Bank of ACB

The importance of staff performance and development reviews is stressed by Bank of ACB. The Bank’s main objective as a financial institution operating within the US economy is to provide financial services to US people. The company is a global bank with operations in several nations across the American continent as well as in Europe, in addition to its presence in the US market. Being an international firm, the corporation’s objectives are met by diverse but skilled staff members working at various divisions. By having a diverse workforce, the organisation has to take advantage of the talent exhibited by the employees. By putting this manual in place, the productivity of every staff member will be noticed, and the appropriate rewards can be given to motivate them to better future performance. With improved performance, the long-run objective and continuity of the bank are guaranteed.

Stages in the Employee Performance Review

Setting Performance Expectations

This is the first step in performance and development review. Managers should assist employees in making SMART goals. The employee alongside his supervisor needs to come up with two or more goals that are to be achieved within the year and should either be at managerial, professional performance or task/operational improvement level.

Providing Continuous Feedback

Unceasing feedback is expected to guide employees into achieving their targeted goals. The manager or supervisor has a part to play in guiding employees into the right direction. This step provides a guide or coaching which is essential to changing the behavior of staff so that he can meet the set targets. The employees need to be open to receive and give feedback (UIC n.d.).

Documenting Performance Progress

Out of the continuous feedback, both the managers and the employees need to record the information being relayed. This is important as the employee can identify the things that he is doing well while also noting the ones which need to be improved or stopped. The documentation acts as a guide in working towards a particular goal (UCR, 2015).

Periodic Performance Review Meetings

Given the collaborative environment in ACB bank, employees are expected to fill a self-evaluation form before the review meeting. During the meeting, the manager should review the progressive performance with the focus on the overall goal. If the staff does not meet expectations, a plan for performance improvement should be given to addressing the issue affecting performance.

Personal Development Plans

Every employee is expected to have an individual plan for development either educationally or skill-wise. The managers should guide the staffs on how to follow the set strategy. Furthermore, the plan needs to be revised from time to time to ensure that the employee does not fall behind schedule.

Memo to All Employees Outlining the Employee Performance Review Process

MEMORANDUM

TO: All Staff

FROM: The HR Department

DATE: October 5, 2017

RE: Performance Review process

With the organisation’s objective of improving the nature of service given to our clients as well as the need to provide equal opportunities to all staff, every employee is supposed to be aware and cooperate in the performance review process set out by the company.

In working towards our objective, all employees are expected to collaborate with their immediate managers to set performance goals, providing feedback, documentation of performance progress, carrying out a periodic review as well as determining the personal development plans.

The performance and development review is intended to be carried out annually, and the cycle will start on 1st November 2017 and end on 31st October 2018. All departmental heads are responsible for ensuring that performance ratings are done mid-year and entered into our InPower system for information storage and reference purpose. A semi-annual evaluation will be carried out by the departmental heads, and this will take place will be carried out between 15th and 30th April 2018. Maximum co-operation is expected for the success of this undertaking.

An Instruction Training PowerPoint Slide Pack to Train Managers in the Employee Performance Management Process

Managers play a crucial role in the performance and review process of employees in the organisation. It is their responsibility to help employees identify their competencies. The heads of department can identify and challenge the staff into taking and assuming organisation roles that utilise their knowledge. They can cultivate the job-specific and organisational competencies in the employee as they work towards meeting their goals.

The managers also help staffs develop their objectives. Since they are in a position to know the potential of every employee, departmental leaders have the responsibility of assisting employees set their targets. By their involvement in goal setting, an employee is restricted from making over-ambitious goals while also being encouraged to adopt goals above their comfort zone. They also have a responsibility of providing clear expectations to the employees once the goals have been set. By being leaders, they are the vision bearers, and as such, they know how the best employees can meet their targets. Therefore, they have a part to play in helping staffs in setting clear expectations as they target performance-related goals.

Managers are also expected to support staff by providing adequate resources in their quest to meet the targeted objectives. Every goal commitment requires sufficient allocation of corresponding resources for the success of a project. Therefore, heads of departments are expected to avail support whether in term of support staff or financial resources to facilitate employees in meeting their goals. Discussing the employee development and progress is also essential as it provides an opportunity for the workers to gauge his performance. Moreover, by providing on-going and timely feedback, staff can monitor their progress and improve in those aspects where they find a challenge. Managers are also supposed to conduct interim evaluations, identify performance shortages, provide support and assistance for improvement, and regularly to recognise the exceptional performance of the staff (Bluefield State College, 2015).

