Performance Management: A Literature Review, Critical Discussion, and Recommendations - Essay Sample

Introduction

Performance management is a process that is used by so many types of organizations to ensure they achieve their set goals. The process involves monitoring and evaluating members of staff to ensure the team is working towards the same goals as the organization. Since organizations have a constrained pool of assets from which to grant raises and rewards, execution examinations help decide how to apportion those assets (ALimam, 2017). They give an approach to organizations to figure out which workers have contributed the most to the organization's development so organizations can remunerate their top-performing representatives likewise (Scully, Gregson, and Turner, 2016).

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Execution evaluations likewise help representatives and their chiefs make an arrangement for worker advancement through extra preparing and expanded obligations, just as to recognize deficiencies the worker could work to determine (Briscoe, Tarique, and Schuler, 2012). Due to the rapid change in the business world, every organization must have a performance management system in place. Performance management has been seen to bring about a significant increase in performance in the organization due to increased productivity and motivation (ALimam, 2017). This, in turn, results in financial gain for the organization and career development for individuals in the organizations.

This essay will focus on the 360-degree feedback performance appraisal method (Atta-Quartey, 2015). It will also discuss the aim of this method, how it is implemented, the frequency at which it is carried out as well as perceived strengths and weaknesses of this particular method. A large number of organizations use the 360-degree feedback appraisal method. The essay will implement one of the largest known financial firms, Goldman Sachs (Scully, Gregson, and Turner, 2016). Goldman Sachs is an organization that has been in existence for over a century. It is a financial firm that provides various financial services such as advisory, investment banking, management, and bond transaction, among many other services (Lebas, 1995).

Literature ReviewThe 360-degree feedback process is a performance management method in which an individual is evaluated by the managers and superiors in an organization as well as colleagues and peers. In some cases, when possible, customers are as well used to assess an individual's performance (Loudon, McPhail, and Wilkinson, 2015). The evaluation is, however, anonymous and very confidential. The individual is as well allowed to evaluate themselves and their performance in the organization.

The 360-degree feedback process starts with the filling of assessment forms that cover a lot of questions regarding a specific individual and particularly concerning their work and job performance (Armstrong, 2012). The questions are answered, and most times, direct reports are as well given. Due to the age we currently live in, the forms are mostly filled online. This especially helps in maintaining the anonymity of the individuals filling the forms. The system then summarizes the feedback received and presents it to the evaluated individual. Most organizations provide some training to aid individuals in working on the things highlighted in the feedback report (Kaplan and Norton, 1996). This way, an individual can view their weaknesses and strengths and in turn, work on improving themselves and their work performance. It is worth noting that all individuals are evaluated, and all of them receive feedback, including managers. The main aim of the 360-degree process, just like all other performance management methods is to increase individual and organizational performance.

There is no set frequency or time interval for conducting a 360-degree feedback system. The time varies depending on the organization as well as other factors. One such factor is the time and resources that will go into preparing for another 360-degree feedback. Small organizations do not have enough resources to conduct appraisals several times a year. This results in them conducting these appraisals either once a year or even after longer time intervals (Greene, 2018).

The growth of the organization in terms of the number of new employees is also another factor that could affect the frequency of conducting a 360-degree feedback appraisal. If the employees are the same and have not changed since the last appraisal, there is no need to do another one (Gruman, and Saks, 2011). This is mostly the case in small organizations. There are, however, organizations that hire new employees on specific time intervals, for example, supermarkets. Such organizations may be forced to increase the frequency of carrying out appraisals.

The most crucial factor to be taken into consideration when deciding on the frequency of conducting a 360-degree feedback system is the length of time it takes for an individual to develop themselves in terms of their behaviors (Noe, Hollenbeck, Gerhart, and Wright, 2015). Conducting an appraisal after three months, for example, can be considered to be a waste of time since an employee has not been given sufficient time to work on developing themselves and their habits (Kinley, 2016). It has been argued that it takes an individual anywhere between 1 month and two years to establish a new pattern of behavior, depending on the individual. The employees need to be given time to develop themselves. Conducting an appraisal too soon may discourage an employee, especially if an employee has been working on improving himself or herself in one area and that one area is mentioned again in the new appraisal.

