HRM Case Study on Performance Metrics Manipulation

Case Study: Problem 1 

You are the HR manager & administrator of certain units of a company, and imagine you're tasked with restructuring the company's performance evaluation system. However, you discover that several employees, including some key members of the management team, have been manipulating their performance metrics to inflate their ratings. How would you address this issue while ensuring fairness, maintaining trust within the organization, and upholding the integrity of the evaluation process?

Solution: 

As a HR Manager, if I discover that several employees, including some key members of the management team, have been manipulating their performance metrics to inflate their ratings.

Then in that case, immediate corrective measures and actions are required.

As a HR Analytics background, to resolve this issue I would follow a process to gather all the information necessary to identify the peoples with solid evidence. 

This process includes: 

1. Investigating Secretly: As some of the higher management peoples are also included in this manipulation of performance. That’s why it is very crucial to conduct a secret investigation to understand and identify the people involved with solid evidence. 

2. Reviewing the system of Performance evaluation: It will help to identify the loopholes that lead to manipulation. And take corrective measures to fill the gap along with expert advice if needed. 

3. While conducting the investigation the performance evaluation needs to be stopped for that time period and this needs to be communicated transparently to every employee:  This is very important to communicate transparently by keeping the investigation secret to avoid any kind of evidence manipulation. And let the employees know that this review is to improve the performance evaluation system, without pointing fingers at this stage. 

4. Implementing immediate changes to fill the loopholes: Based on the identification of loopholes, implementing different strategies of performance evaluation which could fill the loopholes effectively, such as: 

1. 360 Degree feedback method

2. Having a dedicated team to monitor performance evaluation processes. 

3. Etc. 

5. Addressing the Offenders: After conducting the secret investigation and determining the solid evidence against the employees involved in manipulation, it's time to meet those people and explain to them about the investigation and the evidence determined against them. And it is very important to give them time to explain. 

And based on their actions take strict disciplinary actions and give them another chance if the situation demands.

6. Rebuilding trust for the performance evaluation system: It is very important to rebuild trust among employees with clear and transparent communication and being open to feedback, etc. 

As avoiding this process could lead to increase in attrition rate. 

7. Provide Training:  Providing training regarding the new evaluation system to let everyone know the actual process of performance evaluation. 

8. Continuous Monitoring: After implementing the new performance evaluation strategies and making policies about manipulation of evaluation systems, it is very important to have continuous monitoring on the entire process to avoid any misconduct.