| Course | COM 230 Human Resource Management |
|---|---|
| Module | Module 6 |
| Paper type | Performance management system design |
| Length | About 1,007 words, 6 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Aspen University |
| Program | Business Administration |
| Updated | October 2026 |
Free sample paper for COM 230 Module 6
Measuring Service Without Pushing Sales: A Performance Management System for Universal Bankers
Student Name
Business Administration Program, Aspen University
COM 230: Human Resource Management
Instructor Name
Month Day, Year
Measuring Service Without Pushing Sales: A Performance Management System for Universal Bankers
Blue Ridge Community Credit Union's universal bankers will do varied work: handling cash, opening accounts, solving problems, teaching members to use the mobile app and taking loan applications. How their performance is managed will shape which of those tasks they emphasize. Several large banks have shown what happens when individual sales goals dominate: employees opened accounts members did not want. Blue Ridge, a member-owned credit union, cannot risk that. HR director Denise Carter must design a system that develops universal bankers and supports service. This paper sets out the design.
What Performance Management Is For
Aguinis and Pierce (2008) argued that organizational behavior research should pay more attention to performance management, which they defined as a continuous process of identifying, measuring and developing the performance of individuals and teams and aligning it with the organization's strategic goals. On this view, performance management is not the annual appraisal form but the whole system of setting expectations, observing, giving feedback and developing people, connected to what the organization is trying to achieve. For Blue Ridge, the strategic goals are member satisfaction, digital adoption and loan growth, in that order.
The Ratings Debate
Cappelli and Tavis (2016) described a movement among large companies, including Adobe, Deloitte, Microsoft and GE, to drop or reduce annual performance ratings. They traced the shift to several pressures: the need to develop talent when it is scarce, the speed of work, which makes annual goals obsolete, and the importance of teams, which individual ratings do not capture. Firms replaced annual reviews with frequent, informal check-ins focused on the future. The authors also noted challenges, such as how to make pay decisions without ratings and how to ensure managers actually hold the conversations.
Murphy (2020) went further. He argued that formal performance evaluation, in which supervisors periodically rate subordinates, has persistent problems: ratings are often inaccurate and influenced by rater goals, the process is costly in time, it damages relationships and motivation, and there is little evidence that it improves performance. He argued organizations should abandon it and invest instead in informal feedback and coaching, while finding other ways to make administrative decisions.
Blue Ridge will take a middle path. Coaching will have no ratings. A short annual review based on documented results will support pay decisions.
What Will Be Measured
| Measure | Level | Purpose | How often reviewed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Member satisfaction from post-visit surveys | Individual and branch | Service quality | Monthly |
| Problems resolved at first visit | Individual | Capability | Monthly |
| Members helped to start using digital banking | Individual | Strategic goal | Monthly |
| Loan applications taken or referred | Branch | Growth | Monthly |
| Cash and procedure accuracy | Individual | Control | Monthly |
| Observed member conversations | Individual | Coaching | Quarterly |
The Cycle
Each universal banker meets their branch manager monthly for twenty minutes to review the measures and discuss one thing to work on. The conversation starts with the banker's own view of the month, so it is a discussion rather than a verdict. Branch managers observe one member conversation per banker each quarter and give feedback on it. Once a year, the manager writes a one-page summary of results and development, which the regional manager reviews for consistency across branches before pay decisions are made. There is no forced ranking.
Preparing Branch Managers
The design depends on branch managers holding good monthly conversations, which Cappelli and Tavis identified as a common weak point when firms drop annual reviews. Managers will attend a half-day session on running a coaching conversation: starting with the banker's own view, discussing one or two measures, agreeing on one focus for the month and noting it in a shared record. Regional managers will sit in on one conversation per branch manager each quarter. Managers who skip conversations will see it in their own reviews.
Linking to Pay
Blue Ridge sets aside a merit pool each year. Under the new system, the annual summary places each universal banker in one of three bands, developing, fully performing or exceptional, based on a year of monthly records rather than a manager's memory in December. The bands, not a numeric rating, guide the share of the merit pool each person receives. Branch results on loans and digital adoption fund a small team bonus shared equally among the branch's universal bankers, so that helping a colleague is rewarded rather than penalized.
When Performance Falls Short
If a banker's results stay below expectations for three months despite coaching, the manager and HR will agree on a written improvement plan with specific goals, support and a time frame, following the fair process described in Module 2. Coaching remains free of ratings; the improvement plan is a separate, documented step.
The Banker's Voice
Each universal banker can add comments to their annual summary and ask the regional manager to review it. Murphy noted that evaluation often damages relationships; giving employees a say in their own record is one way to limit that harm.
