theory: people evaluate their inputs (contributions) and outcomes (rewards) in
relation to others.
 Goal Theory:
o Locke's Goal-Setting Theory: specific, challenging, and accepted goals can increase motivation and
performance. Feedback and rewards linked to goal attainment are also important.
Key Implications for Managers:
 Expectancy Theories: rewards, clarity, evaluation and minimizing negative outcomes
 Equity Theory: Fairness perception, employee participation, appeal process and fair implementation.
 Goal Theory: Goal setting, feedback, group goals and ethical considerations.
Job Design and Motivation (Week 8)
Job design is the process of structuring work tasks and responsibilities to enhance employee motivation,
satisfaction, and performance.
Job redesign involves altering existing jobs to achieve these goals.
Traditional Job Design is based on the principle of specialization, focusing on efficiency and productivity. It
can lead to boredom, fatigue, and dissatisfaction among employees.
Modern Job Design emphasizes "humanization" of work, reducing specialization and simplification. Methods
include job enlargement, job enrichment, job rotation, semi-autonomous work groups, and self-management
teams.

6
Job Characteristics Model: Hackman and Oldham explain how job dimensions influence employee behavior.
Dimensions influence states which influence work outcomes.
 Five core dimensions: task variety, task identity, task significance, autonomy, and feedback.
 These dimensions influence three critical psychological states: experiencing meaningfulness, experienced
responsibility, and knowledge of results.
 These states influence work outcomes such as motivation, satisfaction, and performance.
Concerns and Considerations:
 Individual characteristics: The effectiveness of job redesign may be influenced by individual factors like
growth need strength.
 Social features: The social context of work, including support and feedback, is also important.
 Knowledge requirements: The complexity and depth of knowledge required for a job can impact its
motivational potential.
 Ergonomics and working conditions: The physical environment can affect employee well-being and
performance.
 Evaluation: The outcomes of job redesign should be evaluated at individual, group, and organizational
levels.
Other Job Redesign Approaches:
 Flextime: Flexible working hours.
 Modified work weeks: Different work schedules (e.g., four days a week).
 Telecommuting: Working remotely.
Holman's Job Types: Active jobs are generally associated with higher job satisfaction and well-being, while
high-strain jobs are associated with lower job satisfaction and well-being.
 Active: High demands, autonomy, support, and opportunities for development.
 Saturated: Similar to active but with higher workload.
 Team-based: High team autonomy and individual autonomy.
 Passive-independence: Low autonomy and support, but low demands.
 Insecure: Low work complexity, skills development, and job security.
 High strain: Low complexity, high workload, non-standard hours.