ST.

MARY’S UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF BUSINESS
DEPARTEMENT OF MARKETING
MANAGEMENT

ASSESSMENT OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PRACTICE

IN DHL ETHIOPIA

BY
 YORDANOS FESSEHA
 HERMELA YOHANNES
 BETHEL ASSEFA

MAY, 2025
ADDIS ABABA

i
 ABSTRACT
Performance management system helps in aligning individual goals and objectives with those
of the organization. The major objective of this study was to assess DHL Ethiopia performance
management practice alignment with the objectives of the company and individual’s goal.
Research question has been developed on key performance areas of Organizational Strategy,
planning, execution, evaluation, performance review, renewal and re-contracting to assess
performance of the organization with specific objective of assessment on the six terms described
in research questions. The system engages employees and thereby directs them toward achieving
the strategic goals of the organization. The purpose of this research study is to investigate at
DHL express Office of, Ethiopia Branch to establish whether a performance management system
would facilitate the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals and as to achieve the goals
of this study, 110 employees of the organization were presented with a questionnaire based on
important key elements of performance management. Responses were received from 100
employees, of which 40 was from DHL Airport branch (Air ops team), 40 from GOPS (ground
operation) 10 from customer service department, and 10 from finance and human resource
departments. Their responses to the questionnaire were analyzed. Descriptive statistics was used
mainly on the primary data collected, and using SPSS, the findings were analyzed. Validity and
reliability has been also tasted by using mean and standard deviation. The findings of the study
showed that problems exist in the organization which impedes achievement of its strategic goals.
A performance management system would assist the organization in many of these areas to
overcome the identified problems. Based on the results of the study it was recommended that the
management of the organization need to design and implement a performance management
system to facilitate the achievement of the organization’s strategic goals.

ii
 CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1. Background of the Study

Performance management system plays an integral role in the employer‟s performance

management process as it translates the strategic goal into individual employee‟s goals.
Performance management is very useful in promoting and rewarding good performance. It is also
helpful in identification of performance gaps and addressing issues in good time.

Performance Management is a systematic approach to improving individual and team

performance in order to achieve organizational goal. Organizations implement Performance
management for various purposes and have different steps. One of the most important steps in
the performance management is performance appraisal (Armstrong, 2009).

Performance management should be evidence based. It is an analytical process in which the

factors influencing performance are identified and this is not just about performance measures.
Performance management is a systematic process for improving organizational performance by
developing the performance of individuals and teams. It is a means of getting better results by
understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned goals,
standards and competency requirements. Processes exist for establishing shared understanding
about what is to be achieved, and for managing and developing people in a way that increases the
probability that it will be achieved in the short and longer term. It is owned and driven by line
management. Performance management as practiced today incorporates processes such as
management by objectives and performance appraisal. „Performance management is managing
the business.‟ It is what line managers do continuously, not an HR-directed annual procedure. It
is a natural process of management (Mohrman and Mohrman, 1995).

Performance management is much more than appraising. It contributes to the achievement of

cultural change and it is integrated with other key HR activities, especially Human capital
management, talent management, learning and development and reward management.

1
Thus performance management helps to achieve horizontal integration and the „bundling‟ of HR
practices so that they are interrelated. As an important part of a high-performance work system,
it contributes to the development of more effective work systems that largely determine levels of
Performance (Armstrong, 2009).

Performance management encompasses:

Motivation of employees to perform
Vision by employers as to what performance standards they expect of employees
Ownership of management of performance at a variety of levels within organizations
Monitoring and measurement of the performance achieved by employee (Moharman and
Moharman,1995).

Performance management is the essential bridge between the strategic goals of the organization
and the day-to-day priorities of teams and individuals. It is also the way in which an organization
can gear its people development strategy to the needs of the business–defining the skills and
competencies required for excellent performance and then creating performance development for
individuals (IPD, 1997)

Performance management is a systematic approach to improving individual and team

performance in order to achieve organizational goals. Performance management is the process of
trying to bring the rewards which individuals desire into line with those required by the
organization (Edis, 1995).

Performance management (PM) is the process of creating a work environment or setting in

which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities. It is the main vehicle by which
managers communicate what is required from employees and give feedback on how well they
are achieving goals (CIPD, 2009).

Performance management is creating a shared vision of the purpose and aims of the organization,
helping each individual employee to understand and recognize their part in contributing to them
and thereby managing and enhancing the performance of both individuals and the organization
(Philips, 1997).

2
The Performance management process at “DHL “is a short process. Some of the methods of
performance management system at DHL are redundant and there is conflict between the
supervisee and the supervisor during the review period. The office atmosphere during the review
period is not good. The paper focuses in assessing the performance management practices
starting from the prerequisite to renewal process. Areas that need correction were also be
identified.

History and background of DHL

Logistics is concerned with getting the products and services where they are needed when they
are desired. It is difficult to accomplish any marketing or manufacturing without logistical
support. It involves the integration of information, transportation, inventory, warehousing,
material handling, and packaging.

The operating responsibility of logistics is the geographical repositioning of raw materials, work
in process, and finished inventories where required at the lowest cost possible

The formal definition of the word „logistics‟ is: – it is the process of planning, implementing and
controlling the efficient, effective flow and storage of goods, services and related information
from the point of origin to the point of consumption for the purpose of conforming to customer
requirements.

