Ignore the discussion questions!

Alternative question:

Using the article above, outline 5 recommendations that can be used to improve the performance management system.

CASE APPLICATION 2 Stopping Traffic Things weren't turning out so good for JCPenney Co. and its CEO, Ron Johnson (now the former CEO, as he was let go in April 2013). Johnson arrived with much acclaim from being the head of Apple's successful retail operations. At Penney's, he immediately began one of retailing's most ambitious overhauls, trying to position the company for success in a very challenging and difficult industry. His plans included a "stores-within-a-store" concept, no sales or promotions, and a three-tiered pricing plan. He suggested that "Penney needed a little bit of Apple's magic." From the start, analysts and experts questioned whether Penney's customers, who were used to sales and coupons, would accept this new approach. Long story short... customers didn't. For the full fiscal year of 2012, Penney had a loss of $985 million (compared to a loss of S152 million in 2011). Now, you may be asking yourself, what does this story have to do with HRM? Well, a lot, it turns out! When a company is struggling financially, it is going to impact its people. And for JCPenney employees, that impact came in the form of a "traffic light" color-coded performance appraisal system. In a company-wide broadcast, supervisors were told that they should categorize their employees by one of three colors: Green their performance is okay: Yellow they need some coaching to improve performance: and Red their performance is not up to par and they need to leave. Many employees weren't even aware of the system and supervisors were given no guidance one way or the other regarding whether to tell them about it, although company headquarters chose not to disclose the light system to employees Although the uncertainties over how to inform or even whether to inform employ- ces about this HR initiative is troubling, communication and HR experts say there are other problems with this green/yellow/red approach. One is that it's insensitive to "approach the livelihoods of human beings" this way. The easy-to-understand sim- plistic nature of green, yellow, and red colors doesn't translate well to what will be a tremendously personal and difficult situation for many employees, especially those with a "red" appraisal. Another problem is that labeling employees can create difficult interpersonal situations. The labels can become a source of humor and teasing, which can deteriorate into hurt feelings and even feelings of being discriminated against. "No matter how benign a color-coding system may seem, it's never going to work." This doesn't mean that employers don't evaluate employees But companies should be open about it. Employees should know that they're being rated, what the criteria are, and if they have a poor rating, what options they have for improving. There should also be a fair process of appeal or protest if an employee feels the rating was unfair. DISCUSSION QUESTIONS 12-18. Many managers say that evaluating an employee's performance is one of their most difficult tasks. Why do you think they feel this way? What can organizations and managers) do to make it an effective process? 12-19. What's your impression of the color-coded system suggested by the former CEO? As a store department supervisor, how would you have approached that? 12-20. What could JCPenney executives have done to make this process more effective