HRM3706 PERFORMANCE
MANAGEMENT NOTES
WITH CORRECT
PRACTICE QUESTIONS
2022.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT (HRM3706)
STUDY UNIT 1: CHAPTER 1: PERFORMANCE
... [Show More] MANAGEMENT AND REWARD
SYSTEMS IN CONTEXT
The Shift From Performance Assessment To Performance Management
Performance assessment has a long history based on comparative judgements of human worth.
Modern performance assessment developed from sophisticated rating systems designed by work
psychologists for military use during the two world wars. Performance assessment was initially used
for promotions, salary increases, and discipline (Price 2011:402). Fletcher and Williams (1992:5-8)
provide an overview of the development of performance management. They trace the origins of
performance management as far back as the First World War, focusing on the period since the
1950s, a decade that involved personality-based appraisal. The focus then was on evaluating
performance, but with no intension of improving it.
Fletcher and Williams (1992) further observe that, in the 1960s, appraisal practices shifted to a
greater emphasis on goal-setting and assessment of performance-related abilities (and more
recently, competencies) rather than personalities. The late 1980s and the whole of the 1990s saw
organisations undergo a process of rapid and successive change. Almost inevitably, what Fletcher
and Williams (1992) call “performance appraisal” became a central mechanism in a more holistic
approach towards managing people and business in general.
According to Mello (2015:438), the terms “performance evaluation” and “performance appraisal”
imply a one-sided judgemental approach to performance management, where employees have
limited involvement in the process. Traditional performance appraisal simply involves evaluative
supervisory comments on the past performance of employees.
According to Houldsworth and Jirasinghe (2006:6–7), things shifted again in the 1990s, when
performance management began to be seen as more of a core management process, growing out
of its “appraisal” box, and developing into an integrated, strategic and grown-up concept.
In summary, the practice that we today know as performance management developed from humble
beginnings some 60 years ago. During those early days, the emphasis was on individual
competencies of employees. Over the last couple of decades, this has developed into a more
sophisticated organisational function. Today, performance management is a fundamental part of a
company’s HRM system and recognised as a HR activity contributing to the achievement of the
strategic goals of the organisation.
Performance Management: Definition
1. Continuous process of
Identifying, measuring and developing performance of individuals and teams
Aligning performance with str [Show Less]