Fairness and Unintended Effects
Because member satisfaction surveys can reflect things outside a banker's control, such as long lines, they will be read over months, not single visits. Denise will review measures after six months for signs of gaming, such as bankers steering members away from complex problems. She will also compare monthly records across branches to see whether some managers coach far more harshly or leniently than others, and use the regional review to bring them closer together. If the share of members helped with digital banking rises while satisfaction falls, that would suggest bankers are pushing the app on members who do not want it, and the measure would need adjusting. Bankers will be asked in an anonymous survey after the first year whether the monthly conversations help them do their jobs better.
Conclusion
Aguinis and Pierce define performance management as a continuous, strategic process, Cappelli and Tavis show why firms are moving to frequent conversations and Murphy shows the costs of formal ratings. Blue Ridge's design keeps coaching free of ratings, measures sales at the branch and preserves a simple basis for pay.
References
Aguinis, H., & Pierce, C. A. (2008). Enhancing the relevance of organizational behavior by embracing performance management research. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(1), 139-145. https://doi.org/10.1002/job.493
Cappelli, P., & Tavis, A. (2016). The performance management revolution. Harvard Business Review, 94(10), 58-67.
Murphy, K. R. (2020). Performance evaluation will not die, but it should. Human Resource Management Journal, 30(1), 13-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/1748-8583.12259
What the COM 230 Module 6 instructions ask for
Performance management is the focus of COM 230 Module 6, and students typically design or evaluate a performance management system for a role or organization. Look over your course's Module 6 page; the case details here are invented. Explain what performance management should achieve. Weigh the evidence and debate about formal ratings, and take a position you can defend. Choose measures that reflect the whole job. Design the cycle of feedback, coaching and review. Address how performance links to pay and development. Consider fairness and unintended effects, and how managers will be prepared. Cite sources in APA 7 form.
How this COM 230 Module 6 example is built
Universal bankers will be measured on members served, problems resolved, members helped with digital banking and loan applications referred or taken. Aguinis and Pierce's Journal of Organizational Behavior article described performance management as continuous and strategic rather than an annual event. Cappelli and Tavis's Harvard Business Review article traced the move away from annual appraisals at companies such as Adobe, Deloitte and GE toward regular check-ins. Murphy's Human Resource Management Journal article argued that performance evaluation is costly, often inaccurate and harmful to motivation and relationships. The measures table balances service measures, such as member satisfaction and problems resolved, against sales measures, with sales goals set for the branch rather than the individual. The design uses monthly coaching conversations without ratings, a short annual pay review based on documented results and no forced ranking.
Where the marks sit in the COM 230 Module 6 rubric
Performance management papers earn credit when they take a reasoned position on the ratings debate and design measures that will not distort behavior. This example uses Aguinis and Pierce to define the system's purpose, Cappelli and Tavis to show the trend toward frequent conversations and Murphy to justify dropping ratings from coaching. The measures table addresses the risk that sales measures crowd out service, and the design separates development from pay. Recognizing that some evaluation is still needed for pay shows a balanced position rather than a slogan. Preparing managers for coaching and giving bankers a voice in their own records address the most common reasons such systems fail.
COM 230 Module 6 help from the desk
Performance management papers often describe the annual review in detail without asking whether it improves performance. Explain what the system is for. Another weakness is choosing measures that are easy to count but distort behavior, such as individual sales quotas in a service role. Balance measures across the whole job. Decide how often feedback happens and who gives it. Separate development conversations from pay decisions where possible, and explain how pay will still be decided. Finally, check for unintended effects after the system starts. Train managers to hold the conversations, because a system without annual reviews depends entirely on whether the frequent ones actually happen. Give employees a way to comment on their own records.
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COM 230 Module 6 questions, answered
What does COM 230 Module 6 usually ask for?
Aspen's COM 230 focuses on performance management in this module, so designing or evaluating a performance management system is typical. Read your classroom prompt.
What is performance management?
Aguinis and Pierce described it as a continuous process of identifying, measuring and developing performance aligned with the organization's strategic goals.
Why are companies dropping annual ratings?
Cappelli and Tavis described firms moving to frequent conversations because annual ratings were slow, backward-looking and poorly suited to fast-changing work and teams.
Where can I find a free COM 230 Module 6 sample paper?
The example above designs performance management for universal bankers at a credit union, balancing service and sales.
Should performance evaluation be abolished?
Murphy argued that formal evaluation does more harm than good, though most organizations still need some basis for pay decisions.