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EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEW (continued)
9) Attendance. Review the employee’s attendance and tardiness record. Consider the following:
Is the employee frequently absent from work?
Are absences justified? Documented?
Does the employee arrive for work on time?
Does the employee remain until the end of the work period?
If the job required attending meetings or moving from one work location to another, is the employee
punctual?
Does the employee give adequate notice for absences or tardiness?
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
Remarks:
Steps for improvement:
10) Appearance and fitness. Assess personal appearance, cleanliness, grooming, and fitness. Consider
the following:
Does the employee demonstrate cleanliness and good personal hygiene?
Are clothes neat and clean?
Does the employee have to be reminded of physical condition and appearance?
Is the employee able to work consistently with only normal fatigue?
Are clothes appropriate for the job?
Do sleep, diet, and other health practices aid job performance?
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
Remarks:
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EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEW (continued)
Steps for improvement:
11) Use of equipment. Appraise the employee’s care in handling and maintaining property and
equipment. Consider the following:
Does the employee take care of assigned equipment, avoiding unnecessary damage?
Does the employee demonstrate an understanding of how equipment is to be used?
Are routine maintenance procedures done properly?
Does the employee report defects when appropriate?
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
Remarks:
Steps for improvement:
12) Safety. Evaluate the employee’s attention to personal safety as well as to the safety of others.
Consider the following:
Does the employee use assigned safety equipment?
Does the employee handle equipment safely, without injury?
Is care taken to avoid dangerous or unsafe conditions whenever possible?
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
Remarks:
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EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEW (continued)
Steps for improvement:
13) Productivity. Weigh the amount of work completed in relation to the specific assignment. Consider
the following:
How much work does the employee consistently produce?
Does the employee’s output meet or exceed expectations?
Is the employee’s work completed on time?
Is the volume of work completed higher or lower than that of other individuals with similar
assignments?
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
Remarks:
Steps for improvement:
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EMPLOYEE PERFORMANCE REVIEW (continued)
14) Quality. Analyze the quality of the employee’s performance. Consider the following:
How innovative or creative is the employee?
How accurate is the employee’s work?
How often does the employee’s work need to be redone?
How well do results meet standards?
Do customers or co-workers complain about the quality of the employee’s work?
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
Remarks:
Steps for improvement:
Overall rating. Evaluate the employee’s overall job performance. This should be a composite rating.
Failing
Below
Average
Average
Above
Average
Excellent
L H
L H
L H
L H
L H
Remarks:
Steps for improvement:
Employee’s signature
Reviewer’s signature
Date ____________________________
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APPLICATION
In Search of Excellence
The following questionnaire is based on the best-seller In Search of Excellence: Lessons from America’s
Best-Run Companies by Thomas J. Peters and Robert H. Waterman, Jr. This questionnaire is designed to
evaluate an organization’s current strengths and weaknesses. With this information, project teams, led by
champions, can then create strategies and commitments to improve.
IN SEARCH OF EXCELLENCE (RATING THE EIGHT ATTRIBUTES)
Directions
Listed below are eight attributes and their characteristics common among excellent companies. Rate your
organization on each characteristic using the following scale:
5 – This characteristic is always present.
4 – This characteristic is present most of the time.
3 – This characteristic is sometimes present.
2 – This characteristic is rarely present.
1 – This characteristic is never present.
Total the scores of the characteristics for each attribute. Then, divide by the number of characteristics
under that particular attribute. This will give you an overall rating for each attribute.
I. Risk and Experimentation (A Bias for Action)
1. _____ Concrete action is taken early.
2. _____ Prototypes are provided for customers; they can experiment.
3. _____ Risk taking is supported by a tolerance for failure (within limits, of course).
4. _____ Physical layout and tools, such as conference rooms, blackboards, and flip charts, invite
interaction, impromptu problem solving, and “good-news-story swapping.”
5. _____ Resources are willingly shifted as required to get the job done.
6. _____ Small teams of volunteers solve problems or develop new products and then dissolve.
7. _____ A freewheeling informality prevails, and the “glue” is a common purpose.
