Evaluation of Denning's Views of Performance Management

This essay considers the views of Deming’s to be somewhat true, however over simplistic in approach. People in organisations are not robotic, people have feelings, needs and wants. Denning view comes from a time when men dominated the workforce. Deming philosophy was Successful in Japan because of Japanese manufacturing, autocratic, top-down approach with largely repetitive tasks which worked in the business environment at the time which lacked direction to manage large scale manufacturing(Choi & Liker 1995) (Denning 2000).  Today services economies are dominated by service-based industries, which require more emphasis on emotional intelligence skills involving more people based skills(Thompson, Warhurst & Callaghan 2001). Just relying on processes and systems in isolation ignores the behavioural traits of individuals which are the active participants of performance management. 

Today's workforce is varsity different from the workforces prior to 1990s, people come various cultures, sex, religion, LGBTI community, due income family’s, flexible work arrangements, work-life balance, and technology advancements have effects how people perceive the meaning of work. 

Google works in a fast passed information technology sector where innovation is required to have a completive market advantage. An organic business structure is best for the technology sector because systems and processes change too fast, due to technology advances. Google uses 360-degree feedback principals to make changes, provide support, active listening to employees, management and stakeholders to make fair inform decisions in regards to the strategic implementation of performance management strategies(Francisco S, homem 2016 )(Brutus et al 2006).  The best approach to managing performance as the case for Google is to consult with those who matter, who are actively involved in achieving Key performance indicators.

The question to be addressed, do organisations need performance management despite the fact performance management often fails? Due to the complexity of performance management, Human resources management practices are able to use their skills of people management to collaborate with all levels of management and employees to implement a planned set of goals and directives for employees to meet required performance standards.

Much of denning philosophies are true in sense, however, should we give up on performance management because of difficulty of understanding, managing, implementing and evaluating performance management(Denning 2000). Process and system can become too mechanistic ignoring innovation. Businesses which are successful will always strive for improving their performance management practices despite the risk of failure.

Denning’s view of performance management is based on traditional processes of performance management of the annual performance appraisals he argues is a waste of time(Denning 2000).  A review every twelve months can be a demoralising process ineffective by failure to reactive to current events and issues which employee has no control over(Roberts 1998). The employee must work together as a team, not compete against each other. Processes are an important indicator of effective performance, however, modern work practices are varsity different from the post-war times with people working longer, multiculturism, greater female participation has fragmented the workplace, so what drives performance is defined differently to diverse cohorts of people(Bennett, Pitt & Price 2012,).

Processes are important however like the performance appraisals if these are made too rigid by measuring only the symptom of issues can do more harm than good.  Human resources management professionals are the facilitating architects of workplace systems(Frink & Klimoski 2004). Traditional managers use performance appraisals as a tool to control and intimidate individual performance by seeing employees through a homogeneous perspective (Roberts 1998).  There are many different perspectives which drive motivation and engage employees to perform, which more reflective in modem organisations and documented literature (White al el, 2003).

Organisations control performance by providing the system of tools, directing instructions guiding performance. Resources impact the capability of employees to perform which correlate with financial performance to some extent, however, induvial behavioural traits which motivate employees play a key role in facilitating effective performance management.

Denning described the importance of data to guide the organisation's decisions process. Data can be useful in providing analytical evidence of problems and solutions(Denning 2000). Information collected needs to be reliable and is subject to misinterpretation.  Not every workplace event can be measured and improved using statistical data in isolation, such as behaviour issues.  The coke new product is an example of how data can sometimes be wrong where data only present the symptom of an event, not the underlying causes(Schindler1992).

Despite issues which plague organisation performance management workplaces continue to use performance appraisals as a part of their workplace systems. Organisations use performance appraisal to assist in guiding employee performance through evaluation of the past performance.  The use of performance appraisal as a performance management tool can be ineffective when job roles are ambiguous, criteria for assessing performance is vague which validates the argument of the importance of processes (Longenecker 1997).

Short term performance management is still an issue among managers today. Firms which have focused too much on short term performance can cause problems such as profit at all cost mentality ignoring accountability for unethical actions(Bourne et al. 2003). The banking financial sector has in recent times become too focused on short term profits and ignoring ethics which has long term implications for organisations reputations (Paulet  2011).  What is not tangible is difficult to measure such a competitive advantage, intellectual property, social environment (Galbreath & Galvin  2008).

The issues which plague performance management is the process ambiguity about how performance is measured, for example, Market share profit, product, quality, production output. Human resources managers liaise with line managers and use their own judgment to decide how to evaluate performance management based on organisational goals(Greve, 2003). To understand how to resolve issues in performance human resonance managers need to know how performance management can fail in order to find solutions to a robust performance management system which must be adaptable to environmental changes.

McLean & Antony come up with eight steps why performance management fails which includes motive, expectations, culture, environment, leadership, implementation strategy, training, project management, employee engagement and feedback analysis(2014).  Performance management strategies require diligent reviewing of the organisational process with due consideration how programs aline with the internal, external environment in the short term and long run.

Despite issues which plague performance management workplaces continue to use performance appraisals as a part of their workplace systems. Organisations use performance appraisal to assist in guiding employee performance through evaluation of the past performance.

