suggested performance management system for health services academy

2012

Suggested Performance Management System for Health Services Academy

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GROUP MEMBERS ROLL NO.

Dania Khawar 046Mehwish Rafique 017Warda Khawar 048

COMSATS Institute of Information and Technology, Lahore

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Health Services Academy is an autonomous teaching institution under the Ministry of

Health, active in teaching and research in the field of public health. Its main emphasis

and impetus is on addressing the public health needs of the country. It is striving to

achieve the academic excellence in public health and research. One of the main

objectives of the Health Services Academy is to produce competent, committed and

skilled public health professionals who can assist in translation of acquired knowledge

into sound evidence based policies and practices.

Health Services Academy was established in 1988 as an in-service training institute

for public health professionals under the Federal Ministry of Health. In 2000, HSA

achieved the status of an autonomous institution after the promulgation of Health

Services Academy autonomy Ordinance. HSA offers the following Post Graduate

Academic Programs to public health professionals:

· Masters of Science Public Health - 2 years program - MSPH

· Masters of Science Public Health - 3 years program – Ex MSPH

· Post graduate diploma in Medical and Entomology and Disease Vector Control.

PGD-MED VC

. Master of Science in Field Epidemiology

· Masters of Science Health Economics and Management – MSHEM

Health Services Academy is in process of getting into agreements with various

international universities for exchange of knowledge, expertise, faculty, students,

facilities and assistance in development of curriculum for launching for new programs.

To date HSA have successfully signed agreements with various universities.

Health Services Academy is also in process of getting into agreements with various

Governmental Organizations and Non Government Organizations (NGOs) at national

and international level for developing collaborations and seeking assistance in the field

of Research & Development, Dissemination of Knowledge, Student Support and

Capacity Building of public health professionals.


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The performance management system of HSA is a good one if it is seen as a whole.

But if we look at the components of the whole performance management system,

there are some flaws in the components of the PMS.

We will look at each component of the performance management system at HSA one

by one:

Pre-requisites:

HSA's performance Management system is designed in a way that shows that it has

kept the prerequisites in mind while designing the PMS. All of the goals and

responsibilities of the employees are set to meet the overall organizational goals.

The job descriptions of each job in HSA are developed. This means that the duties,

responsibilities and the qualifications required are all defined which helps in setting the

performance goals for each job. There is a thorough understanding of the job and the

scope of the job.

Performance planning

The performance planning includes identifying the results behaviors and the

developmental goals for the upcoming evaluation period.

Results

In setting the performance goals, there is a slight difference between permanent and

contractual employees. Permanent employees are given the long term targets ad

contractual employees may be given the targets for the shorter periods of time.

Employees are not given a say in setting their targets. i.e there is no participative goal

setting rather the goals are just allocated to departments and employees. They are not

even told why they are given the target which means that a converging approach is

followed in HSA. Because of this employees fail to see the bigger picture and focus

on achieving the particular individual objectives. This can result in the reduced


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motivation of employees towards the achievement of goals. If the employees are

involved in setting the goals, they are more committed to achieving those goals.

Though the focus is on results, he performance appraisal form focuses mostly on the

desired behaviors. Even though the most desirable appraisal for HSA is behavior

oriented, but there must also be some part that focuses on results as the employees

must also be evaluated on targets assigned.

Behavior

This part of performance planning includes identifying the desirable behaviors for

performing the job in question. HSA identified the desirable behaviors for each job.

These behaviors are evaluated in the annual performance appraisals and are taken as

the performance measuring criteria. An important aspect here is that while allocating

the goals to the employees, they should also be told about the desired behaviors

related to each particular target so that the employees feel themselves able to connect

the allocated targets to the desired behaviors.

Developmental plan

At the start of each evaluation period, the developmental plans for each employee are

developed. These plans are developed with the information provided by the appraisal

of the previous evaluation period. The developmental targets for the upcoming period

are set and communicated to the employees.

Performance execution

In this part of the performance management system, the employee tries to meet the

performance goals. The employee carries out his duties and tries to achive the results

by displaying the behaviors required. They try their best to display the required

behaviors because of the ethicality and social responsibility issues. Ethicality and

social responsibility is given high weightage because HSA is working in service sector.

