Performance Appraisals

This week we reviewed Performance Appraisals, their purposes, and what you can and cannot do. Most of this information was discussed in class. We reviewed case studies and discussed what is considered fair and consistent.

A Performance Appraisal or Review is a meeting held with your supervisor/boss to review how you are doing at work. Are you meeting expectations and goals set by either you or your department? Are you 'playing well with others' or do you want to be King of the sandbox?

Other issues to consider are the conducting of the review. We discussed that equality and consistency are important when reviewing performance of all employees. There also has to be proper basis for any discipline. For instance, personal bias should never be behind any disciplinary action.

Discipline in the workplace should be founded and follow steps in order to protect the employee as well as the employer. 

First, they should receive a verbal warning that is done tactfully and privately. Preferably, this verbal warning should be done in a constructive way to facilitate correction and help the employee get back on track and should always be documented. 

 Then a written notice.........

The employee gets yet another chance by receiving a Final Written Notice. When all else fails, termination would be next. These steps can be bypassed in the event of illegal actions or actions leading to the harm of others.

This week's assignments gave me a broader perspective of the process employers go through with employee's regarding employee performance. I can use this information to my benefit in nursing because it broadens my vision of what my employer's position requires. It also helps me to see my performance through the eyes of my employer. This is valuable information that can only help to improve my view of work as well as my performance.

WHERE DO YOU FALL...........

Team Work

The highlight of our week in Leadership was an afternoon of team building activities. I was kind of reluctant when I heard about this activity. We were supposed to dress to get wet, cold and muddy. All we knew is we were going outside and working on teams and leadership.

It turned out to be really fun. We were broken up into two teams of four and we had several scenarios we had to work through as a team. I will break these down for you.

But first….we all needed to participate in a trust fall. This scared me to death. I am not sure if I would have done this in any other circumstance. We were to stand on the tailgate of a truck with our arms crossed over our chest and our backs to our teacher and classmates. They were standing facing each other with their arms out in front of them making a make-shift landing pad. When someone from the team said, “Fall”, we replied with, “Falling” and we fell straight back into their arms. I was the 2nd to last to go because I really just didn’t want to do it, but I did! I’m so glad that I did. I felt like I accomplished something difficult. More importantly, I put my trust in my team and they were there for me.

We had a swamp to cross with four people but we had to be in contact with each other the whole time and we could only have two feet total on the ground at all times. We tried using the wheelbarrow approach but my back just couldn’t take it. We brained stormed and found a great way to do it. I won’t tell, think about it and see what you can come up with.

We had to cross an electrical fence without going over or under but through it. We had to save a baby from the grasp of death.

Another favorite activity including breaking into teams of 2. One of us was blindfolded because we were ‘blinded’ in an accident. The second teammate had burned arms so they couldn’t touch anything. We had to lead our ‘blind’ teammate through one building, upstairs, out and around into another building, and back to where we started. It was actually really fun.

What did I learn from all this….

I can trust those on my team to be there for me. I can be open minded and listen to their input and realize that all of us have great suggestions. I can follow directions and can lead others through a path that is unfamiliar to them. We can rely on each other for support. I think being blindfolded was a great opportunity of trust as well as being able to put myself in the shoes of another and follow their perspective.

This really did turn out to be a really fun experience. Of course I can see the benefit this information will help me with at work. I think team work on my floor is important. On the night shift we always try to work together to solve problems and help each other out. I wouldn’t want it to be any other way. I liked seeing other’s perspectives during this activity and I appreciated having my opinions and ideas count. We had a great team and worked very well together.

Learning About Hiring

This week we were asked to interview someone who is responsible for hiring employees. Additionally, this person must work outside of healthcare. For privacy reasons, I will tell you this person works for a very large and popular retail company. He works at the regional level and conducts many interviews. As a team formed in our class, we devised a list of 12 questions to ask in order to better understand the hiring process.

1. Describe your specific hiring process. Typically how long does this process take place from start to finish?

The company posts both internally and externally. The length of time is dependent on the position. It takes anywhere from 2 weeks to 2 months for the entire process from posting to hiring. The posting may last between 3-7 days. He reviews applications, checks references and then interviews take place.