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8. _____ “One-page-only” memos, five-page new product proposals, and an aversion to planning
documents and reports create an action-oriented environment.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 8.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
There is not a bias There is a bias toward
toward action. action. (Things get done.)
II. Customers Are Full Partners (Closeness to the Customer)
1. _____ Quality and service are the number one priority.
2. _____ Proposals are cost justifiable from the customer’s standpoint.
3. _____ Salespeople and service representatives put themselves in the customer’s shoes.
4. _____ “Satisfaction guaranteed” is the sales and service philosophy.
5. _____ Senior managers know and care about customers.
6. _____ Customers participate in experiments with prototypes.
7. _____ Inventions and improvement ideas come from the customer.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 7.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
Customers receive little Customers are treated as
consideration. full partners.
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III. Innovation Through Entrepreneurship (Autonomy and Entrepreneurship)
1. _____ Self-initiated, self-directed experimentation is encouraged.
2. _____ The creative fanatic is tolerated.
3. _____ People who have the know-how, energy, daring, and staying power to implement ideas (the
champions) are rewarded positively.
4. _____ Rewards and a share of success are provided.
5. _____ Support systems exist to get the job done.
6. _____ The burden of proof is transferred to those who want to prove that an idea will not work.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 6.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
Innovation is Innovation is encouraged
not encouraged. within the organization.
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IV. Motivating People to Choose Productivity (Productivity Through People)
1. _____ Respect for the individual is the number one operating philosophy.
2. _____ There is a dedication to training people.
3. _____ Reasonable, clear expectations are established for each person.
4. _____ Lots of feedback and celebrating are done.
5. _____ There is a great deal of positive reinforcement.
6. _____ There is an everyday commitment to helping people become winners.
7. _____ People are treated as adults.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 7.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
There is a lack of motivation People are motivated to
within the organization. be productive.
V. Shaping a Powerful Value System (Hands-On, Value-Driven Approach)
1. _____ There is a simple, clear, compelling description of what the organization stands for.
2. _____ People do not have to change their value systems when they go home.
3. _____ Goals of the organization are not only financial.
4. _____ Leadership does not concentrate on sheer survival.
5. _____ Managers walk around and reinforce shared values “on the floor,” “with the people.”
6. _____ Leaders are masters of two ends of the spectrum—abstract visioning and mundane details.
_____ Total
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_____ Divide the total by 6.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
A powerful value system A meaningful value system
to guide behavior is lacking. operates throughout the
organization.
VI. Staying in the Business You Know (Sticking to the Knitting)
1. _____ The majority of attention, energy, and resources is focused on the mainstream business.
2. _____ Cultures and value systems of new ventures and acquired organizations merge easily with those
of the original organization.
3. _____ Credible management is provided for new ventures in an acquired business.
4. _____ Ventures into new businesses are set up as manageable experiments with a commitment to
divest early if the signs of successful integration fail to materialize.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 4.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
Mergers and acquisitions Mergers and acquisitions
detract from the original are handled well.
business.
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VII. Structure is Simple and Managers Manage (Simple Form, Lean Support Staff)
1. _____ Bureaucratic layers are minimal, with little red tape required to get things done.
2. _____ People are provided with a fairly stable organizational structure that makes sense and works for
them.
3. _____ Flexibility is fostered by creating small subunits and by designating short-term task forces to
address problems and develop innovations.
4. _____ Resources are focused on the action line. The organization is not top heavy.
5. _____ Power, energy, and decision making reside at the logical point of concern for a problem.
Problem solving occurs at the lowest possible level.
6. _____ Central office staff size is limited, and traditional head office functions are decentralized.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 6.
Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
There is a complex structure, The basic structure is
with line managers having simple, and the driving force
little responsibility. comes from line management.
VIII. Liberating Talent Within Parameters (Simultaneous Loose-Tight Properties)
1. _____ Stable, well-defined expectations are provided from the top.
2. _____ A meaningful value system is promoted throughout the organization that inherently defines
appropriate action.
3. _____ Employee involvement is allowed to function as a powerful productivity force.
4. _____ “Quality versus cost” and “efficiency versus effectiveness” arguments are denied in favor of
liberating ordinary people to invent and produce the highest quality product every time.