Performance assessment


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The performance of the employees of HSA is assessed by their immediate supervisors

and their peers. The employee enters his details in the appraisal form and hand it over

to the supervisor. The supervisor then fills in those appraisal forms. After that an

appraisal meeting is held with each employee for about 20 minutes. In this meeting

each employee is shown the filled appraisal form and asked if he agrees with the

appraiser or not. If he does not, he has to tell why he does not agree with the

appraiser. After employee, supervisor adds his comments and the appraisal form goes

to the executive director. This is also done in another way. A supervisor calls in the

employee before filling their appraisal form and tells him how he is evaluating him on

each criterion and why and asks if he agrees or disagrees. If the employee disagrees

he tells the reason. And then the criteria maybe rated accordingly.

Similarly in the peer review, the colleagues of employees fill in the appraisal forms and

give their comments.

One major flaw here is that there is no proper self assessment in HSA. If the

employees asses their performance on regular basis , they know that where thry might

be lacking or are they moving towards the achievement of goals. This enables the

employees to solicit the feedback and coaching before the end of the evaluation period

thus improving their chances of achieving the goals. Moreover with this self

assessment, the final assessment would not come as a surprise for the employees

thus reducing the chances of their disagreeing with their evaluation.

There is no 360 degree assessment. The employee performance is not evaluated by

internal and external customers both. For example, here the suppliers here are donors

and collaborators but they are never included in the organization's performance

management system. They do not provide direct or indirect feedback.

Another major flaw in the performance management system of HSA is that it evaluates

the performance of the employees of yearly basis. There is no continuous feedback

provided to employees on their performance. Whereas, for any good performance

management system, it is important to evaluate the employees performance on at

least semiannual or quarterly basis. This yearly appraisal is not a continuous system

of improvement. It is too long a period to be covered and is not suited for service

organizations like HSA.


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The raters in HSA i.e. the supervisors and employees are not given the proper training

which causes the bias to be introduced in the evaluation process. Moreover the

employees and supervisor might be evaluating the criteria of which they do not have

sufficient knowledge. This information when used for administrative and development

purpose would not just be inaccurate but also misleading.

Performance review

The annual appraisals of the employees are discussed with them in the appraisal

meetings and the development needs and plans are also discussed. Employees also

give their feedback about the appraisals and their own performance. This helps in the

employees' acceptance of their appraisal and more confidence in the performance

management system.

Performance renewal and re contracting

On the basis of performance appraisal, the employees' contracts are renewed if they

are achieving the assigned targets. They are given the training if the performance is

low because of factors under employees' control. If the employee is unable to achieve

the performance targets because of the factors beyond his control, the goals are

revised and more realistic and attainable targets are given to employees.

Distributive and procedural justice

In the performance management system of HSA employees do believe there is

distributive justice as their performance appraisal is discussed with them and then if

they get increment or demotion, they know that it is on the basis of that evaluation.

Like if the two employees receive similar evaluation they get the same increment. But

this is applicable in the case of the contractual employees not the permanent

employees. This is because the permanent employees are the Government

employees and their pay decision depend more on the rates announced and set by the

Government instead of the information provided by the performance appraisals.


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Similarly employees do believe that there is procedural justice that is that the

employees believe in the fairness of the procedures that are used to measure

performance and the system for linking the rewards to employees' performance.

Administrative decisions:

We know that the performance management system is related to the administrative

decisions taken by any organization. Here is how the performance management

system at Health Services Academy affects the different administrative decisions

taken here.

The performance appraisal here may be used for the incentives of the employees.

There is some distinction here with regard to permanent and contractual employees. If

the contractual employees receive a favorable evaluation for an evaluation period ,

they may get a bonus pay. The pay raise in contractual employee's salary is given

after comparing it to the prevalent salary in the market. But the contractual employees

cannot be promoted to any place of higher designation. Other incentives maybe given

to employees.

In the case of permanent employees, appraisals have very little effect on

administrative decisions like pay raise and promotion. They may be given any kind of

incentive or appreciation but their promotion is dependent on the test that they have to

pass to be promoted to higher grade. Their pay is never raised higher than the pay

level of that grade set by government.


