Anonymous.  (1997, August) “Guidelines for Coaching and Mentoring.” [On-line] Training and Development. 23.  ABI/INFORM. Available:  UMI Article Clearinghouse.  

Barns, P. (1997, July). Making Appraisal Work in the New Millennium. [On-line] Management Services, 41(7), 14-16. ABI/INFORM. Available: UMI Article Clearinghouse.  

Blanchard, Ken. "Performance Appraisals." Executive Excellence. October 1994: 15-16.  

Campbell, R.. Garfinkel, L.M. (1996, June). Strategies for Success in Measuring Performance. [On-line] HR Magazine, 41(6), 98-104. ABI/INFORM. Available: UMI Article Clearinghouse.  

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"Guidelines for Coaching and Mentoring." Training and Development. 51(8):23 August 1997. 

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Stiles, P., Gratton, L., Truss, C., Hope-Hailey, V., McGovern, P. (1997) Performance Management and the Psychological Contract. [On-line] Human Resource Management Journal, 7(1), 57-66. ABI/INFORM. Available: UMI Article Clearinghouse. 

Tyler, Kathryn. "Prepare Managers to Become Career Coaches." HR Magazine. 42(6) 98-101. June 1997.  

Weiss, Tracey B., and Franklin Hartle, Reengineering Performance Management, Breakthroughs in Achieving Strategy Through People, St. Lucie Press, Boca Raton, 1997. 
 

How can managers get the most out of the money the company spends on training for employee career development?  How should managers talk with employees regarding career development and training options?  How should these discussions guide employees toward training and development opportunities that make sense for them? 

As a Human Resources Development professional, it is important to encourage employees at all levels to take personal ownership for their professional development.  However, there needs to be a systematic approach to human resource planning for the encouragement of individual development plans. 

Some guidelines for coaching and mentoring by managers are presented in this article: 

1. Make it clear that employees are primarily responsible for their own professional development. 
2. Do not use development discussions with employees to talk about issues that belong on performance appraisals. 
3. Spend time with employees individually to help them develop and review their plans. 
4. Act as coach, mentor, and advisor. 
5. Follow rules of etiquette and common sense.

Barns, P. (1997, July). Making Appraisal Work in the New Millennium. 
[On-line] Management Services,41(7), 14-16. ABI/INFORM. Available: UMI Article Clearinghouse. 

The past ten years have given rise to an elevated level of competitiveness within the private and public sector. In order to meet and survive these new challenges, organizations have reviewed and significantly changed the activities of their people management. 

The 360-degree appraisal has become an innovative method that is well suited to the internal and external changes that have taken place within competitive companies. It also goes a long way towards resolving the complete subjectiveness and top-down approach of former appraisal processes. 

The 360-degree appraisal is a multi-sources process which requests feedback from an employee's: supervisor/team leader, peers, customers (internal & external), and subordinates. All stakeholders are encouraged to participate in this process. Self-appraisal is a vital element in this process. The feedback is intended to be used by the employee as a tool for professional development, and by the supervisor as a tool for coaching. This process allows the manager to move into a "comfort zone" since theirs is now one of many opinions. 

The information is used to evaluate how well an employee met the goals and objectives that had been established earlier in the year. In a self managed work team these goals are established by the employee. If the employee has a supervisor or team leader the process is a joint effort. 

The argument for the 360-degree appraisal is based on the structure of today's organizations: 

• flatter which means a wider span of control for managers and less individual knowledge of their employees.
• larger geographical spread with reduced direct employee contact
• more matrix structures which create more than one reporting line
• emphasis on teamwork which places greater importance on the opinion of team members
• demands for greater cross-functional skills

Blanchard, Ken. (1994, October) "Performance Appraisals."  [On-line] Executive Excellence. 15-16. ABI/INFORM. Available: UMI Article Clearinghouse. 

Every organization claims people to be its most important resource. However, the ways performance appraisals are conducted and managed do not reflect this. Nothing is more vital than making sure the performance of people is well managed and evaluated. This requires planning, coaching, and evaluating. 

There are two problems in the way most people’s performance is managed: 

1. People rarely get feedback on results.
2. A performance review system exists, but nobody knows how to do it, so everybody gets rated high.
   

1. Most organizations do not hire losers.
2. In the planning stages, individual goals do not have much to do with the organizational goals.
   

There is not a magical formula that will produce the best performance management system. Companies with successful systems have taken a hard look at the needs of their organization. 

Organizations that have effective performance management systems provide their employees the necessary tools to measure their success and promote open communication among the employees. According to a 1994 Hewitt Associates study, " Performance management-defined as the cyclical, year-round process in which managers and employees work together on setting expectations, coaching and feedback, reviewing results and rewarding performance-has a significant impact on organizational success." 

