WEEK 6 DISCUSSION: IMPROVEMENT VS. FEAR THROUGH PERFORMANCE REVIEWS
The face-to-face performance review is one part of performance management. Observing an employee, and then sitting down to discuss areas of strength and need is intended to produce constructive outcomes. Yet, too frequently, the reality falls far short.
When considering performance reviews, “positive” or “negative” does not refer to the substantive evaluation but to how the information is presented and discussed. For example, in a “positive” performance review, negative information is not avoided and, significantly, not communicated in a punitive way or as a reflection on employee character. Rather, negative information is detailed as an opportunity for improvement.
For this Discussion, you will reflect on circumstances and behaviors that can lead performance reviews awry, and how to support a review process with constructive outcomes.
To Prepare:
- Review the Learning Resources on performance reviews and appraisals. Pay particular attention to the media programs for potential problems and solutions to consider.
- Consider the benefits and drawbacks of performance reviews and appraisals.
- What are the characteristics of a positive and effective performance review? What factors create a performance evaluation that contributes to improved performance, rather than injecting fear and self-protection in the workplace? In what ways can performance reviews impact the effectiveness of employees and the healthcare organization?
- Draw on the Learning Resources, as well as your own experiences with performance reviews in healthcare settings, to consider how to avoid performance reviews that provoke fear and how to ensure a process that supports performance improvement through openness, honesty, and collaborative problem solving.
- Consider insights from your Module 3 Assignment interview to apply to the Discussion, such as examples of criteria used to evaluate employee performance, and if and how that criteria is communicated to employees.
Post the following:
A brief description of factors that contribute to generating fear in employee performance reviews in a healthcare setting. Include examples from your own experience, and/or those of colleagues and other acquaintances, of positive or negative performance reviews. Explain strategies to eliminate fear and to develop and implement constructive reviews that improve performance. Support your post with the Learning Resources or current literature.
Required Readings
Fried, B. J., & Fottler, M. D. (Eds.). (2018). Fundamentals of human resources in healthcare (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: Health Administration Press.
Chapter 6, “Organizational Development and Training” (pp. 150–173)
- Chapter 7, “Performance Management” (pp. 174–204)
(Previously read in Week 5) - Bingham, J. B., & Beer, M. (2012, July). HBS case collection: Performance management at Vitality Health Enterprises, Inc. Brighton, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.
- Culbert, S. A. (2008, October 20). Get rid of the performance review!Links to an external site. The Wall Street Journal.
- Simons, R. L., & Kindred, N. (2017, February). HBS case collection: Doverent. Brighton, MA: Harvard Business Publishing.