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The jobs in HSA are divided in three broad categories which are as follows

Administrative staff

Faculty members

Research and Development

Pre-requisites:

The prerequisites for designing any performance management system are the

Knowledge of the organization's strategic goals and mission

The team that developed the performance management

system of HSA has the thorough understanding of the

organization's strategic goals and mission and they have

designed the system in a way that reinforces the behaviors

required for the successful accomplishment of those goals

and mission rather than working against it. Following are the mission, vision and goals

statement of HSA that are clearly stated and known to every employee working in

HSA.

Mission and Vision


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Health Services Academy prides itself on its insistence on high standards for research,

academics, and policy-making. The following statements outline the mission and vision

of the institution.

Mission Statement

As an institution of higher learning, the Health Services Academy provides teaching,

research, and service programmes that prepare students to address the public health

needs of Pakistan and the surrounding region in a setting that values and develops

academic excellence in teaching and research, academic freedom, leadership and

service to society.

Vision Statement

Health Services Academy aspires to become a regional academic centre of excellence

in public health training, policy formulation and Ongoing Research that is nationally

and internationally accredited.

Goal of the Academy

The goal of the Academy is to improve the health of the population of Pakistan and its

surrounding region by enhancing human resource development and contribution to

evidence-based policies and practices.

Institutional Objectives

The objectives of the institution are to:

Produce competent, committed and skilled public health professionals.

Discover and disseminate new knowledge in the field of public health.

Assist in the translation of the knowledge into sound evidence-based policies and

practices.


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These objectives will be realized by adhering to institutional values, such as a merit-

based system, transparency, and quality, to be implemented through a

multidisciplinary team, networking and a sustainable institutional infrastructure.

Knowledge of the job in question

For any job to be performed in the Administrative department, the job description is

developed stating the tasks, roles and responsibilities of the employees. Apart from

this the job specifications are also very clearly defined stating the

knowledge, Skills and abilities required to perform that job.

The knowledge part of the job specification contains the information

needed to perform the work. The skills part of Job Specification

contains the required experience for doing the job effectively. The abilities part states

some of the competencies required for doing the job e.g. good communication skills

etc. There is a very thorough understanding of the job and the scope of the job. All of

the goals and responsibilities of the employees are set to meet the overall

organizational goals. This means that the duties, responsibilities and the qualifications

required are all defined which helps in setting the performance goals for each job.

Following are the examples of job roles and functions for some of the administrative

employees of HSA.

Executive Director:

Roles and Functions

Board and Committee Development and Support

Supports the Board of Governors (hereunder referred to as BoG) by giving advice

and giving board members relevant information necessary for decision-making

Acts as the Secretary of the BoG

Serves as the interface between the BoG and the staff members.


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Together with the BoG, defines and interprets the Institute’s vision, mission and goals

and develops the Academy’s strategic and operational plans, formulates policies and

regulations in accordance to these vision, mission and goals.

Chairs the Executive Committee and ensures that it fulfills its functions as specified in

the Academic Rules and Regulations.

Nominates members from among the staff of HSA to the Academic Advisory

Committee

Chairs and convenes the Board of Studies of HSA

Provides technical and administrative support to the Committee on Appointments and

Promotions

·Fulfils other jobs that might be assigned from time to time.

Human Resources Development

Supervises and mentors senior faculty members

Plans and supervises the implementation of training and development programmes

for both teaching and administrative staff, thus, maintaining the quality of staff

performance.

Teaching and Research

Oversees the implementation of the current academic programmes.

Assumes teaching responsibilities

Supervises and advises senior students

In cooperation with the course coordinators, conduct an analysis of the situation

pertaining to national and international public health in order to determine possibilities

to develop new topics/courses.

Together with the Academic Advisory Committee and with Research Coordinator

(HSA staff), develops the Academy’s research agenda

Conducts research as principal investigator or associate investigator

Publishes research results or articles in national or international publications


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Reviews research done by the faculty of HSA and other researchers outside of the

Academy

Secure funding from different sources for different academic and research activities

Administration

In coordination with the Deputy Director for Administration who is in charge of

personnel affairs, develops an overall staff performance review system.

In coordination with the Deputy Director of Finance, develops the Academy’s annual

budget for submission and approval of the BoG.

Ensures the implementation of sound and transparent financial practices, book-

keeping and accounting.

Prepares and negotiates funding proposals to other donor and funding agencies

Consulting and Networking

Conducts consultancy for and on behalf of the Academy

Represents the Health Services Academy in national and international committees

and network and, and thereby, promote the activities of HSA.

