This work deals with a set of basic ideas about the need to treat the evaluation of worker performance as an integrated process, which once documented can be implemented in business practice and serve as a tool to mobilize reserves of productivity and quality, which are still unused in Cuban organizations.
In the development of the topic, the different elements or procedures of the documented process are generally described: Worker Performance Evaluation, which are proposed for implementation in the company "Prodal" (Food Production) of the Municipality of Regla, in the Havana City, Cuba. This, in our opinion, has an important methodological value based on the implementation of the Cuban Standard for the 3000 family (Integrated Human Capital Management System).
Introduction
Within what is today identified as Human Resources Management or Human Capital Management, one of the fundamental component elements is performance evaluation. Performance evaluation is an issue that needs to be addressed from a holistic approach, which means its conceptualization as an integrated process, made up of a set of procedures that are oriented towards a common result.
The performance evaluation as a process is fed from certain inputs, which will mark from the beginning the quality of the planned outputs at the end of it. Treating performance evaluation as a process and not as an act continues today to be a “pending matter” in the work of Cuban business management. In general, our managers still show as malpractice, the fact that they remind themselves of the need to evaluate their workers, days before the agreed date to deliver the evaluation certificates is due, in the best of cases, when the established terms are not breached. So; permanent monitoring and systematicity are not the features that characterize performance evaluation in most Cuban organizations today.
Under current conditions, the introduction into the organizational environment of the Cuban Family 3000 Regulations, Integrated Human Capital Management System (SGICH), constitutes a significant step forward in the work of Cuban organizations that are or are not, in the process of implementation and / or consolidation of the new State Business Management System. It is also a unique opportunity, to face with dignity and decision the unavoidable task of giving a total turn to the way in which human capital is managed in Cuba, particularly the way in which performance is evaluated; what is its scope within the organization; and how it is possible to work on increasing the impact of said process, based on the continuous improvement of worker performance, of all occupational categories.
Development
Performance evaluation constitutes one of the modules of the Cuban family 3000 standard; and it is the purpose of those managers and labor groups that work in its implementation, to make this a simple, understandable, shared and accepted process by everyone in the organization, to serve as a tool that generates high added value. This includes as a broad concept, not only the procedures for the evaluation of workers in all occupational categories, but also of leaders and officials, according to current legislation. Cuban Standard 3000 (Vocabulary) defines Performance Evaluation as a systematic process of measuring the results of current performance and the future potential of the worker.
In the text of the standard, an explanatory note is also added to this definition, which emphasizes the close link that must exist between performance evaluation and the application of the principle of demonstrated suitability, labor competencies and the results achieved in compliance. of their functions, tasks and objectives.
This is today one of the main challenges that the labor groups that make up the Human Resources Directorates, the managers of the upper and intermediate levels of Cuban organizations, and those who run each of the business organizational units are called to face..
Performance evaluation is a process that must integrate the following elements: Mission, Vision and objectives, strategies, distinctive competencies of the organization, competencies of the main processes, job competencies of the positions; performance planning, performance review; and the training and development of human capital based on the permanent improvement of its comprehensive performance. In general, this process could be graphically expressed through the following conceptual model.
Fig. No. 1: Model of the Integrated Human Capital Performance Evaluation System.
Source: self made
Organizational practice outside and inside Cuba has confirmed that Performance Evaluation is capable of producing better results from an integral point of view, when it is executed as a systemic and systematic process; and not when it is carried out simply as an isolated act, unrelated to the organization's strategy, its objectives and the competencies that need to be mobilized to achieve superior performance at the organizational level. Therefore, it can be explained then, as a cycle made up of the following moments, which fully characterize what is known as the "PDCA Circle" or "Deming Wheel", used in the improvement of processes. Model is used by W. Edwards Deming in his studies on Total Quality, when trying successfully to improve the quality cycle proposed by Shewhart.
Graphic No. 2: "Deming Wheel" for process improvement applied to the Performance Evaluation process.
Source: Ruiz-Canela López J. Total Quality Management in the modern company. 2004.
