Introduction To Performance Management
Performance management is an important function of Human resource management (Schuler, Briscoe and Claus, 2011). It is a process, which helps in improving the performance of employees, which in turn improves the overall performance of an organization (Miah, and Hossan, 2012). It is the process of aligning the organizational goals with the employees’ skills, competencies required, development of plans and the delivery of results (Shields, 2012).
Additionally, feedback is very important in our lives, not only in our work lives but also in various aspects of our lives (Rogers, 2012). Feedback will help the individuals to improve more on the parts of their life where they need improvement (Armstrong and Baron, 2005).
Importance of Feedback
Feedback is an important aspect to improve the performance of an organization. Feedback means providing specific information to another person about his or her performance and goals (Bedward and Stedwick, 2004). In other words, it means providing information to employees about his improvement in performance, and the achievement of goals (Newbold, 2008).
Elements to ensure the effectiveness of the feedback
- Specificity – Feedback should be in specific terms and it is an important element of feedback. It should always relate to the specific goal.
- Timeliness – Proper feedback should be provided on time. Timely feedback helps the employees to improve their performance.
- Manner – The manner in which the feedback is given also affects the performance of employees. In addition, Feedback should always be expressed in a positive manner so that the employees will respond to it in a better way.
360 Degree Feedback
360 Degree Feedback is an important performance management tool (Harris, 2000). In this feedback process, employees receive highly confidential information and positive feedback from the people working with them in this systematic process (Improving Team Performance through 360-Degree Feedback, 2012).
Key Factors of 360 Degree Feedback
There are various factors, which influence for the useof 360 Degree Feedback in the organizations (Maure, Mitchell and Barbeite, 2010). As the organizations are becoming big and complex, the problems also evolve in the human resource management of the organizations, and the growing complexity of organizations is considered as an important factor for the use of 360-Degree feedback (Newbold, 2008). It becomes difficult to assess and measure the performance of employees and subordinates (Arnold and et.al., 2010).The managers find it difficult to measure the performance of their subordinates. In such cases, 360-Degree feedback provides clear report about the performance of employees (Harris, 2000).
Benefits of 360 Degree feedback
- 360 Degree feedback is very beneficial for organizations who want to improve the performance of their employees (Gravett, 2000). One of the major advantages of 360 Degree feedback is that in this process feedback is obtained from all those persons who come into frequent contact with the recipient (Atwater, Waldman and Brett, 2002).
- Another advantage of 360 degree feedback is that it motivates and encourages employees to work more efficiently and to improve the performance (Sommer and Rockey, 2011).
- Another advantage of 360 degree feedback is that it is designed by keeping in mind the customer focus (Hausdorf and Zugec, 2006).
- It also provides opportunities for employees to become fluent in the good management practices (Furnham, 2009).
Barriers or Disadvantages of 360 Degree Feedback
There are also some barriers of 360 Degree feedback that should be considered while implementing and designing this process. One of the barriers to 360 Degree feedback is that it can impact the personal relationships between the employees (Gravett, 2000), therefore it is not considered advisable to disclose criticism about the individual involved. In addition, it can also have an impact on the working environment of the organization and can affect the performance of the organization (Gravett, 2000).
Organizational Case Study on Marks and Spencer
Marks and Spencer is one of the UK’s leading retailers, which serves over 21 million customers each week (Your M&S, 2013). It employs over 78000 people in UK and abroad and has 700 UK store (Your M&S, 2013). It offers high quality clothing and home products as well as quality food. The company is also known for their green credentials, which is the result of their five-year eco plan.
References
Journal and Books
- Aguinis, H., 2013. Performance Management. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall.
- Aguinis, H., 2013. Performance Management.3rd ed. Prentice Hall.
- Albrecht, S., 2010. Handbook of Employee Engagement: Perspectives, Issues, Research and Practice. Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Armstrong, M., and Baron, A., 2005. Managing Performance: Performance Management in Action. CIPD.