Managing Performance for Results – Critical Thinking

HOW TO STRUCTURE CRITICAL THINKING:
This PowerPoint should be at least 11 slides in length. Except for Slide 1,
use the required slide headers in bold in order below (ex: “Agenda”) to
organize your paper.
Slide 1- Title Slide (your name, presentation title, name of the KSA
organization, date)
Slide 2- Agenda (In this slide identify the upcoming sections)
Slide 3- Organization Info & Mission, Vision, Values
Slide 4- Importance of Performance Management System in
Organization
Slide 5- How the Performance Management System is Aligned with
Organization Strategy
Slide 6- Why the Performance Management System is Best for the
Organization
Slide 7 How Performance Management Systems Benefits New
Employees
Slide 8- How the Performance Management System Works
Slide 9- Benefits & Drawbacks of the Performance Management
System
Slide 10- Recommendations to Improve Performance Management
System
Slide 11- References (They must also be integrated on the slides and
speaker notes.)
o Aguinis textbook
o 3 additional scholarly references (if you want to exceed standards)

Creating a successful performance management communication plan is
vital. There are six basic components associated with a performance
management communication plan, which can be reviewed in Figure 7-1,
page 199 in your textbook.
For this assignment, create a PowerPoint presentation for an organization
of your choice, which is located in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. In this
communication plan, which will be presented to new organizational
employees (during orientation), address the following:
• Provide information about your organization (specifically detailing
its mission, vision, and values).
• Explain the importance of performance management and why your
organization values performance management.
• Explain how the performance management system utilized is
aligned with your organization’s strategy. Note: You can suggest a
performance management system or use the one that the company
currently has.
• Explain what type of performance management system you believe
is best for the organization and justify why.
• Explain the benefits of the performance management system to
newly hired employees. Specifically, address the question, “What’s
in it for me?”
• Explain how the performance management system, for your selected
organization, works.
• Critique the organization’s performance management system (which
is currently used by the company or the system that you selected).
Note the benefits and drawbacks of this system and offer
recommendations for improvements.
Your presentation should meet the following structural requirements:
• Be 11 slides in length, with a minimum of eight content slides in
addition to one title slide, an agenda slide, and at least one reference
slide.
• Provide support for your statements with in-text citations from a
minimum of four scholarly articles in the speaker’s notes as well as
the reference slide. Two of these sources may be from the class
readings, textbook, or lectures, but two must be external. The Saudi

Digital Library is a good place to find these sources and should be
your primary resource for conducting research.
• Presentation notes are required for each slide and should be put in
the speaker’s notes section to support the slide content. These can
be part of the presentation or delivered as a separate document. If
you opt for the former, be aware that the presentation cannot be
submitted in PDF format, which does not make notes visible to the
instructor.
Reach out to your instructor if you have questions about the assignment.
Follow APA and Saudi Electronic University writing standards.
Review the grading rubric to see how you will be graded for this
assignment.
You are strongly encouraged to submit all assignments to the Turnitin
Originality Check prior to submitting them to your instructor for grading.
If you are unsure how to submit an assignment to the Originality Check
tool, review the Turnitin Originality Check Student Guide.

to revising and improving an existing one. For example, it may be the case that the organization is under new leadership, and
this new leadership wants to implement a better system.

COMMUNICATION PLAN
In general, having more and better knowledge of the performance management system leads to greater employee
acceptance and satisfaction.1 Organizations often design a communication plan to ensure that information regarding the
performance management system is widely disseminated in the organization. A good communication plan answers the
following questions:2

What is performance management? Answering this question involves providing general information about performance
management, how performance management systems are implemented in other organizations, and the general goals of
performance management systems.
How does performance management fit into our strategy? To answer this question, we should provide information on
the relation between performance management and strategic planning. Specifically, information is provided on how the
performance management system will help accomplish strategic goals. Recall that Chapter 3 addressed this issue in
detail.
What’s in it for me? A good communication plan describes the benefits of implementing performance management for
all those involved.
How does it work? Answering this question entails giving a detailed description of the performance management
process and timeline: for example, when meetings will take place, what the purposes of each meeting are, and when
decisions about rewards will be made.
What are my responsibilities? The communication plan should include information on the role and responsibilities of
each person involved at each stage of the process. For example, it includes a description of the employees’ and
supervisors’ main responsibilities in the performance management process.
How is performance management related to other initiatives? The communication plan should include information on
the relationship between performance management and other initiatives and systems, such as training, promotion, and
succession planning.
Figure 7.1 summarizes the questions that should be answered in a state-of-the-science performance management
communication plan. As an example, consider the performance management system for the position of senior executive
service (SES) member, which is a position in U.S. federal agencies such as the Department of Justice, Department of Interior,
Department of Energy, and Department of Commerce.3 SES members serve in key leadership positions directly below the top
Presidential appointees. SES members link the appointees to the rest of the federal government, and they are charged with
overseeing various governmental in U.S. federal agencies.