Presents papers and delivers lectures, when needed, in international conferences or

professional meetings

Cooperates and works with donors and partners of the Academy

Establishes contacts with potential donors and secure joint projects or activities

Director’s Office

Roles and Functions

Roles:

Telephone/Reception Services

Answers, screens, forwards and/or returns phone calls and messages

Manages incoming and outgoing correspondence, including faxes, e-mails,

parcels and hand delivered messages on a routine basis

Ensures guests’ comfort by offering them newspapers, refreshments etc.


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Secretarial Work and Services

Types letters, faxes for the Executive Director

Establishes and/or updates the index of, and data on, contact addresses,

phone/fax numbers, and e-mail-addresses regularly

Logs in/records incoming and outgoing letters, faxes, e-mails on a daily basis

Sorts and distributes incoming mail, faxes and other official documents for

mailing and collecting

Establishes and maintains permanent files; files and retrieves documents as

requested.

Organizes and takes responsibility for the delivery and collection of Executive

Director’s documents/parcels from and to post office, government bodies,

embassies, etc.

Organizes reading materials for display as per instructions of the Executive

Director.

Functions:

Operational Management

Coordination

Collaboration

Assistance

Circulation of office orders

Project ManagerRoles and Functions Roles

Specific:

Coordination for developing Annual Work Plan Activities and reporting on

quarter and annual basis.


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Coordination and communication with Government, Donors and Stakeholders

both at national and an international level.

Boost the utilization of funds by coordination with the concerned quarter.

Coordinating meetings, seminars, conferences and workshops.

To develop TORs to act as a core person in launching other projects.

To coordinate develop a business plan/ criteria for short term/long term

trainings to be carried out in HSA.

General

Identifying, tracking managing and resolving project issues

Proactively disseminating project information to all stakeholders

Identifying, managing and mitigating project risk

Proactively managing scope to ensure that only what was agreed to is

delivered, unless changes are approved through scope management

Defining and collecting metrics to give a sense for how the project is

progressing and whether the deliverables produced are acceptable

Managing the overall schedule to ensure work is assigned and completed on

time and within budget

Having the discipline and general management skills to make sure that people

follow the standard processes and procedures

Establishing leadership skills to get the team to willingly follow your direction.

Leadership is about communicating a vision and getting the team to accept it

and strive to get there with you.

Setting reasonable, challenging and clear expectations for people, and holding

them accountable for meeting the expectations. This includes providing good

performance feedback to team members


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Team building skills so that the people work together well, and feel motivated to

work hard for the sake of the project and their other team members. The larger

your team and the longer the project, the more important it is to have good

team-building skills.

Functions

Administrative Control

Development of Strategic Goals

Delegation of Work

Financial Management

Performance Management

Policies and Procedures

Quality Control and Operations Management

Risk, Safety and Liabilities

Communication

Coordination

Quality Assurance Reviews

Post Implementation reviews

Reporting

Recording of lessons learned.

Project Data and Project Team Evaluations

Finance Manager

Roles and Functions

Roles:

Budget, Accounting System and Internal Controls

o Assists in preparing budgets and expenditure projections

o Prepares and maintains accounts and accounting system as per the

Finance and Accounting Manual

o Prepares and checks journal entries in the general ledger

o Assists in preparing budgets and expenditure projections


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o Monitors cash balance and balances in Accounts -Receivables

Payments, Advance Requests and Petty Cash

· Processes all advance requests

· Processes invoices and issues payments for expense claims, travel,

consultants’ fees

Financial Reporting and Audit

· Prepares reconciliation statements of bank account

· Prepares monthly expense statements

· Prepares weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual financial reports

reflecting funds received and spent

Human Resources

· Supervises and mentors staff of the financial unit

· Conducts annual performance assessment of subordinates

Functions:

· Implementation of Accounting Policies.

· Government and Development Agency Grants and its Management.

· Surplus Funds Accounting and its Investment.

· Cash Flow / Cash Management.

· Receivables of the Academy and its Management.

· Procurement Credit Management and its Accounting in line with the

Financial Rules.

· Loans and Advances Accounting and its monitoring.

· Research and Consultancy Contracts / Proposals and its Accounting.

· Financial Reporting and Audit, as required by the Government

Financial Agencies and Donors


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· Budget, Accounting System and Internal Controls

· Emoluments, pensions and allowances; and its Accounting.

