Executive Summary
For this report, I had chosen Agilent Technologies Sales (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd as my research topic. It is one of the branches in the world that delivers innovative technologies, solutions and services to a wide range of customers in communications, electronics, life sciences and chemical analysis.
One of Agilent's goals is to maintain a good-quality relationship between employees and management regardless of the economic conditions in which the business is operating.
Introduction
This report focuses on the Performance Appraisal of Agilent Technologies. Performance appraisal is one of the factors related to an organization’s long-term success. It has the ability to measure how well employees perform and then use the information to ensure that performance meets present standards and improves over time.
To help us have a view in the performance appraisal system of Agilent Technologies, an interview was conducted with two members of the company, Ms. Lim and Ms. Tracy Leong. Ms. Lim is the Assistant Manager in Customer Service, whereas Ms. Leong has been working in the Customer Service department for more 2 years. She is responsible for ensuring that their company’s customers receive an adequate level of service or help with their questions and concerns. Also, she interacts with customers to provide information in response to inquiries about products or services and to handle and resolve complaints, through a variety of means, either in person, by telephone, e-mail or regular mail correspondence, or fax, or even over the Internet.
In Agilent, the Human Resources (HR) department has focused on improving responsiveness, clarifying the scope of its services and continuing to build its expertise. Despite difficult economic conditions in recent years, they have continued working toward making Agilent an employer of choice across the globe. The aim is to provide employees with a working environment they find challenging and enjoyable by hiring some of the best people and encouraging open communication and feedback with management.
In Agilent, it is the responsibility of the managers to maintain a work environment where employees can openly discuss their performance, progress and development. This requires open and frequent c...
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...l process. This helps reducing sampling error by increasing the number of observations and reduces the effect of possible biases. This way, the supervisors and managers will feel more comfortable, since they are no longer solely responsible for what happens to the person as a result of the rating.
Probably there are still many ways to be researched and then be conducted. However, I do think these three ways are as important as they will lead the performance appraisal to a better system in Agilent Technologies.
References:
1. Stone, R.J. 2002, 4th edn, Human Resource Management, John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd., Australia.
2. Fisher, C. D., Schoenfeldt, L. F. and Shaw, J. B. 1993, 2nd edn, Human Resource Management, Houghton Mifflin Company, London.
3. Paterson, T. T. 1972, 2nd edn, Job Evaluation: A New Method. Business Books Limited, London.
4. www.agilent.com.my
5. http://www.agilent.com/environment/esr/employment.html
6. http://www.agilent.com/environment/esr/2001/agilent-employees.html
Noe, Raymond A., et al. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. 7th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2010. Print.
Miller, C. E., & Thornton, C. L. (2006). How Accurate Are Your Performance Appraisals? Public Personnel Management, 35(2), 153-162.
The performance assessment and appraisal forms are crucial within the performance management system (Aguinis, 2014). However, the appraisal form within the case study provided is designed for the supervisor’s use thus missing one vital factor throughout the entire process, employee participation. Thus, questioning the validity and reliability of the process. This is especially concerning as the bottom 10 per cent of employees are being fired and the top 20 per cent are being rewarded with $5,000.00 based on what their supervisor records on the form without consultation with employees. Thus, supervisors may not provide accurate scores as they do not have to justify their responses (Aguinis,
Kaufman, Roger and Keller, John M. "Levels of Evaluation: Beyond Kirkpatrick." Human Resources Development Quarterly, v5 n4 p371-380, Win 1994.
Fisher, C., Schoefeldt, L., & Shaw, J. (1996). Human resource management. (3rd Edition). Princeton, NJ: Houghton Mifflin Company.
Byars, L. L. (1997). Human Resource Management. Chicago, IL: The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. Mills, D. Q. (1994).
Performance appraisal is perceived by most as a tool to reward or penalize employees for their good or bad work respectively by the end of a year. This notion is a challenge in itself to deal with. The whole exercise becomes dull for both supervisors and their subordinates and they tend to look at it as an additional responsibility which they have to finish. In the end, there is little or no value addition for either the employee or the organization. There are, however, better ways of looking at and conducting performance appraisals. It can give much needed feedback to both performers and laggards to improve upon and if done properly can even boost their motivation. More importantly, they provide a chance to employees to have a say in their goal setting and thus aligning it with the departmental and organizational goals. Also, the process itself has a value in team making.
Banner, D. K., Graber, J. M. (1985). Critical issues in performances appraisal. Journal of Management Development. Issue 4. Pp. 27-35.
The relationship between employer and employees plays a pivotal role in the performance of the organization. Employers and employees have certain responsibilities towards each other which facilitate a fair and productive workplace. Positive work relationships create a cooperative climate with effort towards the same goals. Conflict, on the other hand, is likely to divert attention away from organizational performance.
Human resource is the most valuable and unique asset of an organization. The successful management of an organization’s human resource is an exciting, dynamic and challenging task , especially at a time when the world has become a global village and economies are in a state of flux. The lack of talented resource and the growing expectation of the modern day employee has further increased the difficulty of the human resource function.
There are several reasons organizations initiate performance evaluations, however the standard purpose for performance evaluations is to discuss performance expectations; not only from the employers perspective but to engage in a formal collaboration where the employee and the manager are both able to provide feedback in a formal discourse. There are many different processes an organization should follow when developing its performance evaluation tool; in addition essential characteristics that must accompany an effective performance appraisal process. I will discuss in detail the intent of a performance evaluation, the process an organization should follow in using its performance evaluation tool, along with the characteristics of an effective
Grubb, T. (2007). "Performance Appraisal Reappraised: It's Not All Positive." Journal of Human Resource Education. Vol. 1, (No. 1,): 1-22.
Noe, Raymond A., John R. Hollenbeck, Barry Gerhart, and Patrick M. Wright. Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. 7th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2010. Print.
Whether an organization consists of five or 25,000 employees, human resources management is vital to the success of the organization. HR is important to all managers because it provides managers with the resources – the employees – necessary to produce the work for the managers and the organization. Beyond this role, HR is capable of becoming a strong strategic partner when it comes to “establishing the overall direction and objectives of key areas of human resource management in order to ensure that they not only are consistent with but also support the achievement of business goals.” (Massey, 1994, p. 27)
Suffield, L., & Templer A. (2012). Labour Relations, PH Series in Human Resources Management, 3rd Edition