Sample Article Review on Performance Management
Introduction
In the article “Performance management effectiveness: practices or context”, the authors Victor Y. Hainess III and Sylvie St-Onge has conducted an extensive research on the measurement issues regarding employee performance management. According to the authors, there are several companies that have found their performance management system to be less than their expectations. On the other hand, there are other companies that they found that did not have any improvements regardless of implementing performance management system. Hainess III and St-Onge also found that many organizations do not have a clear understanding of social context that performance management system is implemented in, making it hard for them to meet their expectations as required. The aim of their study was to conduct an investigation of the joint influence that practice has and the framework of performance management effectiveness. Another aim of the authors of the study reflected in this article was to evaluate the performance management practices as well as the elements that they think are meaningful for the organizational context in regards to implementation of performance management. Lastly, Hainess III and St-Onge wanted to conduct an in-depth investigation of the performance management effectiveness and organizational-level design.
Research questions and their importance
Since the authors had a clear aim of what they wanted to investigate, some of the research questions that helped in their study of performance management system were: What is the association between performance management effectiveness to practices and context? Do performance management practices offer any value that is unique beyond the variance that the controlled variables account for? Do the contextual factors also add specific incremental variance above the control variables that are accounted for? The last research question was whether there was specific interaction with the moderator variables to determine the performance management effectiveness?
These research questions are important because they are the major guidelines to the study that was conducted by the authors. By answering these questions, the authors are able to validate their findings in a way that the readers will understand. The questions also guide the readers on what to expect during their study of the article. It will also be easy for the readers to validate the research that the authors have conducted and perform a proper scrutiny on the results. The readers will also be able to identify the limitations and strengths of the article based on the ways in which the authors handled the questions. If the authors do not answer these questions in a proper way or leave some of the information pertaining to them, it will be considered as limitations. On the other hand, if the questions are discussed with good information and proper research, it means that they had a clear understanding of what they were studying which indicates the strength of the article.
Method of data collection
The authors decided to use a questionnaire as a way to collect information for their research. This method of study is effective in this kind of research because it is based on individual ideas. It means that the method of collection of data was effective because it was based on personal information and details. The authors made the right decision to include the name of individuals who were responsible for management of human resources. This makes it easy to trace back the information and prove its validity. On the other hand, by translating the questionnaire into the two languages – English and French, the authors accepted the diversity of individuals that they were dealing with, especially based on the fact that the research was on performance management. The possibility of having various ethnic groups and cultures could have also motivated the translation. In an organization with more than 2000 employees, the possibility of the group being diverse is very high, thus making the decision of the author effective. This makes the article relevant for use as a source of reference.
Main findings of the study
The main findings of the study are consistent because of the population. The authors found that organizations offering performance management training or recognizing employees have effective performance management systems. This could be as a result of strong motivation that these organizations provide to employees boosting their morale to work hard to improve the performance of their companies. The authors found that such organizations that recognize employee performance have better operational outcomes. On the other hand, they found that when an organization can effectively control its contingencies, it will be able to acquire an outcome that is more valued (Hainess III & St-Onge 2015, p. 1162). This is also associated with the effectiveness of the performance management.
Another finding is the fact that training boosts the performance of employees. This is because employees feel that they are recognized when taken out for training. It makes it easy for them to perform highly after undergoing training where they are equipped with all the necessary tools that they require to perform. The authors found that there was a strong association between employee recognition and extensive performance management. It is therefore clear that training in performance management is highly important in this case. Regardless of the fact that the authors provided less information regarding the context and practice on organizational performance, it is clear that significant employee interaction provides effective results. It is true that the climate in which employees work determines their performance. A good climate will make performance management system effective, but a horrible work climate will result in poor performance (Bates & Khasawneh 2005, p. 101).
Importance of the study
The readers can learn several things from Hainess III and St-Onge article. First, the most important point is the fact that the state of performance management mainly depends on the environment at a workplace. If the organization provides the right environment/climate, the possibility of performance management system being effective is very high. It means that there are some practices that improve the potentials of these kinds of systems. Training is among the conductions that have been identified in the article by the authors as effective. This is because it provides employees not only with a sense of satisfaction from the fact that they are being recognized, but also equips them with the right knowledge to become effective in their work (Mercer 2002, p. 143; Armstrong 2014, p. 308). It means that the relationship between performance management practices highly depends on the overall effectiveness of the system.
Some other things that can be learnt from the article are that organizations should stop placing emphasis and attention on performance management system and start changing their environment to suit employees. By improving the functions of employees, their performance management in regards to goal setting, ongoing feedback, coaching, and performance appraisal will also become better (Hainess III & St-Onge 2015, p. 1165; Armstrong 2014, p. 182). It is important to have a practical relevance to performance management system rather than overlooking some issues that might affect system effectiveness. This is because there are some features pertaining to performance management system that can either spoil or offer support to the effectiveness of the organization (Morgan 2006, p. 25).
References List
Armstrong, M. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Performance Management: An Evidence-Based Guide to Delivering High Performance. London: Kogan Page.
Bates, R & Khasawneh, S 2005, ‘Organizational learning culture, learning transfer climate and perceived innovation in Jordanian organizations’, International Journal of Training and Development, vol. 9, pp. 96–109.
Hainess III, V & St-Onge, S 2015, ‘Performance management effectiveness: Practices or context’, The International Journal of Human Resource Management, vol. 23, no. 6, pp. 1158-1175.
Mercer, D 2002, Effective performance management practices, Mercer Human Resource Consulting, New York.
Morgan, R 2006, ‘Making the most of performance management systems’, Compensation and Benefits Review, vol. 38, pp. 22–27.