Organisational planning is the key to effective performance along with system design, clear evaluation criteria, support of top management and Hr professional who manages the performance of their employees(Longenecker 1997).

Just focusing on negative performance can demoralise individual performance by making them feel worthless, hindering future performance. To be effective in managing performance management Kluger & Denise recommended when providing feedback to employees, praise good behaviours along with negative behaviours discussing actions for future improvement strategies(1996).

One method used to address the shortcoming of traditional performance appraisals is the 360 feedback.  The advantages of adopting a 360-degree feedback system are the fact feedback is delivered from stakeholders of the firm(O'Boyle 2014,).  360-degree feedback can use various management, colleagues, industry stakeholders which can be anonymous, this attempts to address assertor bias and feedback received can be more authentic(Lepsinger, & Lucia 2009). The workplace needs to function as a team so the collaborative approach to performance management empowers workers to encourage performance and attempt to provide coaching for underperformance with an action plan for development.

Self-reflection can be a useful tool for human resource managers to understand how an employee reviews their own performance by exploring their strengths and weaknesses. A personal account of individuals own performance can help hr managers to implement a future strategy to provide the necessary support such as training, psychological support, review job design, organisational policies and procedures to improve employee future performance.  

Employing a mentor is an effective way to address performance issues by building a positive relationship with a competent co-worker who can show leadership by providing guidance to the less competent employee. Some employee may feel intimidated by management who are required to be autocratic in certain situations. Mentoring builds trust, strengthens teamwork, enhances the leadership skills of the mentor.

One most important aspect of performance management is reward systems, which guided by motivational behaviour. Good performance is the result of the behaviour of the individual. Workplace systems and organisational culture impact the success of performance. If an employee is valued by the firm pay rises or company stock options could motivate performance. Training scholarships could motivate employees to perform, by developing their knowledge.

Flexible work hours with set tasks required for completion could help encourage positive workplace performance given the option of better managing outside work commitments. Praise your employees cost nothing, if employees are valued, this encourages pride and positive work performance. Rewards form a part of the employment package which hr personal has a role in designing a remuneration package which is attractive to the employee's interest in rewarding employees who contribute to the firm's success.

Effective performance management skills started from the very beginning, recruit the wrong person costs businesses money, productivity, harm morale. HR managers need to clearly define the job design of all positions in an organisation. When a job vacancy is required to be filled, internal recruitment has the advantage of knowing past and current performance indicators. External recruitment could bring new skills and ideas to a firm.  A person who lacks the capability to perform a job role will have a negative impact on workplace performance.

Job advertisements must have realistic expectations of the job role with a competitive remuneration package to attract the right person to apply for a position advertised.  The technical skills can be established from resumes. A job interview should aim to find a person who not only has the right technical skills, behavioural traits which could be used to define the likelihood of persons ability to integrate with the organisational culture and perform to key performance indicators required for the job role.

A hrm recruiter manager is required to have marketing skills, communication skills,  build a good rapport with stakeholders, listening and observation skills to be an effective interviewer(Newell  2005). The interviewer needs to take a partial approach and recruit an employee who is most like to fit with the organisational culture along with will the technical skills required to perform job tasks productively. Training is critical at early stages of integration, therefore, attention is required for developing hard or soft skill depending on the job position and the experience of the employee. Hr professional needs to assess the onboarding job requirements for a new recruit individually according to what is required (Karambelkar,& Bhattacharya  2017).

After the recruit has been offered a position Hrm should be perficient at planning onboarding strategy which must include Key performance indicators what is expected during the probationary period. The hr professional will need critical to analysis skills assessing work performance, empathy to support new recruit adjust to the new work environment, Make unbiased judgement evaluating new recruit work performance by assessing their ability to meet KPI target and be successful in integrating into the workplace team environment.  

Firms aspire to be competitive must drive performance management practice in order to be productive, systems and process in isolation are not enough to manage performance. Hr professionals must be goal driven, customer focus, business-focused, flexible, active listeners, knowledge of legal frameworks, us emotional intelligence skills and crucial thinking skills(Gorsline, 1996).

Performance management practices are a journey of reflection, evaluation, action to address issues. Workplaces today are changing faster than ever due to technology, economic environment, open capitalist markets have created the need for financial efficiencies, therefore productivity is necessary.  Performance management and appraisals are here to stay and only effective if there is alignment with business strategy.  Performance target must realistic and obtainable with rewards give for productive behaviours.

No performance system should be used in isolation, underlying causes should be considered when addressing performance issues. Resources provide the necessary tools, however individual ability should set at minimum standard because not every person can perform at the same standard. Processes guide the direction of performance, however, this can be too rigid, harm innovation.

Statistical data can help guide decision making, however, the interpretation of the data must be considered along with methodology results.

The 360 feedback is agile with adaptability which is necessary for today modem economy with elements of uncertainty requiring immediate response to address issues of performance.  A human resources management practitioner must keep themselves updated with current and emerging practice. Consultation with stakeholders helps to keep an objective informed analysis of decision making in regard to managing performance management.

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