In order to understand the concepts of logistics in terms of practical usage and to glimpse into the
how a real company or organization uses logistics as a formidable tool to gain customer
satisfaction, reduce overall cost and increase efficiency we selected “DHL” the world‟s leading
courier Service Company. But DHL is multi-faceted and offers myriad types of services.

DHL are the first letters of the last names of the three company founders, Adrian Dalsey, Larry
Hillblom and Robert Lynn.

In 1969, just months after the world had marveled at Neil Armstrong‟s first steps on the moon,
the three partners took another small step that would have a profound impact on the way the
world does business.

3
The founders began to personally ship papers by airplane from San Francisco to Honolulu,
beginning customs clearance of the ship‟s cargo before the actual arrival of the ship and
dramatically reducing waiting time in the harbor. Customers stood to save a fortune.

With this concept, a new industry was born: international air express, the rapid delivery of
documents and shipments by airplane.

The DHL Network continued to grow at an incredible pace. The company expanded westward
from Hawaii into the Far East and Pacific Rim, then the Middle East, Africa and Europe. By
1988, DHL was already present in 170 countries and had 16,000 employees.

At the beginning of 2002, Deutsche Post World Net became the major shareholder in DHL. By
the end of 2002, DHL was 100% owned by Deutsche Post World Net.In 2003, Deutsche Post
World Net consolidated all of its express and logistics activities into one single brand, DHL

The world’s largest express and logistics Network

DHL is the global market leader in international express, overland transport and air freight. It is
also the world‟s number 1 in ocean freight and contract logistics. DHL offers a full range of
customized solutions – from express document shipping to supply chain management.

Below are the global facts and figures that show you the scale of the world‟s largest express and
logistics network.

Global Facts and Figures

Number of Employees: around 285,000

Number of Offices: around 6,500

Number of Hubs, Warehouses & Terminals: more than 450

Number of Gateways: 240

Number of Aircraft*: 420

Number of Vehicles: 76,200

4
Number of Countries & Territories: more than 220

Shipments per Year: more than 1.5 billion

Destinations Covered: 120,000

The reason for the success of DHL is due to its very effective and efficient way of carrying out
the process of project management. The basic steps in it are as follows

The study focuses in assessing the performance management practices of DHL Express Ethiopia.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

DHL is an express company known in service giving industry. Service giving industries are more
competitive. Therefore, service giving industries were obliged to take more effort in order to gain
the ability of making long-term strategic goals. The method that through which the service
giving industries can make strategic goals will be placed in a competitive environment is through
good performance management systems. Besides of lacking such a broad system in service
giving industries, the outcomes are very low. For this reason, DHL Ethiopia needs performance
assessment for better improvement for its decision and goal achievement.

Performance Management is one of the most important activities of human resource

management, and it is important to an organization, if it is properly assessed, in bringing to
handle employees successfully to make effective and efficient on their job. It is observed that
most organization often doesn‟t properly used performance management to achieve their desired
goals.
DHL is a courier service giving organization here in Ethiopia. In order to be, effective and
efficient to stay competitive and to achieve desired objective the company has to exercise quality
management practice. DHL is also need to review its performance management process to look
ahead, receive valuable feedback, and to put serious thought into performance management. And
also employees claim that there is no strong relation between the organizational goal and
individual goal with in DHL.

5
Furthermore, there is no clarity between the organization and employees objective based on the
data obtained from employees performance appraisal of the past years.
During appraisal period there is always conflict between the supervisor and employees. The
entire performance management practice is needed to be re-assessed.

1.3 Research Questions

This research paper tries to address the following research questions.
 How to assess organizational strategy in performance management in DHL Ethiopia?
 How to assess performance planning system on DHL?
 How to assess performance execution toward goal achievement?
 How to evaluate performance in DHL Ethiopia?
 How DHL review its performance?
 How DHL manage its performance through renewal and re-contracting?

1.4 Objective of the study

1.4.1 General Objective

The general objectives of the study is to assess the performance management practices of DHL
Ethiopia

1.4.2 Specific Objectives

This research paper tries to address the following specific research objectives.
 To assess organizational strategy in performance management in DHL Ethiopia.
 To assess performance planning system on DHL
 To assess performance execution toward goal achievement
 To evaluate performance in DHL Ethiopia
 To assess employees dissatisfaction during review
 To assess DHL performance through renewal and re-contracting

6
1.5 Operational Definition of Terms

Performance management
Performance management is a systematic process of improving organizational performance by
aligning individual employees‟ efforts to address organizational strategies and goals.
As performance is the main image of this research, in this section the term of performance will
be defined and its usage in the literature will be clarified. In literature “performance” has used in
a very wide-range and has been the focus of many researchers as a helping tool in making
strategic decisions and focusing on shareholder value (Deng & Smyth, 2013). One of the
comments on the meaning of performance was stated by Lebas, (1995) that was “there are a few
agreements between the people on the real meaning of performance: the meaning could be
everything relative to efficiency, to be powerful and have enough resistance in investment, or
any other definition that may not be fully satisfied for the term”.

Performance Appraisal
Performance appraisal is one of the most important stages of performance management and
includes the planning, execution, assessment, review and renewal of the performance of
individuals in the organization. ( Mawardi Ibrahimi, 2013 )

1.6 Significance of the Study

The study is significant to give feedback to DHL management to enhance their performance
management system to align with the company and employee‟s goal and development.
Also this paper is useful for employees to have awareness on performance management that their
company is practicing.
Helps for other stakeholders and researchers to add up their idea for improvement.

