Business Addressing Morale and Productivity Difficulties

The CEO of a large, multinational mining company decided to implement a performance management system for the underground miners. The decision was made without consulting with operating managers at mine locations nor with the miners’ union. When operating managers started to implement the system, miners insisted on their right to have a union official accompany them during their review meetings. In response, the CEO directed that a senior HR manager accompany the line manager who was conducting the review. Review meetings averaged over two hours in length as miners argued over their scores on each of the performance criteria. There were a number of miner stories that referred to the injustice and psychic injury caused from performance reviews where managers criticized miners for being lazy. For miners this represented a grievous breach of their identity that positioned them as hard workers. The lengthy meetings caused disruptions to shift crews and a lowering of overall productivity through having four employees tied up in every single review. Workforce morale plummeted and performance slumped. Relationships among all of the parties involved in the appraisal process were severely strained.

(Adopted from: Dawson, P., & McLean, P. (2013). Miners’ Tales: Stories and the Storying Process for Understanding the Collective Sensemaking of Employees During Contested Change. Group & Organization Management, 38(2), 198–229.

DQ: What was the critical error – if any – made by company management in implementing this system? Offer recommendations with specific actions for the company to take to fix the morale and productivity problems before attempting to reinstate a performance management system.