Companies with effective performance management processes outperformed other companies in every measure of productivity and financial achievement. The 1994 study identified areas that can lead to successful performance management programs: 

Change from complex to simple 

Several companies have stopped the practice of listing and cataloging all duties, tasks, competencies and skills that are necessary to perform a job. Instead they have opted for a few key skills and commitments. 

Obtaining more data without drowning in it 

The multi-source feedback (360-degree feedback) allows the manager to obtain information from key stakeholders. 

Providing practical models for effective coaching 

Performance management processes encourage on-going coaching; however, few organizations provide training or recognize that the coach can be someone other than the employee's supervisor. 

Cutting the length of the review periods 

How realistic is it for someone to set targets one year in advance. Sometimes it is necessary to review the targets as you progress through the year. An alternative to the "annual ceremony" is dividing the year into two or more consecutive performance periods. 

Separating performance discussions from pay increases 

Some organizations inform the employee about their pay increase two days before the meeting. Other companies have established teams to review performance ratings and determine the increases. 

Measuring progress and making changes 

Employees and managers receive ongoing guidance regarding the performance management process. The performance process needs to align with the organization;s goals and directions; otherwise, the project becomes the "performance process du jour." 

Many times organizations performance planning techniques inhibit the high performance they seek to encourage. How can organizations change? 

Organizations must view performance planning as critical to the success of both the organization and the individual. Also they must map out the planning as being a strategic plan. Thirdly, and most importantly, performance planning requires proactive management. 

Whether an organization does performance planning or not, human resources managers are responsible for the management of their own performance. A truly effective performance process contains 3 elements: reviewing the past, assessing the present, and planing the future. There are 9 steps to proactively managing one’s own performance: 

1. Know and exceed the instrument.
2. Understand the job description.
3. Develop position goals to accomplish.
4. Carefully track and document achievements.
5. Plan and assess career development.
6. When the time comes, practice self-evaluation.
7. Look for additional input.
8. Manage the manager in the process
9. Learn from the performance session

It’s time to challenge the conventional thinking associated with performance appraisals and try a new approach. This can lead to higher levels of performance and employee contribution and satisfaction. The new performance management model involves setting goals and objectives and separating goals from the review and reward process. It involves encouraging employees to reach beyond what they believe is achievable. 

The next part of the model is based on building partnerships among employees, team members and the supervisor. This allows for two-way feedback that encourages improvement. 

Next is the employee development stage in which employees create their own development plans. The new model challenges compensation systems. Compensation should be based on how much employee’s contributions and performance are worth to the organization. The ultimate purpose of performance management is improving organizational performance by finding new and better ways to satisfy customers -- this is what the new model tries to provide. 

The measure of success, Across the Board, by Brian McWilliams, February 1996, The Conference Board, New York, N.Y. 

Mobil Corporation's AM&R division, which contributes 80% of the company’s revenues, has stopped relying exclusively on such traditional performance yardsticks as return on capital, cash flow, and net margins. Rather, AM&R now gauges its progress using a balanced scorecard consisting of 23 measures-only five of which are strictly financial. In breaking away from traditional, accounting-based performance criteria, this division is joining a small but growing number of business that believe profits are a poor star to steer by. These organizations are trying to use a new group of measures, such as customer satisfaction, quality, innovation, employee development, and, of course, financial soundness. 

Today, Mobil’s AM&R division’s scorecard focuses on carefully chosen "actionable" measures that line managers and employees can influence directly, such as customer satisfaction, yield, and reliability. Organizations like AM&R believe scorecards can pull everyone together to achieve strategic objectives. 

To be effective, any performance-measurement system must be tied eventually to compensation. Robert Kaplan, Harvard Business School’s professor of accounting, advises organizations to treat the initial scorecard as a hypothesis, a theory of business. 

Tyler, Kathryn, (1997, June). Prepare Managers to Become Career Coaches. HR Magazine, 42(6) 98-101. 

Career development now means continued growth-learning additional skills and overcoming new challenges. Managers no longer need to feel they are grooming employees just for promotion, either within or outside of their departments. Instead, employees may find job satisfaction by moving laterally or by enriching their present positions with different responsibilities. 

Helping employees develop their skills and increase their knowledge strengthens the whole team. Employees feel valued and are more efficient when they can perform more job functions. Managers who do not encourage career development may lose productive employees when positions are eliminated or people become dissatisfied. Thus, it is crucial for managers to assume a coaching role and accept a few additional responsibilities. 

Because the old career paths are gone, employees need to take some more responsibility for managing their careers. However, they need some assistance in that process. Successful companies give them the resources, and it is up to managers to communicate that message by acting as career coaches. Human resource professionals can motivate managers to fulfill this new role by including career coaching on their performance appraisals and by explaining the advantages of career counseling.