Performance Feedback During a Pandemic – (Social) Distancing from Feedback?
A Qualitative Study
Abstract
Abstract. Debate over performance management (PM) is at an all-time high. However, little is known about PM and feedback when employees work from home. In this qualitative study, we interview 45 human resources (HR) managers to clarify how PM practices in organizations may have transformed during the COVID-19 pandemic and accompanying teleworking measures. Based on the interviews, organizations were categorized according to their pre-COVID-19 PM approach (i.e., formal, informal, both). HR managers of organizations that applied both formal and informal PM practices indicated that they felt they could adapt to the rapidly changing environment most easily. Moreover, these organizations provided employees with digital tools and training. Since hybrid working will remain relevant post-COVID-19, we identify future research propositions and practical recommendations.
References
(2016). Getting rid of performance ratings: Genius or folly? A debate. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 9(2), 219–252. 10.1017/iop.2015.106
(2013). Performance management. Pearson Education.
(2021). Measuring performance during crises and beyond: The Performance Promoter Score. Business Horizons, 64(1), 149–160. 10.1016/j.bushor.2020.09.001
(2012). Delivering effective performance feedback: The strengths-based approach. Business Horizons, 55(2), 105–111. 10.1016/j.bushor.2011.10.004
(2007). The long-term impact of the feedback environment on job satisfaction: A field study in a Belgian context. Applied Psychology-an International Review-Psychologie Appliquee-Revue Internationale, 56(2), 254–266. 10.1111/j.1464-0597.2006.00253.x
(2020). The COVID-19 crisis and telework: A research survey on experiences, expectations and hopes [IZA Discussion Paper No. 1322].
(2013). Feedback and organizations: Feedback is good, feedback-friendly culture is better. Canadian Psychology/Psychologie Canadienne, 54(4), 260–268. 10.1037/a0034691
(2007). The job demands-resources model: State of the art. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(3), 309–328. 10.1108/02683940710733115
(2005). Job resources buffer the impact of job demands on burnout. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 10(2), 170–180. 10.1037/1076-8998.10.2.170
(2015, April). Reinventing performance management. Harvard Business Review, 93(4), 40–46.
(2020). International HRM insights for navigating the COVID-19 pandemic: Implications for future research and practice. Journal of International Business Studies, 51(5), 697–713. 10.1057/s41267-020-00335-9
(2016,October). The Performance management revolution. Harvard Business Review, 94(10), 58–67
(2020). E-leadership and teleworking in times of COVID-19 and beyond: what we know and where do we go. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 59271. 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.590271
(2015). The end of the annual appraisal: what’s next for performance management? Personnel Today. https://www.personneltoday.com/hr/end-annual-appraisal-whats-next-performance-management/
(2001). The job demands-resources model of burnout. Journal of Applied Psychology, 86(3), 499–512. 10.1037/0021-9010.86.3.499
(2020). Running the economy remotely: Potential for working from home during and after COVID-19. https://epe.lac-bac.gc.ca/100/201/301/weekly_acquisitions_list-ef/2020/20-22/publications.gc.ca/collections/collection_2020/statcan/45-28/CS45-28-1-2020-24-eng.pdf
(2017). Performance appraisal and performance management: 100 years of progress?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), 421–433. 10.1037/apl0000085
(2020). Living, working and COVID-19 dataset. http://eurofound.link/covid19data
(2020). Telework in the EU before and after the COVID-19: Where we were, where we head to. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc120945_policy_brief_-_covid_and_telework_final.pdf
(2007). The good, the bad, and the unknown about telecommuting: meta-analysis of psychological mediators and individual consequences. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92(6), 1524–1541. 10.1037/0021-9010.92.6.1524
(2020). Effects of Covid-19 on human resource management from the perspective of digitalization and work-life-balance. International Journal of Innovative Technologies in Economy, 31(4), 3–12. 10.31435/rsglobal_ijite/30092020/7148
(1967). The discovery of grounded theory: strategies for qualitative research. Adline.
(2006). Telecommuting, control, and boundary management: Correlates of policy use and practice, job control, and work–family effectiveness. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 68(2), 347–367. 10.1016/j.jvb.2005.07.002
(2017). Performance management: A marriage between practice and science–Just say “I do”. In Research in personnel and human resources management. Emerald Publishing Limited. 10.1108/S0742-730120170000035005
(1985). Naturalistic inquiry. Sage.
(2016). The case for keeping performance review ratings. The Washington Post. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/capital-business/wp/2016/09/28/the-case-for-keeping-performance-review-ratings/
(2021). How much feedback do employees need? A field study of absolute feedback frequency reports and performance. International Journal of Selection and Assessment, 29(3-4), 326–325. 10.1111/ijsa.12352
(2011). Why Is performance management broken? Industrial and Organizational Psychology-Perspectives on Science and Practice, 4(2), 146–164. 10.1111/j.1754-9434.2011.01315.x
(2020). Working from Home—Who is Happy? A Survey of Lithuania’s employees during the COVID-19 quarantine period. Sustainability, 12(13), 5332. 10.3390/su12135332
(2006). Placing perceptions of politics in the context of the feedback environment, employee attitudes, and job performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 91(1), 211–220. 10.1037/0021-9010.91.1.211
(2012). Impact of telework on exhaustion and job engagement: A job demands and job resources model. New Technology, Work and Employment, 27(3), 193–207. 10.1111/j.1468-005X.2012.00284.x
(2004). The feedback environment scale: Construct definition, measurement, and validation. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 64(1), 165–184. 10.1177/0013164403258440
(1997). Grounded theory in practice. Sage.
(2017). Personaliseren van werk: Mythes en feiten [
Personalization of work: myths and facts ]. Acco.(2020). Managing performance evaluations during a pandemic. https://www.cultureamp.com/blog/managing-performance-evaluations-during-a-pandemic
(2022). Working from home: Small business performance and the COVID-19 pandemic. Small Business Economics, 58(2), 611–636. 10.1007/s11187-021-00493-6
