This is a lightly edited version of the textbook exercise in Chapter 9; be sure to answer the questions as listed here. Your response will be evaluated based on thoughtfulness and application of concepts from Chapters 8 and 9.

You are the HR manager of a professional services firm with 300 employees. Your company conducts annual performance reviews for each employee and also encourages managers to have frequent check-in meetings throughout the year. Managers rate their direct reports on their customer service quality and sales volume (based on results from a customer satisfaction survey and actual sales metrics) weighted at 60%, and on the employees demonstration of corporate values in their day-to-day activities (mentoring others, driving change, and creativity), which is weighted at 40%.

The annual reviews have just been completed, and you heard from Orlando Nicholson, an employee who has been with the firm for 2 years. Orlando has a cordial but distant relationship with his manager. He asked for a meeting with you and revealed that he feels the most recent performance review he received is unfair. Orlando feels that his customer satisfaction scores are modest, but this is due to being assigned some of the most difficult clients the company has. In addition, the manager rated him as average in mentoring others, discounting the fact that he was heavily involved in the onboarding of two new employees 8 months ago. Orlando also feels that his relatively quiet and shy personality is being held against him. He feels that he heavily influences organizational change, but this happens informally and not in big meetings. In fact, there have been several times when he feels that other people took credit for his ideas.

1. Assume you decide to implement training for employees and managers on the annual review process and on performance management. Discuss what this training would look like, and how you would evaluate its effectiveness.