· To supervise and strengthen the Fixed Assets Management System

. Develops internal control policies and procedures

· Examination of all proposals for the increase or reduction of taxation.

· Ways and Means, including levy of taxes, duties, cesses, etc.

· Appropriation and re-appropriations.

· Booking Keeping of all the Accounts / Entries and its Reconciliations

· Delegation of financial powers.

· Develops financial policies for implementation in the Academy.

Identifies and manages financial, operational and regulatory risks.

Examination and advice on matters affecting directly

Performance planning

The performance planning includes identifying the results behaviors and the

developmental goals for the upcoming evaluation period.

Results

In setting the performance goals, there is a slight difference between permanent and

contractual employees. Permanent employees are given the long term targets ad

contractual employees may be given the targets for the shorter periods of time. As


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mentioned in the critical analysis of HSA's performance management system

employees are not given a say in setting their goals targets. i.e there is no participative

goal setting rather the goals are just allocated to departments and employees. what

change HSA should bring here is that it must involve the employees in setting their

performance goals. If the employees are involved in setting their goals, they are more

motivated and committed to achieving those goals. Along with this, HSA must adopt

the diverging approach i.e. the employees must also be told that how the

accomplishment of their goals will lead towards the accomplishment of their unit's and

consequently the organizational goals.

The key accountabilities can be obtained from the job descriptions of the employees of

HSA. The objectives maybe set and assigned to the employees. But as HSA is a

service organization, the performance planning would include the discussion of results

but more focus would be on behaviors. What HSA is doing currently is that it is

focusing only on the behaviors and not on the results at all. So in performance

planning we suggest that HSA should determine and measure the required behaviors

but must not deprive the assessment from the discussion of results altogether. In the

new performance management system, there would be a section that focuses on

results as the employees must also be evaluated on targets assigned.

For an example of key accountabilities, let's take the example of Job Description of

Project Manager provided above. Some of her key accountabilities would be

Delegation of work

Management of financial resources

Management of human resources

Reporting on the progress of project

Recording the lessons learnt

Behavior

This part of performance planning includes identifying the desirable behaviors for

performing the job in question. As mentioned in the critical summary the behaviors are

evaluated in the annual performance appraisals of HSA and are taken as the

performance measurement criteria. One shortcoming that HSA needs to address here


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is that employees do not know that how displaying the behaviors evaluated affect the

successful accomplishment of their targets and goals. The new performance

management system would establish a clear link between the desired behaviors

and goal accomplishment.

Developmental plan

As mentioned that at the start of each evaluation period, the developmental plan for

each employee of HSA are developed based on the appraisal of the previous

evaluation period. The supervisor identifies the areas where the employee's

performance is substandard and that can be improved with the help of different

developmental activities. Once the weak areas are identified, the supervisor informs

the employees about the areas that need improvement and ask him to suggest any

developmental activity that can improve his performance in that particular area. The

employee can select any of the developmental activities like courses, attending a

conference, getting a degree, workshops or temporary assignments. Once there is a

consensus on the areas that need improvement and the resources and strategies to

achieve that improvement, a formal developmental plan is developed.

One shortcoming in the developmental plan that the new performance

management system should address is the timeline for each developmental

activity. There is no time line provided in the developmental plan (termed as training

plan) of HSA.

Performance execution

In the performance execution component, the employees

of HSA will carry out the tasks assigned and try to reach

the goals established. Again one problem lies in the

current component of performance management system

of HSA i.e. the employees do not receive ongoing

feedback on their performance and progress towards the

achievement of their goals. It may, at the end, result in

supervisor blaming the employee for his substandard


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performance whereas he could have controlled it at the right moment by providing the

appropriate feedback.

The new performance management system would require the supervisors to observe

the employees' performance on an ongoing basis and keep track of both good and

poor performance. It would require the supervisor to provide feedback to the

employees on the continuous basis and see if the employees have the resources

needed to perform the tasks in the most efficient and effective manner.

Moreover the goals must be flexible and the supervisor must be able to update the

employees' goals in order to align them with the organizational goals, if there is any

change in the organizational goal and strategy.

In addition to this, the employees will be required to engage in realistic self appraisal

so immediate corrective action can be taken if performance is lacking. Moreover they

are required to share their performance data and solicit performance feedback from

their supervisor and peers on an ongoing basis.

