Performance Review Takes a Page from Facebook

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Performance Review Takes a Page from Facebook

Disagree with this statement and provide reasons.” If you have regular conversations with people, and they know where they stand, then the performance evaluation maybe unnecessary

Performance reviews are vital in any organization, but they are dreaded by the employees because they tend to have a negative leaning. Employees see performance appraisals as a demoralizing activity due to the negative information that comes from the performance reviews. Conversations with employees cannot give the management a clear view of their performance. Regular conversations with employees give only a general impression form the group of employees and do not reflect individualized performance of the employees. It is vital for the organization to get a clarified view of all the employees’ performance (McGregor, 2009). Despite the hate, which the employees show towards the reviews and appraisals in terms of their performance in the workplace, it is vital for the employer to conduct a performance review and appraisal for determining the overall effectiveness and efficiency. Any healthy organization should perform appraisals to gauge its productivity levels, which are vital in setting goals in terms of the expected levels of output and more so the performance of each employee. Thus, the importance of the performance appraisal dwells on determination of productivity of the organization in meeting its targets. Moreover, it determines what should be altered to attain its goals and objectives.

Performance evaluations are carried out through the year to attain an overall picture of the performance of the employees. People tend to focus on the negative aspect of an issue despite the minuteness of the negative aspect. In addition, despite the positives accrued from the performance appraisal outweighing the negative aspects, employees will tend to have a negative image of the performance appraisal activity. The performance appraisal should be an all-inclusive process to help the employees reap maximum benefits form the activity. Performance evaluation is a necessary activity for any entity because it gives the employees a clear view of the expectations from the employer. The negatives of the appraisal should not be emphasized because they are bound to affect the productivity of the employees as they affect the psychological being of the employees.

Compare and contrast the possible effectiveness of the social network performance review to the following age groups: veterans, baby boomers, gen X and Gen Y

The various generations have different exposures to the digital world and more so to social network. Veterans have the lowest likelihood and know how in the use of social media because their age bracket is accustomed to use of traditional means of communication. The Baby boomers on the other hand might have an idea as to the existence and use of the social media but have little proficiency in the use of the internet and social media because as they were also not accustomed to the use of the internet (McGregor, 2009). The Generation X is at an advantage because their age bracket is neither too old nor too young. This enables them to fit in both young and old age brackets. They also possess social networking skills, thus, it is possible to use the social media as platform for evaluation.

The Generation Y came into existence when the use of the internet had gained momentum. Social media came into mass use after internet access was possible to majority of people around the world (McGregor, 2009). The Generation Y is mostly proficient in use of the internet and more social media platforms because of their proficiency in technology based products. It might be impossible to evaluate the veterans via social media platforms because they are not proficient in use of technology-based products such as computers and their applications. The baby boomers often reject ways, which they consider as untraditional; hence, the use of the social media as a platform for evaluation would be an effort in futility because they are accustomed to use of traditional means of evaluation (McGregor, 2009). Thus, the use of social media would be ineffective as they view it as a means for the younger generations. The Generation X on the other hand would not want to be viewed as outdated, thus they would embrace the use of social networking as a platform for performance evaluation. The generation Y owing to their proficiency in use of technology based products would find the social networking as the most appropriate means of evaluation hence they would embrace its use fully as would find it as easy to the presence of colleagues and friends with similar interests and ages.

The biggest payoff of these social network style tools may prove to e better performance by the boss. “State whether or not this statement justifies the time and cost of implementing these systems and provide a rational.

The cost of using the social networking tools should not outweigh the benefits from the use of these tools. Social networking is usually a real-time based activity hence the evaluation of performance by the boss should enable the boss to make adequate or relevant changes on systems and policies which are deviating the organization from its course or achievement of the objectives (Sutton, 2011). The boss is able to get real-time feedback from the employees who are availed with the platform of communicating with the boss in real-time.

In addition, the boss is able to get suggestions from the employees about issues, which need to be addressed, and the new strategies to be adopted for improved employee productivity. In addition, the feedback granted form the social networks enable the boss to improve his or her social skills in communicating with the employees (Sutton, 2011). Moreover, the employees have the ability to give candid opinions about the performance appraisal activities because they are not afraid of repercussions. The boss is able to get real and candid views, which are vital for instituting reforms for the profitability of the organization. The boss has the ability to use the social platform for improving the working conditions of the employees, which affects their productivity. Hence ignoring the complaints and pleas of the employees may prove to be detrimental to the organizations productivity and more so the profitability of the entity.

O’Toole states, “It has been said that Americans are increasingly overworked.” Discuss whether social network type evaluations aid or hinder the overworked American. Explain Why?

Social network type evaluations enable the overworked American to voice his or her opinions as to the nature of the work. In addition, the employee is evaluated in a real time basis whereby he is able to give real-time feedback in terms of work performance

However, the network evaluations do not give real views of what happens on the ground as they dwell on feedback of the employees and those in charge of the appraisal tasks. In addition, the ground activities are not reflected as the evaluation process dwells on information collected beforehand.

The social networking evaluations hinder the productivity of the employee because they aid in broadcasting the faults of the employees to his or her friends, colleagues and others in the entity. They are a platform, which creates embarrassment for the employees because results for the appraisal activities are put in the social networks for all to see (Sutton, 2011). This creates tensions among the employees as they view each other from a competitive aspect. It encourages competition among the employees, which has both negative and positive impacts on the employees as well as the organization. Embarrassing views in the social networking appraisal reports develops stress among the employees because of the views communicated in the appraisal activity.

Employees hat evaluations because of the negative information that comes with the evaluations. Hence, constant evaluation brought about by the social networks has negative effects on the productivity and psychological well-being of the employees. This is because the employees view themselves as being subjected to monitoring and constant evaluation hindering normal thinking as they view themselves at fault. This is because of the negative information as to the productivity, which usually accompanies the evaluation results.

References

McGregor, J. (2009).Bloomberg BusinessWeek. Performance Review Takes a Page from Facebook. Retrieved from http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_12/b4124058284261.htm

Sutton. P. (2011). The Social Web. The Fallacy of Social Media Evaluation. Retrieved from http://www.thesocialweb.co.uk/2011/01/fallacy-of-social-media-evaluation.html