Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
Answers to In-Text Questions
Chapter 9: Performance Management
Transforming Performance Management At Deloitte
Case Discussion Questions:
1. Which aspects of Deloitte’s new performance management system do you find most radical?
Responses will vary by student. Some may be struck by the number of hours Deloitte was
2. If you were a manager at Deloitte, how would you have reacted to such a system? Would
your answer change if you were an employee?
Student responses will vary but many might be intrigued at the short, quarterly updates used by
3. What are your thoughts regarding measuring performance with four simple questions? Do
you think these are the right questions? How would you know if a particular question is
effective or not?
Responses will vary by student. The questions are sound and thought provoking but provide
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
4. How would you motivate managers to conduct frequent check-in meetings with employees?
How would you counter the argument that these meetings take a lot of time?
Managers should be given performance ratings on how well they manage their employees, and
5. How transparent is this system? Do you think Deloitte’s decision not to share individual
ratings with employees is warranted?
The short answer is the system is not transparent. However, one has to consider how it needs to
be, and how different this system is than a system where a manager writes a note about an
Spotlight on Ethics: A Goal-Setting Scandal at Wells Fargo
Questions:
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
1. How would you advise your organization if top management proposed an aggressive goal-
setting policy for employee performance? How might the organization reap the benefits of
goal setting while avoiding negative consequences?
Goals should be specific, measurable, relevant, time bound, and reasonable and attainable and
2. In your own work, how do you set goals for yourself and measure your progress in attaining
them? What have you learned that might help you to gain more benefits from goal setting?
Responses will vary by students and their work experience. Some students might talk about
Mini-Case Analysis Exercise: Unfair Performance Reviews
1. What would you advise Orlando to do in this meeting?
Orlando needs to be able to document these contributions. If Orlando cannot prove these things
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
2. What would you tell his manager, if anything?
Students will have a variety of opinions here. While many might suggest not telling the manager
about the conversation with Orlando for fear of retaliation, most will agree something needs to
3. Are there any systemic changes you could think of that may help prevent instances like these
from happening in the future?
Many. There needs to be an understanding of KSAs for this position, and there needs to be goal
HR Decision Analysis Exercise: Should You Abandon Yearly Reviews?
Should your organization switch to the system the CEO has read about? Consider this decision
using the following criteria.
Please provide the rationale for your answer to each of the questions.
Is it legal, ethical, and fair?
Using a ranking system is perfectly legal but not always fair. Many employees can be great
employees, and not employees have the same KSAs. This process may or may not be ethical. If
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
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Is it evidence based/evidence informed?
The CEO does not offer any evidence that the current rating system costs and more or less than
Does it foster healthy employee–employer relationships?
While opinions will vary, employee–employer relationships will suffer. Many people do not like
change. Some might feel the new system “cost them” money when a smaller bonus or pay
Is it time- and cost-effective?
Short term it might be time and cost effective. There was no time or money spent on researching
the current or proposed method, and the CEO feels money will be saved based on ranking.
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
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Does it take a systematic stakeholder perspective?
This does not appear to take a systematic stakeholder perspective. There seems to be little
consideration for stakeholder and little understanding that, yes, many companies no longer use
Considering your analysis above, overall, do you think this would be an effective decision? Why
or why not?
Student opinions will vary. Short term, many will say this is probably not a good idea and they
should offer reasons (such as those discussed above) as to why. However, students must also
What, if anything, do you think should be done differently or considered to help make this
decision more effective?
Students will offer many suggestions but the need to more research needs to be done. There
Bauer, Human Resource Management
SAGE Publishing, 2020
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HR Decision-Making Exercise: Designing a Performance Management System
If you were designing a performance management system for this company, what would it look
like? Assuming that the company is interested in providing feedback to employees on a regular
basis, but also tie pay to performance, propose a performance management system for the
company. Please make sure that your answer includes specific details such as the forms to be
used and the criteria with which performance will be measured.
Responses will vary by student. There are several different types of performance managememt