A team of professors-consultants from the Center for Studies in Management Techniques of the University of Havana, together with a group of specialists and workers with vast business experience (team of internal consultants), have been developing a collaborative consultancy in the company " Prodal ”(Food Production), located in the municipality of Regla, Havana City and which belongs to the“ INDIPES ”Business Group of the Ministry of the Fishing Industry (MIP). The purpose of the consultancy carried out in said organization is to cooperate with the company in the creation of sufficient and necessary premises for the implementation of the Integrated Human Capital Management System (SGICH), the Cuban standard of the 3000 family. The company "Prodal" aspires to achieve the certification of the Cuban standard 3001 in a short period of time..
The company "Prodal" is immersed in the process of business improvement and evidently shows a marked willingness to work in order to implement the different business systems endorsed by Decree 281 (Regulation for the Implementation and Consolidation of the Direction and Management System State Business) and other Cuban regulations; revealing a broad strategic vision and a continuous improvement approach.
The model that from the beginning was assumed as the conceptual expression and basis of the analysis carried out for the construction of the Performance Evaluation module was as follows:
Graph No. 3. Process chain of Performance Evaluation.
Source: self made.
Said model reinforces the idea that Performance Evaluation is a process, seen in the integration of each one of its parts and procedures, which require equal attention and occupation by the organizational managers and the workers' collectives of the entity, including union organizations. In this work we only address the system of procedures related to the Evaluation of the Performance of the Workers.
Brief background to worker performance evaluation
The antecedents of the evaluation of worker performance in Cuba are officially registered from the beginning of the 80's of the last century, with Resolution 765 of June 10, 1981 of the State Committee of Labor and Social Security. Prior to this date, the individual performance evaluation system, as legislated in Cuba, did not contemplate the categories of worker, administrative and services, which represented the largest number of members of the Cuban labor force, which revealed a strong contradiction on the conceptual and practical basis that supported the process of evaluating the performance of human resources in the country.
Although from the legislative point of view, after 1981 it was endorsed, the possibility of developing comprehensive programs to evaluate worker performance, in any of the occupational categories, practically none of the Cuban companies used this opportunity. In fact, no serious work was done on this, in order to achieve the implementation of a permanent worker performance evaluation system, which would be in a position to join the evaluation of cadres, leaders, officials and technicians, as a unique process within of the organization.
Under these conditions, at the end of the 1990s, tourism sector organizations (hotel and non-hotel) began a movement linked to the process of evaluating the performance of their workers, covering all occupational categories. This process was assimilated by many organizations, as a real possibility of having a quantitative measurement instrument that would allow the distribution of what was called stimulation in the sector, but which in reality was only a factor in maintaining human resources. These actions materialized at first through the delivery of a personal hygiene module with high-quality products and demand, and later with the delivery of a sum of money in the Cuban convertible currency (CUC).However, in the beginning, these indicators in most cases did not reflect the key results to be achieved, thus revealing the fact that in business practice "there was no correspondence between the evaluation system and management by objectives" and much less with the skills to mobilize.
Already in recent years, as part of Resolution 8 of 2005 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security, the evaluation of worker performance is explicitly reflected, when it is stated in article 110 that: “The evaluation performance is carried out by the head of the evaluated and includes workers of all categories, except for cadres, leaders, and officials, who are governed by Decree Laws numbers 196 and 197, both dated October 15, 1999. "
It is not until 2007 with Resolution 21 of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security that a single resolution is published, which comprehensively addresses the issue related to the evaluation of worker performance. Under these conditions, companies, especially those that are undergoing improvement, have begun to work seriously and responsibly in the implementation of a worker performance evaluation system.
Integrated Process for Worker Performance Evaluation
In the present work, we started from the conception that the Cuban Standard of the 3000 family, should be integrated not only to the Quality Management System of each organization, but also (as a subsystem), to the general management system of the business. Therefore, it is from this unique system and from this approach, that managers both at the company level and in each of the organizational units will be able to manage the aforementioned standard and all the others that make up the broad spectrum of the New Cuban Business Administration and Management System.