Performance assessment

The performance of the employees of HSA is evaluated

by their immediate supervisors and their peers.

Referring to the flaw mentioned in the critical summary,

the new performance management system would require

the employees to carry out self assessment and fill the

same appraisal form for themselves that the supervisor

and peers would be filling. This would allow the

employees to identify the discrepancies between their

self perceptions and what others think of their performan-

ce. Apart from this, through the self assessment, the employees would know how they

are progressing towards the achievement of goals and they can also solicit the

coaching when needed. Moreover with this self assessment, the final assessment

would not come as a surprise for the employees thus reducing the chances of their

defending and disagreeing with their evaluation.


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Being the members of a service organization, HSA employees have to deal with many

stakeholders for different purposes. Such an organization should also use a 360

degree assessment of employees. But this should be used for the developmental

purpose only if the organization wants to receive the accurate evaluation. The new

performance management system would contain sections to be filled by the

subordinates and major donors of HSA. For example, the appraisal form of the Project

Manager would contain the sections to be filled by his subordinates and a section to

be filled by the USAID representative. This 360 degree assessment would not only

help develop the employees but also tell the employee about the expectations of all

the key stakeholders thus improving the chances of the employee to meet those

expectations.

Addressing the problem of annual appraisal mentioned in the critical summary, the

new performance management system would not include only the annual appraisals

rather it would be replaced with the semiannual performance assessments. This would

help reduce the time difference between the performance of task and receiving the

feedback. Moreover the time lag between a mistake and its remedy would also be

reduced. Setting semiannual goals would also help in more manageable goals as they

would consider the situational and environmental changes/factors better.

The new performance management system would also require the raters, be it

supervisors or peers, to receive the rater error training before they would actually rate

the performance. This would prevent the bias to be introduced in the evaluation

process. These training efforts would focus more on the frame of reference training as

compared to the behavioral observation training.

The new performance management system would require the raters to rate employees

only on those dimensions of which they have sufficient knowledge. For example,

external customers and stakeholders cannot rate the employee on his internal

performance; similarly the internal employees cannot comment or rate the employee

on his interaction with the external parties.


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Performance review

Performance review part of the new performance management system of HSA would

include three appraisal meetings per review period. The first

meeting would be conducted for the purpose of setting the

performance targets and formulating the developmental plan

for the upcoming review period. The developmental goals will be set mutually by the

employee and his supervisor and the developmental activities

to be undertaken by the employees will be agreed upon by

both the supervisors and the employees.

The next two meetings will be conducted at the end of the performance evaluation

period with a gap of a day or two. The first meeting would be self appraisal meeting in

which the employee would comment on his own performance and on how well he has

achieved the performance goals without any comments from the supervisor. This will

also help the supervisor in understanding if there are any contextual factors affecting

the employees' performance adversely.

The classical review meeting would let the supervisor give his comments and

feedback about the employees' performance and discuss the performance issues that

the employee might be facing. This review meeting will focus on the past and present.

For example, what goals were assigned to the employees, what is the level of

progress on those goals and what if any resources are needed to help employee

achieve the performance goals. As far as discussion about the future is concerned, it

will be carried out in the meeting described before i.e. for setting targets and

developmental goals. These meetings would help in the employees' acceptance of

their appraisal and more confidence in the performance management system.

Performance renewal and re contracting

In the performance renewal and re contracting component of

the new performance management system, the practices would

remain almost the same as mentioned in the critical summary.


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On the basis of performance appraisal, the employees' contracts would be renewed if

they are achieving the assigned targets. They would be given the training if the

performance is low because of factors under employees' control. If the employee is

unable to achieve the performance targets because of the factors beyond his control,

the goals would be revised and more realistic and attainable targets would be given to

employees.

Distributive and procedural justice

As mentioned in the critical summary, the employees of HSA

believe that there is a distributive and procedural justice in the

performance management system of Health Services Academy.

The new performance management system would reinforce the employees'

conception of the system as fair and unbiased.

To provide procedural justice, the new performance management would make sure

that it follows the procedures, to measure performance and the system for linking the

rewards to employees' performance, that are perceived as fair by the employees.

