Warnings
It is inappropriate and ineffective to use ratings to drive a decrease in the workforce or to compensate for organizational flaws such as a lack of leadership.
On its own, an employee performance rating system cannot change an organization’s culture or ultimate performance.
Introducing forced rankings to an established culture is very difficult and can actually undermine performance for some time. Eventually, those employees who do not embrace the competitive dynamics either leave of their own accord or get the lowest ranking and are dismissed.
When establishing metrics for individual measures, some factors to consider are production, efficiency and time, satisfaction, quality, and time to measure. When discussing new hire quality, it is not about the specific new hires, it’s about whether they meet the hiring objectives and about the hiring program itself and the development that is applied to the new hire. You can evaluate the new hire performance in light of the initial recruiting objectives. To help evaluate the development program, measure different new hires at different points. This tells you where the weaknesses are in each area.
For example, if you are measuring the position of file clerk, the time to measure would be between four to six weeks. Other factors to consider include measuring customer feedback and the number of files per hour with a quality benchmark of 99 percent accuracy. If evaluating a staffing director, the goal might be plus or minus 5 percent of national benchmarks with 85 percent satisfaction and 90 percent quality hires over a period of nine months. Table 7.1 shows examples of new hire quality definitions and when they should be measured.
| Position | Quality Defined | Time to Measure | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Production, Efficiency, and Time | Satisfaction | Quality | ||
| File Clerk | 100 files per hour | Associate/Customer Feedback | 99% Accuracy | Four to Six Weeks |
| Analyst | Number of Cases per day | Associate/Customer Feedback | 90% Accuracy | Three Months |
| Vice President, Global Sales | Gross and Net Revenues | Customer Feedback | Retention | One Year |
| Staffing Director | +/–5% National Benchmarks | 85% Satisfied or Better | 90% Quality Hires | Nine Months |
Measuring individual contributors. An individual contributor’s mission should be the main purpose for which the individual is employed or contracted. Ask these questions as you draft the mission:
An individual recruiter’s mission might be: “To be a highly-rated field sales recruiter through a process of hiring manager driven continuous improvement.”
Establish objectives. Individual contributor objectives should be specific and measurable deliverables that are essential to fulfilling the mission. The best objectives are jointly established with customers. Keep these points in mind as you develop them:
Do they support every aspect of the mission?
Do they leave anything out?
Are they measurable?
Are they clear to all constituencies including management, internal or external customers, and other associates?
Double check to hear what the customers think of them.
Associate metrics with each objective.