The 360-degree process offers several benefits. The first benefit is that it leads to an increase in an individual's self-awareness. An individual is provided with information on how other people perceive them in the workplace (Wongrassamee, Simmons, and Gardiner, 2003). They get to discover how people view them and interpret their behaviors. The employee is brought to terms with the shortcomings he or she has. This gives one the ability to improve and develop oneself, which is a benefit to the individual, the people around him or her, and the organization as a whole. The 360-degree process also alerts an employee of the things they are good at and excel at, hence leading an individual to build these areas further.

Dale Carnegie, in his book 'How to win friends and Influence People,' states that human beings crave for a feeling of importance (Hutchinson, 2013). A sense of importance is easily acquired by appreciation. A benefit of the 360-degree feedback process is that it builds the confidence of an employee. This is because the feedback report highlights the strengths of an individual and gives positive feedback as well. This positive feedback, in turn, drives and motivates an individual to work better and be better, which leads to an improvement in performance. Constant and continuous improvement is another benefit of the 360-degree feedback process. Negative feedback causes an employee to work on their performance and slowly improve. Even the slightest amount of gain could lead to a significant increase in performance.

The 360-degree feedback process leads to an increase in accountability. Since the feedback report is generated from the views and observations of several people in an organization, an individual is forced to be accountable for every action he or she takes. It is difficult for one worker to correct a fellow worker directly, especially when the worker is either at a higher rank or similar rank as the individual (Holbeche, 2014). The anonymity of the feedback system causes employees to hold their fellow workers accountable for things they did wrong but positively.

It is necessary for individuals and especially staff members of an organization to feel valued and vital. The 360-degree feedback process enables employees to freely air out any observations they have while working in the organization (Chopra, Gupta, and Chhabra, 2017). This makes the employees feel empowered and that they are a significant part of the organization and that they matter. This, in turn, reduces disagreements and any tension in the workplace, thus providing a healthy work environment that leads to an increase in performance.

There are a right side and a wrong side to everything in life. Similarly, the 360-degree feedback process has the advantages mentioned above, as well as several disadvantages (Den, Boselie, and Paauwe, 2004). One major drawback of this method is that it can be misused to promote unhealthy competition in an organization based on the score or ranking of an individual's performance. Some organizations claim to use the 360-degree feedback system to encourage individual and organizational development when they use it to ensure there is an increase in the financial performance of the organization (Hassan, 2016). Such companies have no concern for their staff and are just interested in making money. They often use this system to rank the financial performance of individuals against each other and even offer promotions or demotions based on the result of this system. Such a working culture is unhealthy for all individuals involved and can lead to bad performance in the organization over time.

Another disadvantage of the 360-degree feedback system is that the system may give false information. This can occur in two ways. An individual may fail to offer negative feedback on an employee, especially someone in a higher rank than him or her due to fear or unknown reservations. This will, in turn, provide false information on the performance of an individual. An individual may, on the other hand, offer false negative feedback due to office politics, jealousy, or other reasons. This will lead to a false report on the individual. It could further cause tension in the workplace and, all in all, not promote individual and organizational development.

People often respond differently to criticism and negative feedback. Some individuals tend to learn from criticism and use it to their advantage to better themselves, while others tend to be further discouraged and demoralized by the negative feedback. Therefore, another disadvantage of the 360-degree feedback method is that it could lead to a decrease in performance rather than an increase and improvement. Some employees may take criticism personally, which will result in resentment and mistrust in the workplace.

Human beings are often too quick to point out the negative rather than the positive. As a result, the feedback may also be centered and focused on weaknesses and negative criticism. This could discourage the employees and thus actually lead to a decrease in performance (Woerrlein, and Scheck, 2016). This is because an individual may tend to feel unappreciated for the little things they contribute to the organization. This especially happens when the questions asked mainly focus on the shortcomings of the employees.

Finally, another disadvantage of the 360-degree feedback system is that it could lead to a lot of wasted time, primarily when the order is implemented without much thought. Answering several questions about colleagues can be somewhat time-consuming, especially since the answers to most of the questions asked in a feedback system require some thought put into them (Briscoe, Tarique, and Schuler, 2012). This could lead to hours wasted, especially if the system fails to provide the desired effect in the performance o...