Question

Consulting firm Deloitte works with many organizations to improve their business practices. Recently, the firm looked at its own internal processes and determined that its performance management system needed some new life. With over 65,000 employees to rate, the goal was to make the process faster, continuous, and simpler. After gathering information on its current practice and investigating the science behind performance evaluation, Deloitte came up with a revolutionary way forward.

The current practice was a traditional method of cascading objectives from the organizational strategic level down to the individual contributor level. Managers would rate each employee at the end of a rating period based on how well he or she met those objectives. However, annual goal-setting did not coincide with business operations schedules, and the process consumed nearly 2 million hours a year. Since Deloitte is in the business of improving efficiencies and productivities for clients, it only made sense to radically change its own performance management system.

The science behind evaluations shows that ratings are often affected by unconscious rater biases and perceptions rather than factual performance outcomes. Deloitte's employees often work in teams, and individuals believe that they are able to use their skills and strengths effectively at work. The firm's new approach asks team leaders to specify what future actions they plan to take regarding each member of the team. This shift in thinking recognizes that raters' assessments of performance may be inaccurate, but the way they plan to work with someone in the future says more about that individual's actual performance.

Team leaders now report their future-oriented intentions, from endorsing that they would like to keep the individual on their team to recommending that the individual poses a performance risk that might endanger client relationships or team performance. Since an essential component of performance management is to facilitate improvements in performance, team leaders now check in with each team member once a week to review project status and priorities, provide feedback on recently completed work, and provide any needed course corrections. This frequent communication is initiated by the team member rather than the leader. In this way, each individual takes ownership of their performance and seeks out feedback and input on their performance. Deloitte has moved away from assigning each employee a single performance rating score in favor of ongoing feedback.

1 - A shift in thinking recognizes that raters' assessments of performance may be inaccurate, but the way they plan to work with someone in the future says more about that individual's actual performance. Which of the following is a possible reason behind this?

a. Ratings might be influenced by a rater's bias or failure to observe employees perform.

b. Performance appraisals focus on compensation alone.

c. Many traits that are important determinants of job performance tend to be well defined.

d. Ratings adequately reflect the actual job performance of an employee.

2- Kelly's firm is about to conduct its annual performance appraisal process. Which of the following should Kelly expect from the process?

a. Kelly will most likely have to collaborate with other employees on projects.

b. Kelly will most likely have to receive evaluations to identify her performance.

c. Kelly will most likely have to provide feedback on the previous year's appraisal process.

d. Kelly will most likely have to provide feedback on her manager's performance.

3 -

Laura is an employee at a management firm. At her firm, workers undergo performance appraisals where the focus is on results and contributions. Which of the following is the focus of this approach to performance appraisals?

a. Inculcating a performance-driven culture

b. Improving workplace relationships

c. Collaborating with the other employees

d. Deflating motivation

Answer 1

1. a. Ratings might be influenced by a rater's bias or failure to observe employees perform.

(Ratings in such situations can be based on the rater's perspective and impression of the person that he already has and also it is not possible for him to monitor every performance of the employee due to which much of it might go unobserved.)

2. c. Kelly will most likely have to provide feedback on the previous year's appraisal process.

(The annual performance appraisal process has to be effective and yield the desired results for which the appraisal process of the last year and the success of its outcomes should be determined to follow the same process or make changes as required)

3. a. Inculcating a performance-driven culture

(A performance-driven culture will be one that will focus on the outcomes. It will not see how something is done but that it has given the desired outcomes. Performance appraisals based on results and contributions look for the outcomes of each one's performance for evaluation.)

Answer 2

Kelly will most likely have to receive evaluations to identify her performance