1.7 Delimitation of the Study

The study was used to assess the performance management practices at DHL and provide
recommendation for implementation. Due to time and distance limitation, the impact to be
realized as a result of the implementation of the recommendation in the performance of the
organization was not reviewed and presented. Because there is service centers located in Awasa
and Mekele regions. The study is also did not include part time and contract workers.

7
1.8 Organization of Research Paper

In the final paper, chapter one is about introduction, under chapter two, related literature is
reviewed; under chapter three the research designs as well as the methodology are discussed.
Under chapter four, the results of the finding are being fully discussed and finally under chapter
five, conclusion of the findings is summarized and recommendations are also described.

8
 CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE OF RELATED REVIEW
2.1 Definition of Performance management
Performance management is a systematic process for improving organizational performance by
developing the performance of individuals and teams. It is a means of getting better results by
understanding and managing performance within an agreed framework of planned goals,
standards and competency requirements. Processes exist for establishing shared understanding
about what is to be achieved, and for managing and developing people in a way that increases the
probability that it will be achieved in the short and longer term. It is owned and driven by line
management (Armstrong, 2009).

Performance management is concerned with: aligning individual objectives to organizational

objectives and encouraging individuals to uphold corporate core values; enabling expectations to
be defined and agreed in terms of role responsibilities and accountabilities (expected to do),
skills (expected to have) and behaviors (expected to be); providing opportunities for individuals
to identify their own goals and develop their skills and competencies (Armstrong, 2009).
Performance management is “a continuous process of identifying, measuring and developing the
performance of individuals”. Performance management primarily focuses on its employees to
develop their capabilities (Aguinis, 2007).

Performance management system usually includes measures on both behaviors (what an

employee does) and results (the outcomes of an employee‟s behavior). In order to realize the
purpose of performance appraisal, organization should carefully design appraisal system and
implement accordingly (Aguinis, 2007).

Performance management is assessment of personnel performance, feeds into career

development, compensation and promotion, movement within the organization, and sometimes
even termination of employment. Importantly it links the performance of the individual with the
objectives of the organization. Assessment of individual performance through mechanisms such
as the appraisal system are normally linked to training and development plans which enable
people to improve performance and also develop abilities in new areas (Armstrong, 2009).

9
On the other end employees can talk about how they should be managed, how they can give their
best output. They can discuss the support or resources which they need from managers (Bascal,
1999).

Main focus of Performance Management System appears to be on consensus which was lacking
in early practices where there was no discussion before writing the annual character report or
setting objectives points and the positive relationship between performance management and
better business performance (Aguinis, 2007).

It can communicate shared vision of organization, define expectations and reach consensus. It
also enhances motivation, leads towards personal development plans, allows people to monitor
their own performance and of those who are responsible for this and encourage dialogue about
various issues. The words performance measurement and performance management often used
interchangeably, performance includes measurement based on key success factors to track
achievement while performance management aims to react to the results of the measurement
(Radnor, 2003).

2.2 Evolution of Performance Management

Performance Management began around 60 years ago as a source of income justification and was
used to determine an employee‟s wage based on performance. Organizations used Performance
Management to drive behaviors from the employees to get specific outcomes. In practice this
worked well for certain employees who were solely driven by financial rewards. However,
where employees were driven by learning and development of their skills, it failed miserably.
The gap between justification of pay and the development of skills and knowledge became a
huge problem in the use of Performance Management. This approach of managing performance
was developed in the United Kingdom and the United States much earlier than it was developed
in Australia.

The current trend across the entire industry is shifting from performance measurement to
performance management (Radnor & Barnes, 2007).

10
According to Koontz (1971), the first known example of performance appraisal took place
during the Wei dynasty (AD 221–65) when the emperor employed an „imperial rater‟ whose task
it was to evaluate the performance of the official family. In the 16th century Ignatius Loyola
established a system for formal rating of the members of the Jesuit Society. The formal
monitoring systems, however, evolved out of the work of Frederick Taylor and his followers
before the First World War. Rating for officers in the US armed services was introduced in the
1920s and this spread to the UK, as did some of the factory-based American systems. Merit
rating came to the fore in the United States and the UK in the 1950s and 1960s. (IPD, 1997).

Management by objectives then came and largely went in the 1960s and 1970s, and
simultaneously, experiments were made with assessment techniques such as behaviorally
anchored rating scales. A revised form of results-orientated performance appraisal emerged in
the 1970s and still exists today. The term performance management was first used in the 1970s
but it did not become a recognized process until the latter half of the 1980s. In the late 1980s and
early1990s the dissatisfaction with traditional backward looking accounting based performance
measurement system led to the development of balanced multi- dimensional performance
measuring frame work (Radnor & Barks, 2007).

11
Figure 1. The pyramid of Performance Management

source: Performance Management in the public sector: Radnor 2003

Organizational diamond for performance management can help in giving the sense of direction
for performance management.

“Processes” are the “nervous” system of the organization (Clarke, 1994). They can be
considered to be the “harder” mechanics of the organization and described as the business
processes as well as the structure of the firm (Radnor, 1999). By understanding and defining the
processes within an organization it would be possible to develop ensure that a coherent set of
performance measurement and appropriate targets that support the processes and vice versa.

