## Understanding Performance Management

This chapter provides an overview of performance management.

### Performance Management

According to a human resources study, 52 percent of workers want their supervisors to state performance goals more clearly. Nearly 40 percent of workers want their performance on the job tied closely to their development plans and compensation. The survey also found that 42 percent of workers were at least moderately dissatisfied with the employer system of performance evaluation. The authors of the study linked this dissatisfaction to the absence of a standard appraisal process and failure to define employee performance expectations clearly.

Organizations can increase productivity, competitiveness, and profitability through the effective monitoring of job performance. Automating this process by aligning appraisal criteria with organizational goals and realities increases the use, value, and employee acceptance of this performance management tool. Managers and employees can use the performance management feature of Human Resources to automate the tedious, labor intensive process of performance appraisals. This feature integrates performance appraisal criteria with the core competencies of an organization, business unit, and individual job. By connecting appraisal criteria to the goals and objectives of the organization, you can provide a vital, strategic link to improved performance and employee job satisfaction. This integration also helps to reduce employee fears about performance appraisals. The performance management feature provides an approach that is fair, concise, and collaborative. Employees can see the links between their own performance criteria and each of these:

- Goals of the organization

- Compensation increases

- Job promotions

- Focused training

- Development programs

The performance management feature uses periodic evaluations for managers and employees to plan, evaluate, and track work performance and personal goals. The system provides an automated approach for managers and employees to electronically document their perspectives, followed by an interview. The system tracks the final ratings in an employee competency database. Managers and employees can use this approach to:

- Identify strengths.

- Identify opportunities for improvement.

- Create plans to develop new skills.

- Create plans to improve existing skills.

- Evaluate performance issues.

- Apply historical performance data for compensation considerations.

A performance diary, which documents daily activity, provides a quick method for managers and employees to document performance activities. As an employee performance is documented, these performance diary entries can be either negative or positive. Diary entries provide a systematic method for recording incidents when the manager evaluates subsequent appraisal and reward decisions. Employees can also create and attach diary entries to their self appraisals.

Employee Goals, a group of programs for setting and tracking job related objectives, is integrated with the employee competency database and provides an expanded use for the performance management feature. Managers can use Employee Goals to work closely with an employee and set goals to help the employee improve in specific requirements of a job.

The system routes in process appraisals through an appropriate approval structure, including a final approval or rejection by the employee.

Building upon the multilingual capabilities of employee and job competencies, the system also presents appraisal and competency criteria in the employee native language.

Performance management is a valuable tool for both organizations that are ready to implement a competency based approach to job descriptions, and organizations that might not be ready to implement a competency based appraisal system, but still want to automate standard appraisal templates.

Competency Based Performance Appraisals

In the competency based approach to performance appraisals, a hierarchy defines job competencies. For example, a company can define:

- Core organizational competencies.

- Competencies that are specific to business units.

- Competencies that are specific to job groups.

- Competencies that are specific to a job.

You link the competency hierarchy of a job to the employees in the job. Each job description automatically inherits the competency definitions for each applicable level.

Managers use the performance appraisal to assess the current level and consistent demonstration of each competency and to assign an applicable rating. The system weighs and averages rating factors and then calculates an inclusive performance rating for each employee. The system tracks the most current performance appraisal rating in the employee competency database. The system then tracks the overall competency or performance rating in the Employee Master Information table (F060116) for subsequent consideration in compensation analysis and focal reviews.

Traditional (Non Competency Based) Appraisals

For organizations that have not adopted a competency based approach to human resource management, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne provides a traditional template approach for performance appraisals. These defined templates can be specific to a particular company within an organization, a business unit, job group, or particular job. The system stores the templates as text objects.

Employees in any given job automatically inherit the performance appraisal template that is specific to their job. Employees complete a self appraisal, and managers complete a management appraisal, each based on standard templates. The system adds the overall appraisal rating to the Employee Master Information table for subsequent consideration in compensation analysis and focal reviews. As with competency based appraisals, employees and managers can collaborate electronically about their perspectives, followed by an interview.

The template based appraisal system also routes in process appraisals through the appropriate approval channels, including the final approval or contest by the employee.

Users can also use media objects to create the text templates in multiple languages. You must create a separate text media object template for each language that you support.