Tyco employs 260,000 people in the USA and in more than 100 countries around the world. It is:
• a global leader in passive electronic components and major producer of active components;
• the number one worldwide company offering fire and security solutions;
• one of the largest medical device and disposables companies in the world;
• a leader in niche markets for plastics and adhesives products;
• the world’s number one producer of sprinklers, valves and actuation.
The overall aim of Tyco’s performance management system is to contribute to the company’s goals of achieving operational excellence and becoming one unified company. The aim is to unite Tyco teams throughout the world into a single operating company with a healthy culture characterised by alignment and growth opportunities.
Performance management at Tyco has three particularly significant features. First, it is easy to understand; second, it empowers employees to take an active and influential part in the processes;
and, third, it is designed to assess not only the results that employees achieve but the way in which these results are achieved.he handbook which outlines the details of the scheme makes it clear that employees, managers and the company have crucial responsibilities if the scheme is to operate effectively.
Employees must:
• work hard to achieve their goals;
• take responsibility for their own professional development;
• solicit, listen to and act upon feedback;
• assess their performance objectively.
Managers must:
• set and clarify employees’ goals;
• support employee development and possible career progression;
• provide useful, frequent and candid feedback;
• assess performance fairly.
Tyco must:
• make performance management and employee development a business priority;
• ensure fairness, consistency and process integrity across all businesses;
• provide tools and processes to develop skills and behaviours that enhance performance.

Tyco’s performance management system is a simple yet powerful three-step process. The three steps are:
1. setting goals;
2. providing feedback; and 3. conducting the assessment Setting goals Performance goals should flow from the top of the organisation down through the various layers (e.g. departments) to be expressed in individual employee goals. Advice given to employees in the performance management handbook states: ‘if you cannot state how your performance goals support the accomplishment of higher level goals, then your goals should be carefully re-examined’. The goalsetting sequence starts at the commencement of the fiscal year. At that point there is a meeting between the employee (or group of employees) and the manager at which departmental goals are discussed.
The employee then uses these goals to write his or her individual goals. These are then submitted to the manager for approval. Employees and managers are reminded of the importance of reviewing goals throughout the year, as the goals may need to change to reflect changing business priorities. The goals are expected to be SMART (specific, measurable, agreed, realistic and timerelated).
Typically they may relate to factors such as: earnings before interest and taxes, revenue, operational excellence, cash, growth and safety.
Each employee usually has between two and four performance goals............

Questions

1. What action is needed to ensure that Tyco managers play their full part in ensuring that the performance management system is effective?
2. What action is needed to ensure that Tyco employees are equipped to gain the maximum benefit from the performance management system?
3. What should be the priority concerns of Tyco HR specialists in their attempt to ensure that the performance management system is fully integrated with other HR activities?
4. What problems may be encountered in applying a standardised performance management system throughout the 100 countries in which Tyco operate?