Human Resource Management: Training and Development

Jennifer is correct about the company needing to evaluate the workers formally. Businesses usually have annual evaluations on their employees rather than an ongoing process of continuous feedback. A problem with annual appraisals is that the evaluation can sometimes focus on recent events rather than several months ago; which could be either good or bad for the employee depending on recent events. Both positive and negative feedback is recognized as effective when it is done shortly after completion of a task. For instance, a sports coach gives direct, real-time feedback on performance of their athletes. Talking regularly to employees, discussing the status of specific goals and priorities, and giving/receiving feedback to/ from the employee would help the employee achieve their goals. The documentation from these informal meetings would become part of the annual performance appraisal evaluation.

Businesses would provide skills training and coaching for managers in giving appropriate feedback to the employees. This feedback would reflect on what worked, what did not, and why, as they build their evaluation experience together. This type of evaluating would place significant responsibility on the manager to achieve appropriate balance and emphasis on the evaluation process. Personal development, for the employee, would require openness to feedback, the willingness to lower their defenses, while listening to the manager’s view of their performance and capabilities, and still being open to suggestions for improvement. However, this openness may not always benefit the employee’s objective of pay increases, bonuses, and promotions if they are not willing to improve their performance (Cunneen, 2006).

Employees are the most important asset in any business; without the employees, you do not have a business. When the evaluation process is carried out effectively, appraisals make a difference. It has been shown that the higher the quality of the performance appraisal process, the more the performance appraisal results improve performance, working conditions, and working relations for the employees and their supervisors. Performance management can have a significant and positive effect when it is directly related to the business planning process developed by senior and skilled managers, conducted on a continuous basis, and focused on actual improvement (Cunneen, 2006).

A better, more descriptive and positive description for the performance evaluation plan would be Individual Development Plan. The title implies that the focus will be on customized, individualized feedback, not a hasty completion of forms with very little disagreement. An Individual Development Plan program for all employees is important because of two industry conditions: The need to retain good employees and the difficulty recruiting capable candidates. An Individual Development Plan program will improve employee longevity, improve communication between meetings, and provide businesses with an improved ability to achieve its objectives (Gorelick, 2005).

Many businesses have appraisal processes that impose a forced distribution of performance ratings across a range of grades. However, most managers find it difficult to summarize a whole year’s performance into a decision about which box to mark. This is particularly the case if you are trying to measure an employee against goals that are unclear and confusing in the first place. By moving away from a ratings system, towards a more complete and individualized summary of performance will benefit the employees along with the business (Dessler, 2006). American businesses do not test for teamwork, and evaluates employees based on individual contributions. In fact, many pre-employment tests for sales candidates value the ability to work alone. Just a few businesses include salespeople in their otherwise company-wide performance evaluation process. This is done on the assumption that salespeople know what they are doing because they produce a monthly report for management. With performance evaluations, the focus is on ratings, many assigned at random and without explanation. (Gorelick, 2005)

Sales Team Member Evaluation

Team Member Name:

Supervisor Name:

Date of Review:

Ratings:

1 = Very proficient: expert or certified

2 = Good: skilled or knowledgeable but not expert or certified

3 = Average: has some skill or knowledge

4 = Below average: has a little skill or knowledge

5 = No skill or knowledge in this area

NA = Not applicable

Knowledge Area Score Knowledge Area Score

1. Technical 4. Account Management

1a. Account management 4a. Executive presentations

1b. Certification #1 4b. Customer relationships

1c. Certification #2 4c. Customer communication

1d. Technical skill #1 4d. Customer meetings

1e. Technical skill #2 4e. Customer business plans

1f. Technical skill #3 4f. Customer quarterly reviews

1g. Technical skill #4 4g. Customer file maintenance

1h. Other: 4h. Account directory

2. Basic Sales Skills 4i. Monthly/annual operations reports

2a. Cold calling 4j. Dispute reconciliation

2b. Following up on opportunities 4k. Account analysis

2c. Customer service/inside sales 4l. Proposal generation

2d. Sales closing 5. Work Strengths

2e. Negotiation skills 5a. Planning

2f. Account/territory/category planning 5b. Overall initiative

2g. Presentation skills 5c. Team player

3. Motivation and Achievement 5d. Managerial ability

3a. Ability to hit goals 6. Interpersonal Strengths

3b. Self-motivation 6a. Assertiveness

3c. Aggressiveness with competitors 6b. Personal diplomacy

3d. Resourcefulness 6c. Extroversion

3e. High sales 6d. Cooperativeness

3f. Consistent performance 6e. Relaxed style

6f. Patience

6g. Self-confidence

Areas for improvement:

Action plan:

Supervisor/Manager Date Team Member Date

Annual Goals 90 Day Evaluation

Employee Self Evaluation

Employee Information

Employee Name:

Employee ID:

Job Title:

Date:

Department:

Manager:

Review Period: to

Goals

Describe the goals you had set out to accomplish for this time period:

Which goals did you accomplish?

Which goals did you not accomplish and why not?

Which other objectives did you meet, beyond your stated goals?

Which achievements are you most proud of?

Risks and Expectations

What kind of risks did you take during the time span of this evaluation?

Were the risks worthwhile? Please explain why or why not.

What are your expectations for the next evaluation time span?

What can your manager do to help you achieve your future goals?

What are your goals for the next evaluation? Please be clear and concise.

Comments

Additional Comments:

Employee Signature & Date Supervisor Signature & Date

REFERENCES:

Dessler, G. (2005). Human Resource Management 10th Edition. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall

Cunneen, Patrick; How to…improve performance management, People Management, 1/12/2006, Vol. 12 Issue 1, p42-43; Retrieved from the World Wide Web on April 7, 2006 at http://web18.epnet.com/citation.asp?tb=1&_ug=sid+F151D3AA%2D8F59%2D481C%2D89F3%2D883575C2415C%40sessionmgr5+dbs+bsh+cp+1+3FBF&_us=sel+False+frn+1+sl+0+hd+False+hs+True+cst+0%3B1%3B2%3B3+or+Date+fh+False+ss+SO+sm+ES+mdbs+bsh+dstb+ES+mh+1+ri+KAAACB1B00023105+F177&_uso=tg%5B2+%2D+tg%5B1+%2D+tg%5B0+%2D+db%5B0+%2Dbsh+hd+False+clv%5B0+%2DY+op%5B2+%2DAnd+op%5B1+%2DAnd+op%5B0+%2D+cli%5B0+%2DFT+st%5B2+%2D+st%5B1+%2D+st%5B0+%2Dperformance++evaluation+D34F&cf=1&fn=1&rn=6