2.  Who is involved in the hiring decision making process and how do you come to a consensus?

Typically there is one hiring manager but HR protocol never encourages one person to be in charge for the whole time. If someone claims discrimination you have to have a witness with you at all times to dispute their claims. There is always somewhat of a panel dependent on a position. First may be a phone interview, then in person, then final approval with a supervisor meeting with the candidate. Typically there are three rounds of interviews.

3.  What are some of the main factors that contribute to employee resignation or termination?

During exit interviews most of the time the issue that people talk about as being a problem is scheduling. It typically comes down to work/life balance or the days that they are scheduled.

Do you consider these factors when hiring new employees?

The hiring managers look specifically to talk about what employee’s expectations are. However, they need to be available when there is a need. Unfortunately, with retail, it is necessary to work weekends and holidays and that is a problem, even if they are aware of it during the hiring process.

4. How much do you consider a person’s age in the hiring process?

Zero, the only time age is considered is if they are too young. 15 is too young to hire. We focus only on capabilities. It doesn't matter if there are two candidates, one being close to retirement and another younger, age is not consider at all.

5. Skype and phone interviews are becoming more popular. Are those a part of your hiring process and if so, what challenges does this bring to the process?

They are part of hiring for positions that are above store level. Market level, District level. It works out fine for those positions. Obviously there are certain things you can’t appreciate when in person. You can’t tell mannerisms. It is really hard to tell how prepared the person is you are interviewing. Anyone can have notes in front of them. But for the most part it works out great.

6. Does an employer prefer to hire within the company or do they like to bring in new perspectives?

They prefer both. It is hard to say if they like the one over the other. They are just looking for top talent no matter what. The one thing that has been nice about this company is that they do like to promote from within. They don’t require a degree to be a store manager. 75% of store managers started out as cashiers and other positions within the store. There are plenty of opportunities to move up.

7. What special preparation do you take before you interview a prospective employee?

He always reviews the resume and application looking for specific experience, gaps in employment. Looking for gaps gives him time to prepare the questions he would ask like why they were not working, etc. Personal goals and interests are back burner but it helps you to prepare for questions.

8. What “red flags” do you see during an interview that make you question the integrity of the interviewee?

It really depends upon the interview. In the interview they are trying to sell themselves. Sometimes they embellish more than they should. He looks for how they describe accomplishments and then he can ask what they contributed to those accomplishments versus what their team did. Sometimes they take credit for things that they might not have done all by themselves.

9. How do you put yourself in your prospective employee’s ‘shoes’ to make the most out of the interview process?

He tries to imagine what they would have gone through because it helps him ask questions. Most of the time you are talking retail. He is just trying to look at their experience and find better questions to ask. Really you are just trying to learn if this person is going to be able to do the job. Story telling is a good answer for behavioral questions. See what they have done and see if the questions are the most relevant. If they don’t have the experience he doesn't ask questions that are not pertinent. The focus is on the job description and functions of the job.

10.  What makes an interviewee stand out among a pool of other applicants?

The first thing he is always looking for is confidence. He us looking to see if they can express themselves with the knowledge of the job skills that are on the resume. He is looking to see if what they say on paper matches the things they are saying to him. Sometimes the resume is well written but they can’t explain things. The focus is on knowledge, skills and abilities.

11.  What is the most difficult part of interviewing prospective candidates?

Evaluating them. It is pretty easy to ask questions. Sometimes people don’t interview really well and they are boring. When you are evaluating a person like that you are just not very focused. Sometimes people are very short in their answers and not very descriptive. The best ones are the ones that you want to ask more questions because you want to know more about them. How can you compare ones that meet expectations and those that don’t. It is the ones that meet all the criteria. They are successful in the methodology that they use.

12.  Are you required to interview a set amount of applicants, even though you may already know exactly who you want and will hire for the position?

People think that going into the interview that everything is predetermined. His experience is that it has never been predetermined. He just wants to follow the procedures that Human Resources has taught. Sometimes the one that you expect to be promoted turns out to not to be the best. Typically the only requirement is that you have more than one applicant. If you don't have more than one, you close the posting and post the position again. You do this even if they are really really good. Because, what is on paper with an applicant is not always what is best. If you start to interview them and they are the only one and you don’t want them, you have to hire them. It may be that you look on social media sites like Facebook and find something about them that is undesirable. It is too late, if they were the only one that applied and you interviewed them, you would have to hire them.