“People” are the “blood and guts” of the organization (Clarke, 1994). The organizational factors
represented here are largely concerned with training, motivation, culture and skills (Radnor,
1999). The people element is important in terms of the framework to ensure ownership,
accountability and, improvement in the performance. People need to be trained to understand the
purpose and impact of performance management. They should also be involved in creating and
managing performance management (De Waal, 2002).

“System” relates to the actual performance measurement or performance management system

itself. It needs to be realistic, measure and reinforce the right targets to ensure the appropriate
behavior (De Waal, 2002). In other words there needs to be an understanding between, the
structure and behavior that a performance management system drives.

12
By understanding the various facets and ensuring that there is some balance between them in
relation to performance management within the public sector it should be possible that it is not
always be about developing targets, setting measures and measuring the process but rather about
developing indicators, performance management and understanding the outcome to support the
“organizational” needs.

“Strategy” can be defined as the direction of the organization. It refers to and supports the
building block of bold aspirations (Radnor, 2003).

2.3 Performance Management Principle.

Employees want direction, freedom to get their work done, and encouragement not control. The
performance management system should be a control system only by exception. The solution is
to make it a collaborative development system, in two ways.

First, the entire performance management process – coaching, counseling, feedback, tracking,
recognition, and so forth – should encourage development. Ideally, team members grow and
develop through these interactions. Second, when managers and team members ask what they
need to be able to do to do bigger and better things, they move to strategic development (Egan,
1995).
According to Armstrong (2009), research conducted by Fletcher and Williams suggests four
underlying principles of effective performance management systems, namely that:
 It is owned and driven by line management and not the human resources department;
 There is an emphasis on shared corporate goals and values.
 Performance management is not a packaged solution but something that has to be
developed specifically and individually for each particular organization.
 It should apply to all staff, not just the managerial group.
Armstrong (2009) further expands on these principles as follows:
Performance management translates corporate goals into individual, team, department and
divisional goals;

13
2.4 Purpose of Performance Management

According to Aguinis, 2007 Performance management has a number of purposes including,

Strategic, communication, development as well as organizational maintenance discussed below.
Strategic: It links the organization‟s goals with individual goals, thereby reinforcing behaviors
consistent with the attainment of organizational goals.

Administrative: It is a source of valid and useful information for making decisions about
employees, including salary adjustments, promotions, employee retention or termination,
recognition of superior performance, identification of poor performers, layoffs, and merit
increases.

Communication: It allows employees to be informed about how well they are doing, to receive
information on specific areas that may need improvement, and to learn about the organization‟s
and the supervisor‟s expectations and what aspects of work the supervisor believes are most
important.

Developmental: It includes feedback, which allows managers to coach employees and help them
improve performance on an ongoing basis.

14
Organizational maintenance: It yields information about skills, abilities, promotional potential,
and assignment histories of current employees to be used in workforce planning as well as
assessing future training needs, evaluating performance achievements at the organizational level,
and evaluating the effectiveness of human resource interventions.

According to Armstrong (2009), an effective performance management process sets the

foundation for rewarding excellence.

 By linking individual employee work efforts with the organization‟s mission and
objectives, the employee and the organization understand how that job contributes to the
organization.
 By focusing attention on setting clear performance expectations (results + actions &
behaviors), it helps the employee know what needs to be done to be successful on the job.
Through the use of objectives, standards, performance dimensions, and other measures it
focuses effort. This helps the department get done what needs to be done and provides a
solid rationale for eliminating work that is no longer useful.
 By defining job-mastery and career development goals as part of the process, it makes it
very clear how the current position supports employee growth and the additional
opportunities the employee needs to explore. Through regular check-in discussions,
which include status updates, coaching, and feedback, it promotes flexibility, allowing
the supervisor and the employee to identify problems early and change the course of a
project or work assignment.
 By emphasizing that an annual appraisal should simply be a summary of the
conversations held between the supervisor and the employee during the entire cycle, it
shifts the focus away from performance as an “annual event” to performance as an on-
going process. An effective performance management process, while requiring time to
plan and implement, can save management and the employee time and energy. Most
importantly, it can be a very effective motivator; since it can help both management and
the employee achieve the best possible performance.
According to Aguinis (2007), the following characteristics are important ingredients of an ideal
performance management system.

15
  Strategic congruence. The system should be congruent with the unit and organization‟s
strategy.
 Thoroughness. The system should be thorough.
 Practicality. Good, easy- to –use systems.
 Meaningfulness. The system must be meaningful.
 Specificity .A good system should be specific
 Reliability. It is free from error
 Validity. The measures of performance should also be valid.
 Acceptability and fairness. Good system is acceptable and is perceived as fair.
 Inclusiveness. Good systems include input from multiple sources on an ongoing basis.
 Openness. Good systems have no secrets.
 Correctable
 Standardization etc…
The successful implementation of a comprehensive performance management system can
provide everyone the direction and support they need to enhance and improve their productivity
and standards on a regular basis. Besides serving as important input to the organization‟s
developmental efforts, performance management programs can also provide information for
effective work force planning and compensation projections. A comprehensive performance
management program allows managers to gain relevant and timely insights into their employees‟
goals, desires and abilities, thereby enabling them to execute better motivational strategies and
fairer evaluation methods for each person as per his or her performance. For employees, a
comprehensive performance management program can clarify their jobs, the expectation of
managers from them, as well as the perception of managers regarding their performance for each
task and responsibility. A good comprehensive performance management program also provides
relevant and timely information for those organizational goals.

