Last thursday, 10th May 2012, The Department of Finance announced an internal reorganisation to focus on economic planning and performance monitoring.
This development has received mixed reviews with some hailing this as a new dawn in public service management and others, including employee unions, claiming this is grossly unfair and a breach of contractual terms.
A Company's (in this case the Government) right to manage performance is a fundamental part of Management and employment in general. it is also beneficial for employees as they can can receive constructive feedback on their own performance and set targets and objectives for themselves. “Performance is likely to improve most when employees both (a) receive information that will enable them to perform better and (b) have an incentive to act on that information” “Performance Evaluation is believed to be capable of improving performance in two ways: through developmental feedback (directed primarily at improving ability to perform), and through administrative decisions that link evaluated performance to organisational rewards and punishments such as pay, promotion, or discharge.” With the Department of Finance having announced this new structure and new focus on Economic planning, now is the perfect time to make the new leap into performance monitoring also. The overall aim should be to align the employees individual goals and objectives to those of the Company, as this is proven to be the most successful when it comes to increased performance. “People need direction tied to organisational goals to perform well…Firms that clearly lay out workers responsibilities and their connection to larger Company goals…(have) four times the total return to shareholders...‘What is the Company’s mission and what is your role in fulfilling it?’ world class Companies invariably have a workforce that can answer this question specifically, not because they have memorised some fancy corporate jargon, but because they have an organic understanding on what the Company is trying to accomplish and what they contribute to that accomplishment” In order for the Organisation to achieve the best results the Performance Appraisal system in place should not just be treated as a one-off meeting each year, but instead as an ongoing process where employees will consistently receive feedback and assessment as to the goals they have set and support if required and if the department of Finance can get this aspect right the overall increase in performance should follow suit. It is also important that the Employer and Employee are able to share their expectations of the role and its performance, as this will provide a clear picture of where each stakeholder is with their expectations and any disparities can be addressed. This is not always easy in unionised environments or ones that have typically not faced much monitoring. However resolving disparities in performance is crucial to ensuring that there is acceptance and buy in from employees with appraisals. If an employee is unaware as to why there is a disparity in their score or why their own score ranks higher that how their Line Managers has scored them then it is important to ensure that they are aware of the reasons why.
