The Psychology of Performance Management

Hultman, Kenneth E., Training & Development Journal

The Psychology of Performance Management

Low performance levels, demotivation, and turnover are among the quickest drains on productivity and human resources, and they affect employees in too many organizations. Training managers who have a competent grasp of the psychology of employee performance and motivation can help identify the true causes of performance problems and increase the chances of solving individual problems before they affect the entire organization. The following case study, based on a real-life situation, illustrates the importance of being aware of performance psychology.

Setting the stage

As the new director of training and development at a mid-sized manufacturing company, Ed Kincade discovered within the first few weeks on the job that four of his key managers had weak people skills and substandard performance in their departments. All had competent managerial skills, but they also had a negative, "Theory X" view of management--a view that employees inherently avoid work responsibilities and must be "managed" well to perform well. The Theory X perspective affected the ways these managers managed their own departments as well as the ways they expected to be treated by their own bosses. In an attempt to improve the situation, Ed sent the four--Barbara Grant, Jack Thomas, Mark Sommers, and Nancy Riley--to an intensive workshop on developing interpersonal supervision skills.

Six months later, only Nancy remained with the company and was progressing toward improving motivation and performance levels in her department. The other three quit or were fired for inadequate performance shortly after the workshop. During exit interviews, Ed discovered too late that the negative ways Barbara, Jack, and Mark treated employees were only symptoms of deeper, undetected problems.

The inputs and outputs of

performance

In any given situation, the performance of an individual is a function of at least four inputs: commitment, confidence, competence, and contingencies. Although other inputs may be involved, these four always are present. Performance outputs are expressed as feelings and behaviors that vary for each input and either encourage or discourage an individual's behavior. Because outputs result from inputs, labeling discouraging feelings and behaviors can help identify input problems. Performance deficiencies then can be corrected by altering inputs in ways that yield more encouraging feelings and behaviors. Figure 1 summarizes the inputs and outputs of performance.

…

Questia, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning. www.questia.com
Publication information: Article title: The Psychology of Performance Management. Contributors: Hultman, Kenneth E. - Author. Magazine title: Training & Development Journal. Volume: 42. Issue: 7 Publication date: July 1988. Page number: 34+. © 1988 American Society for Training & Development, Inc. COPYRIGHT 1988 Gale Group.

This material is protected by copyright and, with the exception of fair use, may not be further copied, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means.