One purpose of performance management in regard to people development is that effective

coaching can build an employee‟s confidence and commitment while resolving performance
attitude problems on a just-in-time basis (James Rollo, 2001).

16
2.5 Performance Management Process

Performance management is a process for measuring outputs in the shape of delivered

performance, compared with expectations expressed as objectives. In this respect it focuses on
targets, standards and performance measures or indicators. But it is also concerned with inputs-
the knowledge, skills and competencies required to produce the expected results. It is by defining
these input requirements and assessing the extent to which the expected levels of performance
have been achieved by using skills and competencies effectively that developmental needs are
identified (Armstrong, 2001).

Performance management is a positive interaction between a coach and an employee working

together to achieve maximum performance. The process involves the following:
1. Organization Strategy

2. Performance Planning

3. Performance execution

4. Performance Assessment

5. Performance review

6. Performance renewal and contracting

17
2.6 Performance management Cycle

Performance depends on the motivation and ability of individuals, that is, they have to be willing
to do the job, know how to do it, be able to do it, and have receive feedback on how they are
performing in considering the cycle of performance management, it is useful to compare ideas
from different authors and contrast their views (Fox, 2006).

According to Shultz et al (2003), the starting point of performance management is setting goals
and measures and goes on to list the steps that form the performance management cycle and the
cycle that consists of the following steps:

 Clarify expectations
This is the crucial first step in the performance management. It ensures that employees
know what is expected of them. They must have a crystal clear understanding, not only of
what the objective means, but also of what is necessary to affect the measure associated
with the objective. The initial meeting between manager and subordinate in the
performance management cycle should be a discussion about setting performance
objectives and ensures. It should not be a briefing in which the manager tells the
subordinate what his or her objective are, and then spends the rest of the time convincing
the subordinate of the importance of achieving objectives.
 Plan to facilitate performance
The manager might ask the subordinate what he or she could do help the subordinate
achieve his or her objectives. There are many instances in which the manager‟s
intervention may be necessary due to the fact that subordinate may not have the authority
or resources to make things happen.
 Monitor performance
There are many methods of monitoring performance of subordinates. One such method is
referred to as managing by wandering around. If this is not possible, then the monitoring
of performance may be achieved by regular meetings, telephone calls, written reports
etc… Frequency of monitoring is a factor of the nature of the job and the seniority of the
person being monitored.

18
 Provide feed back
It is critically important to provide feedback to subordinate on their performance. Such
feedback serves the purposes of allowing for the manager to provide for consequences of
performance and it allows the manager to redirect the efforts of the subordinate if
necessary. One of the measurement tools, the balanced scorecard measures the
organizations performance across four balanced perspectives financial, customers,
internal business process and learning & growth (Kaplan & Norton, 1996).
 Coach, council and support
It performance monitoring reveals a serious deficit, and then the manager may have to
coach the subordinate. This will consist of discussing the desired performance, and if
necessary, modeling the performance for the subordinate, asking the subordinate to
perform, and then giving critical feedback on the performance, until it is at the required
level.
 Recognize good performance
Behavior that is positively reinforced is likely to recur, while behavior that is punished, or
for which there are no consequences, is less likely to recur. Managers who seek to
influence the performance of their subordinates need to ensure that good performance is
followed by positive consequences.
 Deal with unsatisfactory performance
If a subordinate fails to perform as expected and this performance persists, then it may be
necessary to start disciplinary procedures by staring performance improvement plan, the
area the subordinate should improve, then standard must be offered every assistance to
perform, including it necessary reassignment to a different position to help then remain
employed.
In terms of dealing with poor performance, the following steps should be followed:
 Ensure that employee knows that his or her performance is unsatisfactory;
 Check to see what employee‟s previous performance record is like;
 Revisit the performance objectives and ensure that subordinate knows what is required
of him or her and what he or she need to do to perform adequately;
 Agree on a performance improvement plan;

19
  Agree on a process for follow up and review of the improvement plan, and consequence
of non-performance

 Record the agreement in writing

 Monitor performance in terms of the agreement
One of the measurement tools, the Balanced Scorecard measures the organization‟s performance
across four balanced perspectives: financial, customer, internal business process and learning and
growth. (Kaplan & Norton, 1996).

Figure 2. Performance Management Cycle

Source Shultz et al (2003)

20
2.7 Performance Management Benefit

The use of performance management can be seen as a method designed to meet organizational
goals. Measuring key performance indicator will improve operational effectiveness, ensure
accountability and foster collaboration (Lemieux-Charles, etal, 2003).
Schultz ,(2003) believes that through performance management, the product of successful
performers is a high performance company with an unmistakable profile that distinguishes it
from the mediocre. Osborne and Cowen in Schultz, (2004) list the key attributes that differentiate
the culture of high performance companies as follows:
o High performance companies have a simple compelling vision for the future;
o They produce a „true believer mentality‟ (whereby everyone believes in the vision of the
company, certain that it will bring success);
o Three or four plain values guide the organization, such as self-confidence, speed and
simplicity;
o Employees are proud of their company, but dissatisfied with their current performance
learning from both every mistake and every success;
o The urge to earn and maintain peer respect is the greatest motivator
o Employees in a high performance company expect that long term relationships will foster
their careers
o A single person‟s success is celebrated through the company.
Management Benefits.
While performance management cannot solve every problem, it has the potential to address
many common management concerns. If it is properly used, with invested time on it, and a
cooperative relationship, performance management can:

o Reduce time-consuming misunderstanding among staff about who is responsible for

what.

o • Reduce the frequency of situations where you do not have the information you need
when you need it.

o • Reduce mistakes and errors (and their repetition) by helping you and your staffs identify
the causes of errors or inefficiencies.

