The HR role in Performance Management

 

According to Armstrong and Ward (2005) the role of HR is very important in performance management. They are responsible for designing and reviewing systems, convincing boards of new approaches, implementing new processes, conducting workshops for managers and staff, providing advice and support materials to staff and managers, and ensuring compliance. Often, HR takes a more subservient approach, aiming to keep everyone happy by constantly tweaking the system and process according to staff feedback and senior management direction (Armstrong and Ward, 2005).

HR members provide insights, leadership, advice, and services on issues affecting management, employment, learning and development, human rewards and well-being and management, and employee relationships (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Every organization wants to have skilled and qualified people to make their organization capable and beneficial, the organization used Performance evaluation to strengthen and motivate people to keep them aligned with the objective (Dessler, 2015). Human resources play a fundamental administrative role in making management easier and more active in influencing management to adopt a more commercial approach to performance management (Armstrong and Ward, 2005). Further, provide information to help managers in their work and decision-making activities to efficiently and effectively achieve the desired organizational goals, acting on the employee’s motivation and the performance assessment (Esposito et al., 2013).

According to Ulrich (1997) HR role focuses on aligning strategies and practices with business strategy. As illustrated in figure 1.0, this delineates four principal HR roles. Those are,

•          Management of Strategic human resources
•          Management of firm infrastructure
•          Management of employee contribution
•          Management of transformation and change

                      Figure 1.0: Definition of HR Roles

Source: (Ulrich, 1997).

HR Involvement in Performance Management

Performance Planning - An important part of performance planning is aligning individual goals with the organization's strategic objectives (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Performance planning should be the first step in setting goals that target what employees want to accomplish over a specific period. This helps employees to understand how they need to allocate time and distribute efforts between special tasks and job engagements, and after the successful implementation of this phase, employees and managers should be well aware of the timeline, expected outcomes, and how progress is measured (Miller, 2018).

Performance Coaching - Coaching is a core performance management activity that takes advantage of opportunities presented by the task itself and uses them to develop knowledge, skills, competencies, and therefore individuals' performance (Armstrong, 2009). The main objective of this step is to provide regular performance feedback throughout the year, providing (Beardwell and Thompson, 2017). Employees will be guided to redesign and tailor the performance they need to focus on. Employees have different levels of characteristics and may need expertise in other fields and skills to work on different tasks. As a result, managers need to understand the different needs of employees and guide them in a way that meets their personal needs (Sharma, 2019).

 Performance Review - The performance review phase includes a formal meeting between the employee and the manager to review their assessment (Aguinis, 2013). Performance review provides a hub for considering key performance and development issues. The performance review meeting is the five basic performance management elements of the agreement, how measurement, feedback, positive reinforcement, and dialogue can be put to good use (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). Once new strategies for further development are discussed, these new plans should follow the same process as those implemented by HR, which will lead to a fresh start (Rothwell, 2013).

The HR Role of Line Managers

HR can initiate new policies and practices, but line managers have the primary responsibility for implementing them (Armstrong and Taylor, 2014). They are there to get results through people and therefore need to manage the performance of their people (Armstrong, 2009).

Line managers play a crucial role at every stage of the performance management cycle (Armstrong, 2009). At the design and performance agreement stage, they agree with team members on their roles, goals and performance enhancement, and personal development plans. They manage performance throughout the year by monitoring achievements against the plan, feedback, and training as needed. During the review phase, they hold formal review meetings and provide formal feedback as a basis for presenting plans (Armstrong, 2009). As illustrated in figure 2.0, this consists of inhibitors and enablers of HR involvement (Mcguire, Stoner and Mylona, 2008).

                    Figure 2.0: A Framework for Line manager HR Involvement

                  Source: (Mcguire, Stoner and Mylona, 2008).

An example from the company I work for:

The performance work process is leading organizations by advancing corporate objectives by assuring employees should be motivated and improving themself through developing the knowledge, skills, and abilities within the organization under the aligned method. The company I work for is a leading company providing packing solutions in Sri Lanka. We have a separate HR department for performance management and the HR Manager is in charge of its HR activities. Also, HR Executives are available to manage the work. The HR Manager is primarily responsible for documenting, designing, conducting, and allocating required documentation for performance management, with line managers as Production, Finance, Sales, IT, and maintenance managers. Normally, performance assessment doing quarterly and the final result is done annually. The Product Executive, HR Executive, and QA Executive are involved in the quarterly assessment. There, the Human Resources Division provides training and feedback to line managers on the relevant planning as well as how to do it. When doing an annual performance appraisal will conduction the heads of the department of each section.  Finally, during the performance review phase, the HR Division plays a major role in time allocation, location setting, coordination, and overall report submission.

Conclusion:

Performance Management is a crucial and fundamental function of human resource management. It focuses on setting a clear process for managers to follow in order to get the best from their associates. HR’s role is very crucial in performance management when planning, coaching, and reviewing. line managers have the primary responsibility for implementing them.

References:

            Aguinis, H. (2013) Performance Management. 3^rd edn. New Jersey: Pearson Education.

       Armstrong, M. (2009) Armstrong's handbook of performance management: An evidence-based guide to delivering high performance, 4^th edn. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

       Armstrong, M. and Taylor, S. (2014) Armstrong's Handbook of Human Resource Management Practice, 13^th edn. London: Kogan Page Publishers.

            Armstrong, K and Ward, A. (2005) What Makes for Effective Performance Management? The Work Foundation, London.

       Beardwell, J. and Thompson, A. (2017) Human Resource Management: A contemporary approach. 8th edn. New York: Pearson.

       Dessler, G. (2015) Fundamentals of Human Resource Management. 5th edn. London: Pearson.

       Esposito, V., De Nito, E., Iacono, M.P. and Silvestri, L. (2013) Dealing with knowledge in the Italian public universities: The role of performance management systems. Journal of Intellectual Capital.

       Mcguire, D., Stoner, L. and Mylona, S. (2008) The role of line managers as human resource agents in fostering organizational change in public services. Journal of Change Management, 8(1), pp.73-84.

       Miller, T. (2018) The new world of human resources and employment: How artificial intelligence and process redesign is driving dramatic change. Business Expert Press.

        Rothwell, W.J. (2013) Performance consulting: Applying performance improvement in human resource development. John Wiley & Sons.

        Sharma, R. (2019) Human Resource Management for Organizational Sustainability. 1st edn. New York: Business Expert Press.

        Ulrich, D. (1996) Human resource champions: The next agenda for adding value and delivering results. Harvard Business Press.