However, the Quality Management System offers wide possibilities in the field of leadership and management, being an integrating system that covers all areas and activities of the company in a transversal sense from a process approach, and that it is not only (as some think) the management system that is in charge of controlling and improving the quality of products and services. Taking this approach into account, the Business Quality Management System could well serve as a tool that allows managers, regardless of the level at which they perform, to guide the approach to effectively manage their different organizational and management systems in an integrated manner..
Starting from this general conception as an integrating base in the work at hand, it was used as a format for the elaboration of the documented procedure: Evaluation of the Performance of the Workers, the categorical system and scheme that, as a rule, are used by the specialists of the Management Directorate of Quality to present each organizational procedure. That is why the documented process that was jointly constructed: external consultants and internal consultants (from several group work sessions, the analysis of the organizational context of “Prodal” and other activities), and which was endorsed by the main groups of experts of the entity, was made up of the following general aspects:
1. Scope
2. Terms and definitions
3. Reference
4. Annexes
5. Responsibilities
6. Implementation of the process:
- Planning of the evaluation process Objectives Principles Premises Application procedure (Process flow diagram). Assurance Application procedure Assessment rating Assessment conclusions Treatment of nonconformities
7. Communication
8. Comprehensive evaluation of the process
9. Records
Each of the elements collects in general a detailed description that serves as a guide for each manager in their organizational unit, to understand how the performance evaluation of the worker is done and to apply the procedure, taking into account the particularities of the same.
The scope element makes clear the subjects that cover the entire process of evaluating the performance of the worker and those who are excluded from it by state provisions proper to their management, such as cadres, leaders and officials. The procedure covers all occupational categories and not only that of technicians, as was the case before.
The term and definitions element conceptualizes performance evaluation and therefore establishes the conceptual framework and the main figure that will manage the process. It is clear here that the reference process is above all a process of construction in the conditions of a systematic interaction and mutual influence evaluator-evaluator.
The reference element defines the legal and regulatory documents that serve as the basis for the performance evaluation process, especially highlighted here are the Cuban Standard for the 3000 family: 3000, 3001 and 3002; and MTSS Resolution 21 of 2007: Evaluation of Worker Performance.
The annexes contain a whole group of graphs, tables, records, guides for the evaluation, which leave the body of the content of the explanation of the procedure, but which are still vitally important for the application of the procedure by the evaluators, based on the particularities of each organizational area.
In the responsibilities aspect, the role that the different management areas play in the application of the present procedure is clearly defined, from the strategic apex to the operations nucleus. Special emphasis is placed on the decisive and unquestionable responsibility that base managers have with the planning, organization, management, application and control of the entire process of evaluating worker performance. The success of the Worker Performance Evaluation is defined precisely at the base of the organization, within the labor groups.
A large section of the system was identified that was defined as Implementation of the process, it is precisely here that each of the procedures to be carried out in the field of evaluation of worker performance is explained, the interrelationships that exist between them and The elements to be taken into account to adjust the procedure as a tailored suit to each organizational unit are revealed.
An integral part of the process implementation is the planning of the worker performance evaluation process. It defines the objectives, principles and premises on which this process is based on the business entity "PRODAL". For this, the mission, vision, values, strategic objectives and the system of distinctive competencies were taken into account and started, all defined by the management group and the groups of experts in previous works. It was never lost sight of the fact that this is a company that belongs to a business group and a ministry that establish priorities as an expression of the social interests of the population.
An aspect that was defined as an application procedure was developed as a fundamental part of the documented process. It is here, where in detail, "step by step" each of the procedures is explained, that is, what each manager must do in their organizational unit to effectively and efficiently execute the worker performance evaluation process. At this stage of the procedure, special attention is given in the documentation process. For your better understanding, the entire process is described from start to finish through a flow chart.
In this phase, special emphasis is placed on the time of preparation and planning of the procedure that culminates with the Certificate of Commitment of the Worker and adjusts in time to the period of Planning within the Strategic Management System of the entity and of the Management by Objectives (DPO). Special attention is paid to this stage since it is considered to be one of the transcendental moments in the evaluation of worker performance, even if it is not one of the most zealously attended by evaluators and labor groups.
