How to Build a Personnel Evaluation System with Employees: How to Select Construction Members and Conduct a Kickoff

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There may be third-generation owners or successor managers who are thinking about reviewing the ideas of evaluation and treatment that have continued since the previous generation and creating a personnel evaluation system that suits the company they aim to be.

Reviewing a personnel evaluation system is not simply about changing evaluation items or evaluation sheets. It is an initiative to clarify the future vision of the company and consider what roles, behaviors, and growth are expected of employees to achieve that vision.

Last time, we organized the purpose and overall picture of the personnel evaluation system, as well as the timing for considering its introduction. From this point on, we will enter the concrete steps of building a personnel evaluation system.

When it comes to building a personnel evaluation system, you might try to create evaluation items or evaluation sheets first. However, what you want to do before that is to build a construction team for the personnel evaluation system.

This time, we will organize the prerequisites for creating a personnel evaluation system, how to build a construction team, and how to proceed with the kickoff.

Prerequisites for a Personnel Evaluation System

There are things you should understand first when creating a personnel evaluation system.

That is, a personnel evaluation system is not something that cannot be changed once it is created.

If the company's strategy changes, the roles and behaviors expected of employees will also change. As the business grows and the organization expands, the necessary positions and ideal personnel profiles will also change.

The personnel evaluation system also needs to be continuously reviewed and updated in line with changes in the company's strategy and organization.

If you try to create a perfect system from the beginning, you may not be able to decide on the details, and the construction may not progress. However, there are many things that you will not know until you actually operate it.

It is important to think about creating a system necessary for the current company first and improving it while operating it.

And there is one more prerequisite to understand.

That is that it is impossible to create a personnel evaluation system that all employees are completely satisfied with.

Depending on the employee, the work they are in charge of, their position, and the points they want to be evaluated on differ. There will be employees who like to take on new things and those who are not good at it.

An evaluation standard that is acceptable to one person is not necessarily acceptable to another employee in the same way.

Precisely because a perfect system that satisfies everyone does not exist, involving employees in the system creation process is effective.

Why it is good to create a personnel evaluation system with employees

To think about the meaning of involving employees in system creation, imagine a scene where two boys are sharing a single cake.

Boy A and Boy B have to share one cake. If both want to eat the slightly larger piece, dissatisfaction is likely to arise over the size of the cake.

What if an adult cuts the cake and gives one piece to each of them?

Even if the adult intends to divide it into equal sizes, one of them might feel that their piece is smaller. Even if the adult lets one of them choose first after cutting, the other person may still be left with dissatisfaction.

In such cases, a method that makes it easier to increase the level of satisfaction is to divide the roles of Boy A and Boy B.

One person cuts the cake, and the other person chooses the piece they like first.

The person cutting the cake will try to divide it as fairly as possible because the other person will choose first. The person choosing gets to receive the cake they selected themselves.

Because both are involved in how the cake is divided, the level of satisfaction with the result is more likely to be higher than if it were unilaterally handed over by an adult.

The personnel evaluation system is the same as this.

If management, the HR department, or external consultants create an evaluation system alone and present the completed system to employees, the employees will perceive it as having been "unilaterally decided by the company."

On the other hand, if employees are involved in the process of creating the evaluation system, they will think about what the company values and why these evaluation criteria are necessary.

Not all employees will be satisfied with the evaluation results. Even so, by being involved in the system creation, they can increase their understanding of and satisfaction with the system.

What is necessary for that is a personnel evaluation system construction team.

How to create a personnel evaluation system construction team

When you hear "construction team," you might imagine a team centered around HR department staff or external consultants.

Of course, it is better to have members who have knowledge about HR and experience in system design.

However, if the system is created only by the HR department or external consultants, the meaning of employees being involved in system creation fades. Also, there is a possibility that the actual work and realities of the field will not be sufficiently reflected, resulting in a system where the actual tasks and evaluation criteria do not match.

Let's add managers from each department to the construction team.

Managers understand not only the work of their departments but also what roles and skills are required of employees. They are also important members for reflecting the characteristics of the work that differ by department into the evaluation system.

However, you do not need to select construction members based solely on their job titles.

Core members from each department who are committed to building a personnel evaluation system and want to make the company better are also candidates.

As long as they meet this condition, you may include general employees in the construction team. They can provide opinions on the reality of the workplace and how employees perceive things from a different perspective than managers.

You might also consider selecting employees from whom the company expects a lot in the future.

For employees who are not currently in management positions but whom you want to take on a core role in the company in the future, building a personnel evaluation system is an opportunity to think about the company's direction and the organization as a whole.

Alternatively, you could choose employees who have high potential but are currently experiencing a drop in motivation.

By entrusting them with the role of thinking about company systems and the future, it can be an opportunity for them to feel that the company has expectations of them and to regain a sense of ownership toward their work and the organization.

Select members based not only on their knowledge of creating a personnel evaluation system, but also on their willingness to improve the company and their attitude toward being continuously involved in system development.

What to discuss at the construction team kickoff

Once the construction members have been decided, hold a kickoff meeting.

At the kickoff, do not start thinking about grades or evaluation items immediately; first, share the reason for creating the personnel evaluation system.

Sharing the company's vision

No matter what you are doing, it is important to communicate "why you are doing it" before "what you are doing."