21
 o Identify individual training and development needs.

o • Build closer working relationships based on mutual trust and respect.

o • Provide better feedback to individuals about their performance and progress based on
mutual understanding of needs (Armstrong, 1994).
Performance management is an investment upfront so that managers can just let employees do
their jobs. They will know what they are expected to do, what decisions they can make on their
own and how well they have to do their jobs.
Employees Benefits.
It can provide scheduled forums for discussion of work progress, so employees receive the
feedback they need to help assess their accomplishments and to know where they stand. That
regular communication n ensures there are no surprises at the end of the year. Since performance
helps employees understand what they should be doing and why, it gives them a degree of
empowerment-ability to make day-to-day decisions.
It helps in figuring out how to improve performance, even if there are no current performance
problems. This provides an opportunity to help employees develop new skills and is more likely
to identify barriers to better performance, such as inadequate resources.
Employees benefit from better understanding their jobs and their job responsibilities. If they
know their limits, they can act more freely within those parameters.

Organizational Benefits.
When people in the organization understand how their work contributes to the success of the
company, morale and productivity usually improve. A company can have all of its parts aimed at
the same bulls- eye. Performance management is the key to making these links clear to everyone.

2.8 Challenges of Performance Management

The outcomes of an effective and comprehensive performance management program should be

satisfied and productive employees, better bottom-line profits and better competitive position in
the market or industry. Traditionally, performance management programs have been devalued
due to the fact that most organizations viewed it as a single or “stand alone” initiative, rather than
a strategic tool to enhance performance and achieve organizational productivity.

22
2.9 Empirical Literature on Performance Management Practices
Performance management system is handled in different ways in different organizations. Under
this section, practical literatures on performance management system in different organizations
are discussed. The organizations assessed include both NGOs and government organizations,
organizations that operate within this country and some that work outside the country. The
practices of these organizations are compared with that of DHL Express Ethiopia.

2.9.1 Performance management practices at DHL

DHL has offices all over the world and all branches use the same type of performance
management system. In this management system, employees are expected to plan for the
upcoming year‟s activity. The plans are based on key areas of accountability which considers
performance factors that are used to evaluate how one‟s performance has met the set targets
during the appraisal period.

Each department prepares its own performance plan; the plan is then fully discussed between the
employee and the respective supervisor. The agreed plan is signed by both parties and kept as a
reference for future appraisal. It is the policy of the DHL to set goals for all employees and to
appraise their performance against those goals; to reward them based on their performance and to
take appropriate remedial action where this is considered necessary. DHL performance
management policy is available on the company‟s portal and is accessible to all employees.
Employees are made aware of this policy during the initial induction period. Some of the most
important points included in the policy manual are:

1 All permanent employees of DHL are guided through company policy.

2. Performance appraisals are strictly confidential. Only the Supervisor and SMT members have
access to the results.
3. All staff members permanently employed by DHL should be appraised formally once in a year.
4. The HR Records Office shall be responsible for the safekeeping of performance appraisal
results.

For the appraisal, employees are expected to submit the self-assessment report to their
immediate supervisors.

23
5. The supervisor is expected to compile his own data about the employee (s) he supervises,
take inputs from the employee‟s self-assessment report and contact the reference personnel and
evaluate the performance of the employee .
Each component in the appraisal form is rated as indicated in table 1. DHL has 5 rating methods.
Table 1. Existing DHL Performance Appraisal Rating
No Meaning
1 Far exceed
2 Exceed
3 Fully meet
4 Partially meets
5 Does not meet
The average annual rating and the initial goal setting of each employee is compiled by
their respective supervisor and this compiled data is forwarded to department managers.
Source: DHL annual employees performance taken from year 2018.

2.9.2 Performance Management Practice of Kenya IBM

In Kenya IBM Company, the purpose of performance management system is to motivate and
focus individuals to perform to their optimal level of competence during a defined period,
usually an annual performance cycle. Ultimately, the collective efforts of individual performers
must add up to positive organizational performance for an enterprise to succeed. Too often,
however, organizational strategies and goals are created and passed down to others without a
clear set of principles or a clear understanding of the key requirements for meeting them and
without translation into meaningful, realistic targets and activities that individuals can perform.

The following are key processes of Performance Management at Kenya IBM Company.
Lay the groundwork for setting objectives by exploring aspirations, need and preferences.
Conduct a discussion about performance expectations (competencies, goals and development).
Create specific plans that can be implemented and tracked pragmatically. Develop commitment
to a transparent contract between manager and employee around a performance plan.

24
2.9.3 Performance Management Practice at PIACT (an NGO in Bangladesh)

PIACT Bangladesh established 1980, It is a non- profit, non-governmental organization

committed to the welfare of the people of Bangladesh. Employees and projects are evaluated by
different individuals in PIACT based on their nature of job activities such as:
The individuals working as PIACT‟s core employees are evaluated by the top level
management consisting of Director, Deputy Directors and Administration Officer.

