Question

Reflecting upon experience as an employee in the area of performance management, consider the best or worst memory in that regard. What did the boss do/not do well? Reflect upon the process and identify the impact which his/her approach had. With the perspective of today, what did the experience teach, and how has that experience informed subsequent practice?

Answer 1

The best memory I have regarding performance management is in my former workplace, a multinational publishing organization. My Team Manager is an efficient and effective leader. She connects well with the team members to understand their concerns/issues.

Process- Every employee need to update his/her achievements such as process improvements/innovations online and have evidence regarding the same. There would be an annual performance review which would be conducted by the Team Manager who would initiate the conversation about the performance level of the team member. The team member then provides adequate evidence for the updates that were posted online (accessed by the Team Manager). Based on the contributions and the performance, the team member would be provided rating (1-Excellent, 2- Good, 3- Meeting Expectations, 4- Bad, 5- Poor).

Impact- The performance appraisal conversation was very productive. My TM probed to understand my aspirations and guided me how to achieve my career goals. She provided framework on the areas that I need to focus on to become a Team Lead, my career goal.

With the perspective of today, experience taught me that it is not only important to be a manager but it is important to be a transformational leader to guide and lead the team members in the path they want to move. She was strategic in her approach. She had excellent people management skills which is what is required in today’s diverse workforce.

This experience has informed me subsequent practice by influencing me to adapt her style for effective people management. I was not an approachable person which was a great hurdle to my becoming a Team Lead. Then, I changed my attitude and volunteered to help every team member. Then, with the guidance of God, I learnt good leadership skills from my Team Manager which helped me to achieve the leadership role in my workplace. I was the most preferred leader because when I had to resign the job, I was not allowed to go by my team members nor my managers!!

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