A Sample Employee Performance Review Form

Name:

Employment No.:

Department:

Manager:

Previous Date of Review

Job Title:

Current date of Review:

Description of job roles, objectives and responsibilities during period under review

Summary of Performance Outcomes. Were the Goals met, exceeded, or not achieved

The following grouping of performance indicators will be used for the purpose of evaluation and description of performance and the accomplishment of work. The report should be summarised for the performance areas. “NA” should be used in group­ing which do not apply to the position being reviewed. The sub-headings are partial representation of the groups suggested since not every aspect can be brought to the sections. Employees can utilise the comments section to expand their roles, explain, describe their strengths and weaknesses in the groupings. Suggestions on improvement activities are designated for the next section.

SECTION 1

Planning:

Comments:

Rating:

Administration

Comments:

Rating:

Expense Control and Reduction

Comments:

Rating:

Decision Making and Judgment

Comments:

Rating:

Performance Standards

Comments:

Rating:

Innovation and Change

Comments:

Rating:

Subordinate Relationships and Development

Comments:

Rating:

Organisational Relationships

Comments:

Rating:

Peer relationships and communication

Comments:

Rating:

Other Criterion:

Comments:

Rating:

SECTION 2

Future Aims and Performance Progress Objectives:

Overall Performance:

Overall Rating:

Comments by Employee:

Employee Signature Date

Supervisor’s Signature Date

HR Manager Signature Date

A Guide for Managers to Providing Feedback at the Employee Performance Review Meeting

With the objective of improving the organisational efficiency and effectiveness, management has a crucial part to play in achieving this aim. With their responsibility as heads of departments and branches, they are responsible for the undertaking of employee performance and development reviews within the organisation. In carrying out the appraisal meeting, the process can only be useful and productive if there is a collaboration between the appraiser and the appraisee (Ram and Rani 2017, p.51). Therefore, it is essential for the manager to cooperate with the employees from the start of the appraisal process till the end. Before the meeting, the individuals need to have prepared early, and the performance discussions should have started at the beginning of the year. The meeting needs to be a two-way communication (UCR, 2015).

The manager has the sole responsibility of setting an appropriate tone for the meeting. He needs to be well prepared by knowing the goals and objectives of the appraisal consultation. Moreover, the meeting should be conducted at a private place free from interruptions while also scheduled at a conducive time. The employee needs to be at ease since such a session can lead to anxiety despite the context being the need to improve the level of performance as well as the collection of necessary information which will help in achieving the core objective. Rather than being a judge, the manager should take the position of a partner and inform the employee of the need to discuss the performance appraisal. The head needs to maintain positivity in the discussion. If the performance is seen as satisfactory, he should concentrate on the elements which made the performance a success. Meanwhile, rather than finding faults for below-par performances, the negative factors causing the failure need to be tackled creating a focus on problem-solving.

In structuring the meeting, the manager has to clarify the purpose and process of carrying out the consultation. Even before starting the appraisal, the employee should be given an opportunity to ask questions on how the activity will go on. The staff should also be allowed to give his view of his performance then the overall rating and appraisal can be shared. The manager should clarify the differences in the appraisal process and should be open to receiving the opinion and suggestions by the appraisee. After completing the appraisal, the expectations for the next appraisal period need to be set then the evaluation ends at that point. As a final step, the staff should be allowed to make documented comments of the appraisal and should receive a copy of the recorded assessment.

In summary, for a satisfactory appraisal, the manager should listen, take notes, keep eye contact, be attentive, and should not interrupt. Moreover, he can ask questions just for clarification, should not be judgmental, should focus on particular results and behavior but not personality, emphasise on employee strengths and should end the meeting on a positive note (Center for Organization and Workforce Effectiveness, n.d.).

References

BlueField State College, 2015. Performance management guide: For supervisors of classified and non-classified employees. [Online] Available at: https://www.bluefieldstate.edu/sites/default/files/Performance_Mgmt_Guide.pdf [Accessed 5 October 2017].

Center for Organization and Workforce Effectiveness COrWE, n.d. Performance management toolkit. [Online] Available at: http://hrweb.berkeley.edu/files/attachments/Performance-Management-Toolkit.pdf [Accessed 5 October 2017].

Ram, C.S. and Rani, M.S., 2017. Influence of performance appraisal on employees. International Journal of Research in Management & Social Science, p.51.

UCR, 2015. Supervisor’s guide to performance appraisal. [Online] Available at: http://hr.ucr.edu/docs/performance/supervisorsguide.pdf[Accessed 5 October 2017].

UIC, n.d. Employee performance review process resource guide. [Online] Available at: https://www.hr.uic.edu/userfiles/servers/server_2716/file/d_my_perform/epr_resource_guide.pdf [Accessed 5 October 2017].

US Bank, 2009. Performance Management Guidebook. [Online] Available at: https://www.usbank.com/hr/docs/mgrtools/leadershipAdvantage/writingDevPlan.pdf [Accessed 5 October 2017]