The worker's commitment certificate is closely linked to the labor competencies system that it must mobilize in its specific context in the period being evaluated, in order to achieve certain quantitative and qualitative results in production and services in a demonstrated way.
It is also clarified in this procedure, how to carry out the qualification terms (in accordance with current legislation), the conclusive actions and projections to act in order to improve the performance of the worker, as well as the appropriate treatment of nonconformities arisen as a result of the process.
The different actions are defined to achieve a higher level of clarity and transparency in this process through broad, effective and efficient communication.
It is identified as a defining and vitally important stage of auditing and comprehensive evaluation of the process. This procedure establishes the bases, indicators and tools to comprehensively evaluate the entire performance evaluation process, from start to finish, and its impact on the expected fundamental results in the field of effectiveness and efficiency of human capital management. and of the organization in general. An attempt is made here to establish the fundamental bases to be able to measure the impact of the evaluation of the performance of the worker, in the economic and social results of the organization, and in the improvement of working life from its economic and psychosocial dimension. This stage, in turn, constitutes an important source of information from which the SGICH Self-Control module is nourished.
The fact of conceiving performance evaluation as a process that deserves the attention and permanent and systematic occupation by evaluators and evaluated, reinforces its vision as a vital tool to achieve continuous improvement of the integral performance of each worker, from organizational units and the organization in general.
To the extent that this procedure, which is described, is shared and accepted by the labor collectives and gains understanding on the part of the managers, especially at the grassroots, of the need and of the responsibility that corresponds to it in this, progress will be made necessarily in the consolidation of the objective and subjective conditions to be able to link said process to the material and moral stimulation systems, designed by the organization.
The evaluation of worker performance cannot be conceived as a subsystem isolated from the other modules that make up the Integrated Human Capital Management System, otherwise we would not be consistent with what we communicate, when we refer to the systemic character of the SGICH. The relationship between worker performance evaluation and material and moral stimulation is a relationship that must be direct, clear and measurable for anyone within the organization, and even more so, for the worker directly linked to production and services, on which it falls the fundamental weight of actions to generate the value proposition to customers.
If we are not audacious and creative enough, to implement in practice what in theory has long been based, (we refer to the direct relationship that must exist between performance evaluation-material and moral stimulation), then the A documented procedure for evaluating the performance of the worker will not stop being a mere mental exercise, without any force to achieve a high impact on the continuous improvement that is expected to be achieved in the performance of the workers.
The approach that is increasingly achieved in the relationship between performance evaluation and material and moral stimulation constitutes one of the main means capable of contributing to the worker being able to have a more conscious and active participation in the entire process of production and distribution of social wealth from his own job, and that can also be done as a true owner of the means of production and its results as an individual.
For this, it would be an appropriate framework to link the evaluation results (based on quantitative qualification criteria) to the procedure for calculating the Labor Participation Coefficient (CPL) and effectively measure the actual contribution of each worker, based on the set skills that are capable of mobilizing to achieve adequate or superior performance, and not just their qualification and time worked by it. The foregoing would allow the CPL to express clearly and objectively, what the individual contribution of the worker has been in complying with production and service plans, from the quantitative and qualitative point of view, based on the assessment of the mobilized and identified labor competencies for each job.
This is also one of the main theses defended and shared by an important group of specialists, managers and workers in Cuban organizations today, and who express their feelings about it through the applied diagnostic instruments, the joint work carried out in the actions of consultancies and within the educational activities that we develop as teachers.
Conclusions
The evaluation of worker performance should be treated as an integrated process within it and the Human Capital Management System of which it is part. This means the necessary link with the other subsystems that make up the SGICH and especially with the module of labor competencies and that of material and moral stimulation.
Performance evaluation must become an instrument of vital importance in the hands of organizational managers in order to continuously improve the performance of the worker and the organization in general. Just as, it must necessarily contribute to the improvement of the entire system of psychosocial relationships in which our main resource works.
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