The management philosophy and MVV serve as the major basis for the reasons why a company starts a new initiative.

MVV generally refers to the following three:

• Mission: The company's mission and reason for existence

• Vision: The future state the company wants to achieve

• Values: The values and behavioral standards that employees cherish

Depending on the company, different terms such as corporate philosophy, purpose, company motto, management policy, and code of conduct may be used.

Regardless of the name, what is important is to convey to the construction members, "Why does this company exist, and what kind of company are we aiming to become?"

Especially for successor executives, it is necessary to clarify the vision of the company they aim to build in their generation while inheriting the philosophy and values established by their predecessors. Building a personnel evaluation system is also an opportunity to share that direction with employees.

Based on that, connect the company's vision with the personnel evaluation system.

"To realize the company's vision, we need to require certain roles, behaviors, and growth from our employees. I believe a personnel evaluation system is necessary for that, which is why I have gathered this team."

By explaining in this order, the purpose of creating a personnel evaluation system and the significance of being selected for the construction team will be conveyed.

If you simply say, "We have decided to create an evaluation system, so I want you to gather," the members will not know what they should be aiming for in their discussions.

Start by sharing the destination the company is aiming for.

Organizing the current state of HR and the organization

Once the company's vision is shared, the next step is to organize the current situation.

Discuss the following points with the construction members:

• Strengths of the current HR and organization

• Weaknesses of the current HR and organization

• The real causes behind the strengths

• The real causes behind the weaknesses

What is important here is not to stop at just listing strengths and weaknesses, but to think about their causes as well.

For example, suppose there is a problem where "young employees are not developing well."

The cause may not just be the employee's own motivation. There is a possibility that the cause lies within the organization or the system, such as the growth stages required by the company not being clear, guidance content differing depending on the supervisor, or achievements not being reflected in evaluations even after becoming capable of doing the work.

On the other hand, if there is a strength such as "employees naturally helping each other," consider the background behind that as well.

The method for maintaining that strength in the future will change depending on whether specific employees are actively reaching out to others, whether there is a culture that makes it easy to consult across departments, or whether information-sharing mechanisms are well-established.

When a successor executive takes over a company, they may not necessarily grasp the full history of how the current system and organizational culture were formed. Through discussions with the construction members, it is also important to organize what the company has valued until now and the problems the front lines are facing.

Do not judge based solely on superficial phenomena; dig deeper into why that state has emerged.

Sharing the overall picture of the personnel evaluation system

Once you have organized the company's vision and current situation, share the overall picture of the personnel evaluation system.

Confirm what will be created by this construction team moving forward.

In building a personnel evaluation system, you will mainly create the following items in order.

• Job grades

• Evaluation items for each position

• Evaluation criteria

• Definitions of scores

• Evaluation sheets

After creating these, test the evaluations in practice to check for any operational issues.

While you will proceed to full-scale operation after reviewing the content as necessary, there is no need to decide on detailed evaluation items at the kickoff stage.

First, it is important for all construction members to understand what will be created and in what order.

Relationship with management self-sufficiency

For successor managers, including third-generation owners, building a personnel evaluation system is not an initiative to run the company inherited from the predecessor solely by one's own power.

There is not just one element required to establish management self-sufficiency.

Various initiatives are necessary, such as clarifying company policies and goals, organizing roles and authority, systematizing operations, and establishing mechanisms for meetings and numerical management.

Among these, it is important to increase the sense of ownership among employees who play a core role in the company.

If the manager thinks of everything and employees only execute what is decided, you cannot escape the state where the company does not function without the manager.

When core members from each department participate in the personnel evaluation system construction team, employees will think about the company's vision, organizational issues, and the type of talent needed in the future.

This is not simply a task of creating an evaluation system.

It is also an opportunity to view the company's future as our own issue and think about what kind of organization we should build.

It is not just the successor management who should think about the new shape of the company, but also the employees who will support future management. By accumulating this experience, employees will grow from being mere executors of management's instructions into individuals who will carry the future of the company.

Creating a personnel evaluation system construction team is also effective for increasing the sense of ownership among core employees and developing talent that will support future autonomous management.

Summary

In this article, we have organized the reasons for creating a personnel evaluation system construction team, how to select members, and the topics to discuss at the kickoff.

A personnel evaluation system is not something that cannot be changed once created. It is something that should be continuously updated in line with changes in company strategy and organization.

Also, precisely because it is difficult to create a system that everyone is completely satisfied with, it is important to involve employees in the system creation process.

For the construction team, select not only managers from each department but also core members who have the will to improve the company and a commitment to building the system. If they meet the criteria, general employees can also be included.

At the kickoff, after sharing the company's vision and the reasons for creating the personnel evaluation system, organize the strengths and weaknesses of the current personnel and organization, as well as their causes, and finally, share the overall picture of the personnel evaluation system to be built.

For third-generation managers and successor managers, building a personnel evaluation system is also an opportunity to share the vision of the company they aim for in their generation with employees and to develop core members who will build the future company together.

Once you have organized the personnel evaluation system construction team and shared the company's vision and current challenges, it is time to think about the content of the system.

First, let's think about "what kind of grades are necessary for our company" with this team.

Next time, we will organize the "grading system," which is the first step in creating a personnel evaluation system.