The appraisal meetings and the discussion of the employee performance with the

employees would provide the distributive justice as the employees would be able to

see how much effort they have put in, how the supervisors have rated it and what they

are getting in return for their performance.

Administrative decisions

The new performance management system at Health Services

Academy would affect the different administrative decisions

taken here.

The performance appraisal would be used for the incentives of

the employees. In the case of contractual employees, different

rewards would be given to them. If they receive a favorable

evaluation for an evaluation period, they may get a bonus pay

depending on the decisions of the organizations hiring them e.g. Project Manager is

hired by USAID so if it decides (based on the evaluation) that he should receive a


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bonus, then he will receive the bonus. The pay raise would also be given depending

on the evaluation of the employee and his competence. Contractual employees would

not be promoted based on the evaluation as they are on a contract for a limited time

period.

In the case of permanent employees, they would be given some incentive or

appreciation but their promotion would be dependent (as mentioned in the critical

summary) on the test that they would have to pass to be promoted to higher grade.

Communication plan

The new performance management system of Health Services Academy will be used

for the development of employees that will help in the effective

achievement of the overall organizational goals. The new performance

management system will support the organizational goals and

objectives by giving the employees what they need to reach the goals.

So we can say the new performance management system fits into our

goals and objectives, like for example, one of the objective of HSA

is to "Produce competent, committed and skilled public health professionals". By

identifying the developmental need as well as strengths of the employees, and by

providing the training and other developmental opportunities, HSA helps its employees

in becoming competent, committed and skilled professionals.

The new performance management system will help the HSA employees in being

more effective in whatever they do and to exceed their competencies as compared

with the people in the same line of business.

The new performance management system of HSA will be a lot simpler than the one

used previously as the new performance appraisal form can be generalized and used

to rate the employees of all the three categories instead of any particular one. This will

help in the cross comparison of the employees. The review period will know be six

months instead of the yearly reviews. It will contain three meeting per review period.

The first meeting would be conducted for the purpose of setting the performance

targets and formulating the developmental plan for the upcoming review period. The

developmental goals will be set mutually by the employee and his supervisor and the


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developmental activities to be undertaken by the employees will be agreed upon by

both the supervisors and the employees.

The next two meetings will be conducted at the end of the performance evaluation

period with a gap of a day or two. The first meeting would be self appraisal meeting in

which the employee would comment on his own performance and on how well he has

achieved the performance goals without any comments from the supervisor. This will

also help the supervisor in understanding if there are any contextual factors affecting

the employees' performance adversely.

The decisions regarding the rewards, which includes incentives and bonus pay, will be

made on the basis of the information provided by the appraisal forms. The decisions

about the rewards will be taken at the end of each fiscal year i.e. after two evaluation

periods, and will depend on the average of the two evaluation scores.

The new performance management system requires

the supervisors to observe their subordinates

performance on an ongoing basis and provide the

continuous feedback. The supervisors are also required to keep record of the incidents

of the good and substandard performance of the employees. Moreover the new

performance management system will also require the peers in the same and other

departments, to observe the performances of their peers and rate them. Each and

every employee is expected to start the required practices from the beginning of the

next review period i.e. from January 1st, 2011.

The new performance management system will have a direct link with other initiatives

such as training, workshops, courses etc. This is because the results of the

performance appraisal form will determine whether an employee needs any

developmental activity, If yes, then which one, so that the organizational goals can be

achieved in an effective manner.

Appeals process

The new performance management system will include


2

an appeals process which will help in gaining the

employees' acceptance for the new system. In the appeal

process, the employee will be able to question the

judgmental issues mainly and not the administrative ones.

This is because the salary range of the government

employees depends more on their grades and whether HSA will be providing any kind

of bonus or incentives is upon HSA's discretion and the availability of funds.

If an appeal is filed, the senior team responsible for the effective implementation of the

performance management system will serve s a mediator between the employee and

the rater. The viewpoint of both will be gathered and analyzed. As a result, either the

employee will be explained the ground on which such rating is provided or the

supervisor will be asked to rate the employee fairly. If the disagreement persists, then

the appeal will be taken to the Executive Director of the Health Services Academy who

would use the votes of the senior management team and his judgment to give a final a

final and binding word. The appeals process will try its level best to provide justice to

the employees and resolve the differences at the initial stages so that the employees

perceive the system as fair.


suggested performance management system for health services academy

Education