Case Study Seven: Conducting performance appraisals at National Office Supplies

You have recently been appointed as HR advisor for National Office Supplies, a provider of
stationery and office furniture for businesses throughout the UK. Whilst based at their
headuarters in Hertfordshire, part of your role is to visit the regional sales offices and to audit
their HR processes and practices. !he co"pany has e#perienced sound levels of gro$th in
recent years and has e#perienced gro$th in turnover of one%third in the last three years. &rior to
your appoint"ent, the HR "anager $or'ed alone, aside fro" an ad"inistrative assistant,
involved pri"arily in advising regional "anagers on recruit"ent and selection, conducting
induction and ensuring that the co"pany(s policies )such as health and safety and eual
opportunities* co"plied $ith legislation. !ypically, she $ould only visit regional offices to attend
disciplinary or grievance "eetings. Whilst the co"pany has broad guidelines on ho$ each
depart"ent is "anaged, the general attitude a"ong senior "anage"ent at H+ has been that as
long as each office is perfor"ing adeuately, they are happy not to intervene or get too involved
at regional level unless directly as'ed to do so. Ho$ever follo$ing the recent gro$th of the fir"
fro" a relatively s"all, tight%'nit organisation to a larger, "ore bureaucratic co"pany, the senior
"anagers are 'een to introduce a ,perfor"ance culture( into the fir" and to for"alise and
standardise its 'ey HR processes.
You have been as'ed to visit all the regional offices to observe their perfor"ance appraisals
being conducted as the basis for $riting a set of guidelines that can be circulated to all regional
sales "anagers as ,best practice(. !he current guidelines si"ply state that perfor"ance
appraisals should be conducted at least annually. Regional "anagers are provided $ith a pro
for"a $hich they are advised to use to prepare for and record the appraisal. !his $as
do$nloaded fro" the internet by the HR ad"inistrator. -ach year regional "anagers are given a
su" of "oney to distribute to their tea"s in recognition of perfor"ance but ho$ "anagers do this
is left to their discretion. .iven the sound financial perfor"ance of the fir" in the previous year,
each "anagers have been given /0111 this year to pay as bonuses, although this can rise or fall
depending on ho$ $ell the co"pany as a $hole has done over the previous year.
The South West region office
2le# Scally is the regional sales "anager for the South West, running fro" the foot of 3orn$all in
the West to 4ourne"outh in the -ast and .loucester in the North. She is a gregarious, e#trovert
character $ho is very hard to disli'e. She runs her office in a very infor"al "anner and is $ell%
li'ed by her tea". 2 chat $ith one of her tea" suggests that she is very good at ,putting an ar"
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around your shoulder if things aren(t going so $ell( and for being fulso"e $ith her praise $hen
things go $ell. 5i'e her "anage"ent style, her appraisals are best described as an infor"al
chat. She encourages her tea" "e"bers to do "uch of the tal'ing, outlining things they thin'
they(ve done $ell and that they e#cel at and $ays they could i"prove their sales. !he "ood is
typically rela#ed, upbeat and positive. 2le# doesn(t $rite anything do$n and appears to have no
paper$or' to refer to during the appraisal 2le# ta'es the vie$ that appraisals are ,no big deal(,
do$nplaying their significance partly because she doesn(t $ant the" turned into a focus for
criticis" or praise. She vie$s appraisals si"ply as an opportunity to reinforce things that $ere
do$n $ell and to ,gee up( the tea". 2lthough there are no for"al plans for future action agreed at
the "eeting, she ta'es the vie$ that all other things being eual, if people do better than the
previous year then they(re perfor"ing $ell. 2le# tells you that she "a'es decisions about
bonuses based on gut instinct, not by referring to facts and figures which dont show the full
picture. 6att 4erninger, $ho the "anager refers to as the "ost natural sales"an she(s ever
co"e across )partly because, in 2le#(s $ords, he can ,tal' the tal'(* has scooped the lion(s share.
-#a"ining the $ay that the region is divided up bet$een the tea", this sales"an also happens to
have the ,patch( that includes 4ristol. She says of his decision%"a'ing process that usually most
of the team are happy with their share, some are just pleased to get anything. Anyway, even if
they dont like it, then itll just make them work harder next time.
The Southern region office
7aniel Rossen is the regional sales "anager in the southern area, stretching bet$een
4ourne"outh, 4righton and Reading. 7aniel is an altogether different character to 2le#. He is
reserved and fastidious in his $or' and $ell%respected a"ong his colleagues although one tea"
"e"ber that ,he 'eeps hi"self to hi"self(. 7aniel vie$s the appraisal process as the focal point
on the HR calendar and plans "eticulously for each appraisal collecting and collating
perfor"ance data that he has recorded and revie$ing the year(s perfor"ance against the agreed
ob8ectives set in the previous appraisal. Having sat in on 7aniel(s appraisals )a process he $as
none too happy about* you note that in they largely represent a series of uestions fired by 7aniel
at the appraisee, "any of $hich reuire si"ply a one $ord ans$er $hich the "anager records by
tic'ing a bo# on a pro for"a that he has prepared hi"self. !he uestions as'ed of the tea"
"e"bers focus on areas for i"prove"ent, typically by as'ing appraisees about $hy, for e#a"ple,
they failed to obtain or have lost a particular contract. 7aniel ta'es the vie$ that perfor"ance can
only be i"proved if previously%"ade "ista'es are avoided in future. Reflective of the significance
attached to appraisals by 7aniel, appraisees see" to be nervous, uptight and defensive,
freuently having to 8ustify their activities over the year. 7aniel "a'es his decision over the
allocation of bonuses, partly on the basis of the nu"ber of tic's in the ,right( bo#, along $ith a
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consideration of volu"es of sales generated, although he is 'een to stress that he see's to
re$ard his tea" not only on the basis of total sales but also on the conte#t and $ay that those
sales have been achieved. !his year, the highest bonus $as paid to the sales"an $ho in the
$ee' running up to his appraisal secured a large order for office furniture. !he lo$est bonus $as
paid to Ki" .ordon $ho $as on "aternity leave for the last three "onths and $ho $as unable to
attend an appraisal. 7aniel is 'een to stress to you, ho$ever, that he "a'es a point of clearly
co""unicating his decision to e"ployees so that they 'no$ he is being fair, but ad"its to
ensuring that everyone gets so"ething 8ust to 'eep "orale up.
TASK
4efore you visit the re"aining regional offices, you have decided to set out so"e guidelines
based on $hat you have $itnessed at the Southern and South West offices, on the basis of $hich
to assess the $ay that appraisals are conducted. !he intention is to develop these guidelines so
that they can be circulated to "anagers to help the" conduct "ore effective appraisals. You
decide to start this process by identifying areas of good and bad practice in the t$o offices.
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