Help Managers Create More Effective Reviews - Brief Article

PerformanceManager from SuccessFactors.com makes it easier for managers to prepare written appraisals and conduct more effective one-on-one review sessions. At the same time, this application makes managers more accountable for getting their employee appraisals completed on time.

This product's premise is that managers can use help in finding the right words to describe an employee's strengths and shortcomings. PerformanceManager provides that help in the form of a Writing Assistant that suggests sentences relevant to specific corporate objectives, the employee's job-related competencies and whether the employee meets, exceeds or performs below expectations. Managers can accept the appropriate language with a mouse-click and edit it as appropriate, or simply use the text as a guide in writing original appraisals.

PerformanceManager also provides a Coaching Advisor with similarly specific advice for managers who need to help employees improve their performance. A Process Overview gives managers a better understanding of the importance of performance appraisals to the achievement of corporate objectives. Performance Manager also helps managers stay on track by providing to-do lists and document routing capabilities.

PerformanceManager is a web-based version of Employee Appraiser, a Windows PC application for performance appraisals that Success Factors.com now supports. Employee Appraiser was originally developed by Austin-Hayne, which completed a merger with SuccessFactors.com in February.

Reports, Customization and Routing

Once the application is set up, typically with employee data imported from an HR information system, PerformanceManager helps managers track review and appraisal due dates. The application also routes completed appraisals according to the user's corporate procedures.

Standard reports for managers and HR departments include the status of a manager's reviews, a list of incomplete documents, a list of late documents and a report on the overall ratings of employees whose reviews are complete. The handbook includes the Coaching Advisor and Process Overview.

Performance review documents include customizable information boxes with basic information on the employee and the review (type of review, date, review period and reviewer's name).

The review document includes objectives that can be created or edited and would, in most implementations, be provided in advance by the user. A pull-down menu provides options for rating the employee's performance against each objective. A live link to the Process Overview is available if managers or employees need clarification of the objectives.

Managers can access the Writing Assistant and the Coaching Advisor for help preparing the review, then click on a "send to" button to route the completed document. Sections of the document provide space for employee comments and signatures, and "go to" links at the top of the page provide faster access to each section.

Finding the Right Words

The Writing Assistant and the Coaching Advisor are both strong points of this product. Each is well organized. The Coaching Advisor, for example, presents a pull-down menu with dozens of performance topics, and when you select a topic, the Advisor presents relevant skills and tips on improving those skills.

Home health care services provider Gentiva Health Services of Melville, N.Y., has rolled out PerformanceManager to approximately half of the 6,000 employees that will ultimately use it, according to Diana Rivenburgh, assistant vice president for organizational development.

"Managers who don't have it are very anxious to get it," Rivenburgh says. "The quality of appraisals appears to have improved, primarily because of Writing Assistant. People sometimes have difficulty getting started, or putting a comment into just the right words, especially if there's a developmental need."

Since Gentiva installed an earlier version of PerformanceManager on a pilot basis in 1998, Gentiva has been offering suggestions for modifications. "Austin-Hayne, and now SuccessFactors.com, has been very active in trying to incorporate our suggestions into their upgrades," Rivenburgh notes. "SuccessFactors.com has other products we're considering. They've shown a very strong level of professionalism."

Gentiva hosts the PerformanceManager web application on its own server, so Gentiva's information technology personnel participated on the project team. PerformanceManager imports basic employee data from Gentiva's HRIS system. "HRIS data must be clean," Rivenburgh cautions, "or else the routing won't work, and incorrect information will show up on the appraisal document."

A Need for Speed

Browser functions weren't visible at the top of the screen in the demonstration version of PerformanceManager offered for review; having browser functions there would be helpful. Better linkage is needed between the documents module and the handbook. And potential users should remember that PerformanceManager is aimed at organizations with 300 or more employees, and high-speed web access or a network is all but mandatory.

High on Rivenburgh's wish list for future upgrades is a portable version that would enable Gentiva managers to work on reviews when they are traveling and don't have Internet access.

PerformanceManager appears well-suited for timely preparation of high-quality performance appraisals. This product has strong potential benefits for managers, HR departments and employees, come review time.

John Day is a freelance writer based in Decatur, Ga. He contributes regularly to several technology trade publications.

PerformanceManager version 3.0

SUCCESSFACTORS.COM

2000 Alameda de las Pulgas

Suite 242

San Mateo, CA 94403

(650) 655-3800

Fax: (650) 655-3820

www.successfactors.com

PRODUCT USE

Helps managers write more effective performance reviews and helps HR track review schedules and progress.

EQUIPMENT REQUIREMENTS

A Windows 96/98/NT PC with an Internet Explorer (5.0 or higher is recommended) or a Netscape browser and a high-speed Internet connection or corporate network.

RELEASE DATE

March 2000.

INSTALLED BASE

More than 20 corporate installations.

PRICING

PerformanceManager is available on a per-user license basis for installation at the customer site, or via an application service provider subscription program. Prices for current installations range from $50,000 to more than $1 million.

COPYRIGHT 2000 Society for Human Resource Management
COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group