The individuals working in projects are evaluated by their Coordinator and if that individual is a
member of any project team then he/she is evaluated by the team leader.

A project team is evaluated by the Project Administration Officer. The finance and accounts
related activities of a project team are usually evaluated by the Finance Manager.

A whole project is evaluated both internally and externally. Internally it is evaluated by the top-
level management and externally it is evaluated by the representatives of the project donors.
Different time frames are maintained for the evaluation of different entities such as:
The core employees are evaluated once in year. The project-based employees and the project
teams are evaluated quarterly.

The whole project can be evaluated quarterly and sometimes it can be conducted phase-wise.
Each project has different phases in its whole life time. Usually phases are determined based on
the years required to complete a project.
Performance criteria at PIACT for project employees and teams are determined by the top level
management along with the project director. These criteria depend on the nature of the job and
job contents. Such as for a field officer it is necessary to be a hardworking person. He also must
have the willingness of taking and meeting job responsibilities. It must maintain timeliness,
speediness and accuracy for each activity.

In PIACT Performance appraisal information of the employees are used for the following
purposes: Performance Improvement: The supervisor of an employee communicates the
performance review results of that employee and gives advice to improve his/her performance
for future. Placement Decisions: Depending on the performance evaluation information the
promotions and transfer take place.

25
These decisions are taken by the top-level management of PIACT along with the project
directors. Career planning and Development: Based on the information from performance
evaluation the top-level management tries to find out the potential employees who can improve
the overall performance of the organization. Identifying Job Design Errors: After conducting the
evaluation it is found whether the problem is with the employees or with the job designing. If the
employees fail to accomplish the tasks due to the error in job designing, then the jobs are
redesigned to perform to enhance its effectiveness.
Source: (Mawardi Ibrahimi,2013)

2.9.4 Performance Management Practices at Ethiopian Airlines.

According to the performance management policy of Ethiopian Airlines as posted in its company
portal, there are different performance management tools world-wide and companies use either
one or more of these tools. The performance management tool accepted by Ethiopian Airlines is
the Balanced Scorecard that was developed by Robert Kaplan and David Norton in 1992.
According to the performance management policy as posted on the company portal, the purposes
of performance management at Ethiopian Airlines are:
 Relating employee‟s performance evaluation to the achievement of strategic goals and
objectives.
 Rewarding employees in line with their individual performance and the productivity of
Ethiopian.
 Creating a sense of understanding by establishing non-financial quantitative indicators
(process index) other than financial indicators.
 Achieving a balance among short-term, medium-term and long term management
objectives through a diverse measurement of performance.
 Promoting organizational learning through a repeated cycle of goal setting.

26
  Providing a common strategic communication platform linking the heads and members of
the organization.
 Identify training and development requirements for performance improvements.
The corporate strategies, goals and objectives are cascaded through our organization down to
individual level. For different sections, the airline uses the cascaded BSCs whereas for
individuals, these sectional BSCs are further cascaded to Individual Scorecards (ISCs).
The company states that it uses the BSC system to:
• Align employee‟s performance to strategic goals and values of the Organization.
• Enhance accountability and facilitate communication between the supervisor and the staff.
• Reward staff in line with their performance and productivity of the Airline.
• Promote a culture of learning and growth to meet the strategic goals of the company.
• The overall Balanced Score card process shall be implemented fairly, and objectively.
Though the company has a nice policy to manage its performance, it has not yet started making
use of BSC to reward good performers. The policy has not been properly translated into working
document to enable the airline to link the reward system to the performance management policy.
Because of the above discrepancy, all employees of the airline were granted a 6% salary increase
across the board as a bonus for the 3012/13 budget year that was completed in June 2013.

Conceptual Frame Work

The theoretical framework provides a general representation of relationships between things in a

given phenomenon. The conceptual framework, on the other hand, embodies the specific
direction by which the research will have to be undertaken. Statistically speaking, the conceptual
framework describes the relationship between specific variables identified in the study. It also
outlines the input, process and output of the whole investigation. The conceptual framework is
also called the research paradigm. But, since my research was descriptive I didn‟t used variables
to assess performance management system in DHL Ethiopia. Rather, I used the six dimensions of
performance management evaluation methods explained under Chapter Four with SPSS package
in order to assess the performance of the organization with the mean and standard deviation
metrics.

27
 CHAPTER THREE
RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY
3.1 , Research Design and approach.
The research design of the study is descriptive research. It describes the performance
management practices and assessing the overall DHL performance management system. The
quantitative data was collected through self-administered questionnaires and the total numbers of
employees were 110. Due to the small number of employees; I used the whole permanent
employees for this study.

3.2 , Population and Sampling Techniques

The study was targeted for the total of 110 employees working in different branches including
head office, Airport and service centers. The questionnaires were distributed to each department,
including managers and employees at different levels.

3.3 Methods and Instruments of Data Collection

All selected permanent employees in DHL were respected to fill the questionnaires. The
respondents were then requested for their willingness to fill up the questionnaires. Once their
willingness was obtained, the questionnaires were distributed to each participant. Finally, the
filled questionnaires were collected and respondents at DHL were thanked for their participation
and for their valuable input.