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Figure 7.1 Performance Management Communication Plan: Basic Components
The communication plan that the Department of Justice implemented for this performance management system answers
each of the questions described above and included in Figure 7.1:

What is performance management? The plan states the reasons for the department’s implementing a performance
management system and discusses what it is expected to accomplish. For example, it explains that performance
management aims at promoting efficient and effective attainment of the department’s mission, program objectives, and
strategic planning initiatives, and it also aims at motivating high levels of achievement and accountability. It also
includes definitions of several key terms, including performance management system, performance, progress review,
rating levels, and annual summary rating.
How does performance management fit into our strategy? The plan includes a list of principles that guide the system,
including, “The Department of Justice federal leaders and managers create a climate for excellence by communicating
their vision, values and expectations clearly.” It goes on to detail all the ways in which leaders in the agency do this. In
addition, the director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) describes how the system would be used to
implement key principles, including excellence.
What’s in it for me? There is clear information on how the performance management system will help the SES members
be more effective leaders so that the department’s mission can be achieved.

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How does it work? The plan outlines the steps in a performance management process, detailing the managers’
responsibilities at each step. For example, it outlines the performance dimensions, the rating categories, and how to
assign an overall rating.
What are my responsibilities? The communication plan outlines the responsibilities of the SES members as well as their
rating official, the person in charge of rating their performance. The plan emphasizes that leaders must create a culture
performing at a high level by continually communicating expectations and rewarding high-achieving performers.
How is performance management related to other initiatives? The communication plan touches briefly on the
importance of linking system outcomes to performance-based pay. The importance of training to maximize performance
is also considered.
In summary, the communication plan implemented by the Department of Justice is extremely detailed and provides answers
to most, if not all, of the key questions that should be addressed by a good plan. However, even if a communication plan
answers all or most of the important questions, the fact that the information has been made available does not necessarily
mean the communication plan will be successful in gaining acceptance. This is because people have cognitive biases that
affect what information is taken in and how it is processed. Also, in the case of an organization that already has a system in
place, and a better one is being rolled out, it is likely that many people will not be comfortable with the change and will
engage in what is called resistance to change.4 We will discuss these issues next.

Dealing with Cognitive Biases and Resistance to Change
There are three types of biases that affect the effectiveness of a communication plan, regardless of whether it includes the six
components shown in Figure 7.1. Also, these biases are accentuated when people are not willing or interested in change. The
biases are selective exposure, selective perception, and selective retention.5 First, selection exposure is a tendency to expose
our minds only to ideas with which we already agree. Those employees who already agree that performance management is
a good idea may become involved in the communication plan activities, including reading about the system and attending
meetings describing how the system works. On the other hand, those who do not see much value in a performance
management system may choose not to read information about it and not to attend meetings about it. Second, selective
perception is a tendency to perceive a piece of information as meaning what we would like it to mean even though the
information, as intended by the communicator, may mean the exact opposite. Someone who believes performance
management is about only rewards and punishments may incorrectly interpret that receiving formal performance feedback at
the end of each quarter translates exclusively into receiving a pay increase or a bonus. Third, selective retention is a tendency
to remember only those pieces of information with which we already agree. If an employee perceives his employer as
vindictive, that employee is not likely to remember information about how the appeals process works or about other fair and
equitable aspects of the system.
Selective exposure, selective perception, and selective retention biases are pervasive and could easily render the
communication plan ineffective. Fortunately, there are several ways to minimize the negative impact of these biases and,
therefore, help gain support for the system. Consider the following:6

Involve employees. Involve employees in the design of the system. People support what they help create. The higher
the level of participation is in designing the system, the greater the support for the system will be.
Understand employee needs. Understand the needs of the employees and identify ways in which these needs can be
met through performance management. For example, do they want more feedback? Are they interested in development
activities that would eventually lead to a promotion or a different job within the organization?
Strike first. Create a positive attitude toward the performance system before any negative attitudes and rumors are
created. Make communications realistic and do not set up expectations you cannot deliver. Discuss some of the
arguments that might be used against the system and provide evidence to counter them.
Provide facts and consequences. Because of the presence of cognitive biases, facts do not necessarily speak for
themselves. Clearly explain facts about the system and also explain what they mean or what the consequences are.
Don’t let employees draw their own conclusions because they may differ from yours.
Put it in writing. In Western cultures, written communications are usually more powerful and credible than spoken
communications because they can be carefully examined and challenged for accuracy. Create documentation, which is
often posted online for everyone to download, describing the system.
Use multiple channels of communication. Use multiple methods of communication, including face-to-face (especially in
the case of small and medium-size organizations) and virtual meetings, e-mail, TED talks, and short video clips. In other

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