Key Players The Walsh Family - the owners of ABC Co.

Edith Walsh - the company CEO

Farah - the new VP, Human Resources

Joshua - Programming Team Lead

Mehdi - seasoned employee of 12 years; Programmer

Michael - a contract employee who is a millennial

Sarah - another long-time employee; Programmer; Mehdi's best friend

The Scene

ABC Co. is a fast-paced tech company. ABC has 210 employees and is still privately owned by the Walsh family. Edith Walsh is the company CEO and worked her way up in the company over 24 years. Edith has recently hired Farah to be the new VP, of HR. Farah has spent the last 60 days observing and has finally recommended that the company needs an overhaul of the performance management system.

The Situation

Monday - members of the programming team, led by Joshua, are hanging out in the lunchroom. The conversation about annual reviews is brought up by Mehdi, who is a seasoned employee of 12 years. Mehdi brags that for the last 12 years he has always received a pay increase; the Walsh family takes care of their employees. Michael, a millennial employee who is currently on contract, sits quietly. While his contract was only for 6-months he's been a month to month for the last 4 months, still waiting to hear if he'll be offered a permanent position. Michael respects Mehdi who is an exceptional programmer but not great at mentoring new employees.

Tuesday - Edith calls Michael into her office. His contract will be renewed for the next year, but he won't be receiving a pay increase. Michael is excited to stay but wonders what he could have done to earn an increase in his hourly rate. He doesn't say much to Edith because he was quite nervous speaking to the CEO.

Wednesday - Sarah, another long-time ABC employee, and Mehdi's best friend, is overheard complaining about her salary. She doesn't care that the company is recovering from revenue loss during the pandemic and believes that loyal employees should continue to receive their annual pay increase, even if it means firing contract employees.

Thursday - Edith posts a volunteer sign-up sheet in the lunchroom asking employees to join a Performance Management System Review Committee. Michael signs up, hoping this will secure his employment in the future, which Sarah and Mehdi see. Sarah openly ridicules Michael's desire to get involved. While Mehdi doesn't contribute to the conversation, he is present in the room. Michael scratches his name off of the sign-up sheet. HRM2027 - Summer 2021 pg. 3

Friday - Mehdi and Sarah are once again in the lunchroom. Mehdi tells Sarah that his review went as he expected. In fact, their manager, Joshua, didn't even bother to sit down with him. Joshua sent an email stating, "all good", and confirmed a pay increase of 4% again. Sarah knows she delivered the same metrics as Mehdi this past year, so she'll be expecting the same pay increase.

At the same time, Michael decides to put in his resignation to Edith, who is confused because Michael was so excited on Tuesday to accept his contract extension. Michael won't say but he's already starting at his friend's company on Monday so today is his last day with ABC. Edith rushes into Farah's office, furious that she made the effort to offer Michael a 1-year contract earlier in the week, only for him to quit at the end of the week. Farah is embarrassed but was not made aware yet of Michael's contract extension by Edith; they typically meet on Monday mornings to discuss Edith's strategic decisions.

1. It is apparent that ABC Co. isn't using appraisal forms. If you were Farah, the VP of HR, how would you implement them? What would you include on the appraisal form? How would you check that our managers are using them correctly?

2. Identify either a star or poor performer from this case study. What behavioral traits did they demonstrate? If you were their line manager, how would you manage and coach this individual? What rater errors might you look out for?

3. Farah must provide Edith, the CEO, with a communication plan rolling out our new performance management system. If you were Farah, what might you include in your communication plan? What pitfalls might you watch out for?

4. Farah believes the performance management system needs an appeal process to create fairness amongst all employees. How might an appeal process have changed Michael's outcome with ABC Co.? Why is team coaching important?