Performance Management at the University of Ghana

At the University of Ghana, in the Blame Library’s the component of the performance management that was not applied successfully is Performance Appraisal & Reviewing, as specified in the description of the case study 2-3. Although there are several, the performance appraisal and reviewing are chosen only.

A performance management’s description is included in the case study at the University of Ghana at the Blame Library. The evidence absence is mainly included in the description for the systematic evaluation of the jobs in the library along with the ambiguous items’ existence in the forms that contains the rating of the employees. No specific example or definition is there by which these ambiguous items can be explained to the employees. Furthermore, there is no evidence in the description that the library employees, as well as managers, have mutually set the distinct purposes. For example, in the Library the Library assistant is responsible for informing the Information officer about all of the data related to books issues, due dates of book issues, a deadline of retrieves of books, library card and current members of a library. The Library assistant is the main course of all information to the information officer, who just need to put the information in a record. Managers rated the information office 5 points above the Library assistant, even though Library assistant is more capable and efficient in doing his job.

In addition to the deficiency of the discussion concerning the consequences of forms among the employees and the managers regarding debating excellence points as well as the points by which the improvement of performance is required. One of the important points that are discussed in the case study in the employees’ assessment by some entity that is not directly in contact with the employees. Such observations provided in the case study’s description indicates that a basic management performance’s component is there that has not been efficiently and effectively implemented. Hence, Performance Appraisal and Reviewing is that component.

Poor implementation impact on Performance Management Process

One of the major organizational objectives is the maximization of its performance. Good performance, at the same time, in an organization is an indication of the good performance of its employees (Cardy, 1997). Performance of the employees is one of the major organizational issues so these plans’ development should effectively and efficiently contribute to the employees’ professional growth along with accomplishments of the major organizational objectives (Carney, 1999). The performance management was studied by Neely and Mills (2009), and the authors concluded that it is a continuous process in which the staff and the managers of the organization perform the following task (Neely and Mills, 2009):

(1)   Work on development of the strategic organizational vision and setting different organizational objectives and goals that must be consistent with that strategic organizational vision.

(2)   Setting as well as defining the main organizational tasks that are associated with the organizational objectives and goals by which the strategic organizational vision could be achieved.

(3)   Agreeing among each other on the definition of organizational performance as well as its quality standards that aim at accomplishing the organizational objectives and goals. The important and difficult thing is that these standards must be directed and realistic.

(4)   Actual measurement methods’ implementation, compared to the targeted organizational performance.

(5)   Constructive performance assessments’ communication within the organization.

(6)   Development opportunities’ planning for sustainability

The performance of the employees within that organization should be evaluated through this mechanism, and this must be based on the results. The major goal of the distinctive performance appraisal process is to evaluate the employee’s performance and identifying excellence’s points as well as the points that require to improve the performance so that employee feedback could be given on his or her performance within the organization (Mayhew, 2017). If the performance management appraisal process is effective, then it is the key component that makes sure the good performance of the organizational management system. The design of the performance appraisal should be made in such a way that it includes the checklists and classification scale that measure two following major areas:

(1)   Tasks measurement regarding problems in work, tasks’ completeness within the given time, etc.

(2)   I am evaluating the main aptitudes of the employees regarding capabilities, functional characteristics, innovation, planning, customer satisfaction, and performance, etc. An integral part must be an appraisal of the process of elevation to replicate the significance of the employees’ performance within the company (Balle, 2017).

Improving the implementation of Performance Management at the University of Ghana

There are various skills and policies that monitored to increase the performance appraisal process within the organization. Smart targets, at the outset, must be set for every employee of the organization that must be achieved as well as time-bound. It should be made sure that the same goals are being reviewed by the managers between performance reviews to check that organizational goals are going the right way. The formal assessment sessions should be there to educate managers and employees regarding how good review sessions can be conducted, how appropriate ratings can be given, and how it can be made sure that biases are minimized in organizational matters as well as performance management system (Apringdale, 2016). Although this process is long once this process is done, this is worth the time and effort.

The debriefing and action steps should be one of the main focuses of the management. The impact is being lacked in most of the appraisals because people are not out up to success through these appraisals. Organizations get wrong if they don’t approach the process of appraisal as the main opportunity to help employees succeed. At first, the administration should be paying attention to achieve success for each and everyone then level of success should be considered at the next step.

Some consistency should be put by the management in sharing the performance individually as well as across the team. Adopting the system of performance appraisal on confidentiality can be helpful in driving success among the employees and organization. Open discussions should be held often so that everyone could discuss the reservations or achievements.

The performance appraisal process’ review should be assigned by the management to some outside party. There are two benefits of this: the first one is that chances of biases can be minimized in the process of performance, the second one is that consultants from outside can better refer the things that are causing issues than the insiders. Performance appraisal, results, and feedback should be used by the management as a value driver within an organization.