_____ Total
_____ Divide the total by 4.
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Mark your score on the scale below.
1 2 3 4 5
1.5 2.5 3.5 4.5
Personal autonomy is low, Firm, central direction
and central direction is coexists with maximum
lacking. (People feel individual autonomy.
personally constrained; at the
same time, they feel that
there is no organizational
direction.)
Interpretation
Add the average scores for each of the eight attributes: .
If the Total Equals: The Evaluation Is:
32–40 Excellent; outstanding. Conditions reflect
those in America’s best run companies.
24–31 Very good; solid. However, more work is needed
to attain excellence.
17-23 Below par; unsatisfactory. Improvement is needed.
8-16 Poor; failing. Much work is needed to solve basic
problems.
Note that overall organizational effectiveness depends on excellence in each of the eight attributes. Low
scores in any area represent flaws to be corrected in order to assure long-term success.
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APPLICATION
Paired Comparison Performance Review
The paired comparison is a systematic method for conducting performance reviews and making decisions.
It forces comparisons between all individuals being evaluated on common performance criteria. As the
following quotation from Benjamin Franklin shows, the idea is not new:
Canceling Out Pros and Cons
When confronted with two courses of action, I jot down on a piece of paper all the
arguments in favor of each one—then on the opposite side, I write the arguments against
each one. Then, by weighing the arguments pro and con and canceling them out one
against the other, I take the course indicated by what remains.
⎯Benjamin Franklin
PERFORMANCE REVIEW
Step I
State the performance criterion. * Use a single word, phrase, or sentence. For example, “Which
individual has the highest integrity?”
Performance criterion:
_____________________________________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________________
*Common performance criteria include intelligence, initiative, and integrity.
Step II
Make a list of individuals to be compared on the performance criterion. Assign a number to each
name. **
1 6
2 7
3 8
4 9
5 10
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Step III
Look at the first line of the grid below. You will see a 1 and a 2. Compare names 1 and 2 on your list,
using the performance criterion. (Example: who produces the best quality of work?) Circle your choice.
Then go to the next pair (1 and 3). Continue in this manner until you have compared every individual
with every other individual.
1 2
1 3 2 3
1 4 2 4 3 4
1 5 2 5 3 5 4 5
1 6 2 6 3 6 4 6 5 6
1 7 2 7 3 7 4 7 5 7 6 7
1 8 2 8 3 8 4 8 5 8 6 8 7 8
1 9 2 9 3 9 4 9 5 9 6 9 7 9 8 9
1 10 2 10 3 10 4 10 5 10 6 10 7 10 8 10 9 10
**If you need to compare a list with more than ten names on it, add new rows to the bottom of the grid (1
11; 2 11; 3 11; etc.) until you have all the numbers needed, arranged in pairs.
Step IV
Count the number of times each individual’s number was circled on the grid. Enter the totals in the
appropriate spaced below.
1_____ 2_____ 3_____ 4_____ 5_____ 6_____ 7_____ 8_____ 9_____ 10_____(11 ____)
Step V
Recopy the list, beginning with the name of the individual whose number was circled most often. You
have determined this individual to be the best on the performance criterion at this time. The name circled
next most often is the second best, and so on. In case of a tie (if two names receive the same number of
circles), look back on the gird to see which name you circled when you were comparing those two. This
means you prefer one over the other; thus you break the tie. The rank order of individuals is as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11. __________________________________________
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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS AND ACTIVITIES
To personalize the subject of Performance Management, ask your students questions such as
these:
1. Describe a time when you performed at your personal best.
2. Discuss the importance of performance management skills—goal setting, coaching to succeed,
correcting performance problems.
3. Discuss what a supervisor should do before conducting a performance review.
4. Discuss what an employee should do before receiving a performance review.
5. Discuss the concept of Level 5 leadership based on leaders you have known. What is your
personal level of development on the Level 5 hierarchy?
6. Have you mastered performance management as a leadership skill? Do you know how to set
goals, provide feedback on progress, and correct performance problems?
7. What is your level of performance in the areas of statesmanship—working with and through
others, entrepreneurship—achieving results, and innovation—generating new and useable
ideas?