Business Management — Human Resource Issues — Post Responses
Sentences per topic by customer request)
Discussion 1 Response
I agree with you about the distinctions between corrective action and disciplinary action and I also agree with you about the general benefits and pitfalls of each; however, I would add that one of the most significant pitfalls of the systematic or is that it often requires corrective action as a strict prerequisite to any disciplinary action in many instances where some form of disciplinary action would be appropriate. My suspicion is that a could cite many cases where the nature of the initial incident or issue already indicated that corrective action would be ineffective but was required by policy. In my opinion, that is one reason why at-will employment with explicit documentation of the mutual understanding of that arrangement can be preferable to bilateral binding employment contracts. Corrective action may often be very useful but should not be mandated by policy where a disciplinary approach might be more appropriate in specific circumstances.
Discussion 2 Response
I completely agree with you that performance appraisals must be objective to be useful. On the other hand, I don’t necessarily think that there is no value to subjective data, especially in a field (like firefighting) where there are so many other possible factors and components that can contribute to the quality of a team. Even if entirely subjective performance appraisals are useless, I would expect that there is a way to incorporate both objective and subjective elements. I would also agree that is even more important than performance appraisal, but I see no reason why any agency would have to make a choice of one or the other.
Discussion 3 Response
In my opinion, your some of the potential problems and limitations with the to HR functions and employee evaluation, especially when formal processes are relied upon excessively. In the situation you describe, the original purpose of the policy of conducting periodic reviews according to schedule and mandated form was intended to achieve a specific objective: to accurately evaluate employee performance. However, when those policies and procedures begin to be considered the end instead of one of the means to ends, they lose their value completely. In the situation you describe, that seems to be exactly what has occurred: the entire performance review process has become more of a procedural chore for all involved and no longer serves its original purpose very well.