3.4 , Procedure of Data Collection

An important basis for successful research is information in the form of facts. These facts can be
called data and are the ones that allow the researcher to understand the problem under that is
being investigated (Walliman, 2005). In order to conduct a relevant research both primary and
secondary data were gathered. Secondary data was obtained from scientific articles, relevant
DHL websites and Internet sources.

The collections of data were started from DHL Airport branch office and finally concluded in
DHL head office service center located around Megenagna in front of Anbesa Garage. The
researcher was created awareness about the overall purpose of the study to the respondents in
order to avoid misunderstanding and confusions especially to the lower level department
working on delivery and pickup operation departments. And then, Questionnaires were
distributed to the target employees. Data were collected through questionnaires. The content of

28
the questionnaire was divided in to different parts as described on the research question part.
These enables the researcher to get a better understanding of the respondents and relate it to how
they expect and perceive DHL performance management system. Likert Scale ranging from1
(strongly disagree) to 5(strongly agree) was selected to interpret participants' response. A self-
administered questionnaires survey was used in DHL Ethiopia.

3.3 Source of Data

3.3.1 Sources of Data

According to Kothari (2004, p.95) there are two types of data viz., primary and secondary. The
primary data are those which are collected afresh and for the first time, and thus happen to be
original in character. The secondary data, on the other hand, are those which have already been
collected by someone else and which have already been passed through the statistical process.
Therefore, in this research both primary and secondary types of data were used.

Primary Data Sources: To obtain primary data the researcher mainly used all permanent DHL
staff working in Addis Ababa. The decision to use those persons as a source of data is based on
the expectation and perception that they have a better understanding and information about the
performance management.

Secondary data Source: Review of documents, record reviews, organization reports, DHL
corporate mails and organization history. The data obtained from these sources believed to
strengthen the data obtained through questionnaires.

3.4 Method of Data Analysis

The data was analyzed and interpreted mainly by using quantitative approach. The quantitative
approach emphasis on measuring on attributes of things. The collected data were analyzed
through SPSS package using different statistical methods to find out the factors affecting
performance management. This method used statistically which involves in collecting,
summarizing and interpreting data through frequency distribution, mean and percentage.

29
3.5 Validity and reliability

Reliability and validity are the two most important and fundamental features in the evaluation of
any measurement instrument or tool for a good research. Validity in this research concerns on
the six dimensions of performance measurements , and how well it does so. Reliability in my
research concerns the data obtained from the six dimensions by using SPSS package for
measuring mean and standard deviation. The detail was separately assed under Chapter four of
the research paper and as developed on my research question of assessment of performance
management in DHL Ethiopia.

30
Ethical Consideration

Questionnaires were distributed to permanent DHL staff members who were willing to fill-up the
questionnaire. The purpose of distributing the questionnaire was clearly indicated on the
questionnaire. The name of the respondents was also kept confidentially. Also the conclusion
reached and the recommendations given were not biased rather it was aimed to assist DHL
Human manger (generalist) to review performance of their employees the way they enhance their
employees performance to make their company even better competitive.

31
 CHAPTER FOUR
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS
This chapter consists of the presentation, analysis and interpretation of data gathered through
primary data, i.e., self-administered questionnaire distributed to all DHL staffs working in Addis
Ababa. Under this chapter, the frequency and mean score of assessment of performance
management practices has been assessed.

4.1 General Information

In this study 110 questionnaires were distributed to the respondents and only 100 questionnaires
were returned. That means response rate was 90.1 %. The remaining 9.9% of the respondents
failed to return the questionnaires. Respondents have different educational back ground starting
from courier (ground operation) in high school diploma level to Master‟s degree holders in
different managerial levels.

Respondents were asked different questions regarding the dimensions or variables associated
with performance management practices. Their responses were organized in the following
manner. While making interpretation of the results of mean and standard deviation.
The Scales were reassigned as follows to make the interpretation easy and clear (Al-Sayaad,
Rabea, & Samrah, 2006). As cited by (Bassam, 2013).

Table2: Five Scaled Likert Criterion

No. Mean range Response option

1 1.0 to 1.80 Strongly Disagree

2 1.8 to 2.60 Disagree

3 2.6 to 3.40 Neutral

4 3.4 to 4.20 Agree

5 4.2 to 5.00 Strongly agree

Source: Al-Sayaad et al. (2006, as cited by Bassam, 2013).

32
 Organizational strategy

Table3: the mean and standard deviation of organizational dimension of performance

management practices in DHL.
Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

I am fully aware of DHL's mission, vision, strategic

100 2.77 1.033
objective and values.
DHL mission is very clear that makes its business
100 3.13 .981
to be realistic
Mission and strategic goals of DHL allow me to
make great contributions to the company and for 100 2.61 1.014
my personal development.
I believe that, a performance management in DHL
is providing systematic process for improving both 100 2.89 1.063
on organizational and employees performance.
Total mean 100 2.85 0.74
Sources; field survey, 2019.

According to table 1 in the variable organizational strategies there were 4 questions asked for
respondents. Regarding knowing about the organizational mission, vision, strategies and
objectives the mean value is 2.77 with standard deviation 1.03. The clarity of mission had mean
value 3.13 and standard deviation 0.98, mission and strategic goal contribution with personality
development with mean value 2.61 and standard deviation 1.01, and performance management in
improving both organizational and employee performance has a mean value of 2.89 with
standard deviation 1.06. The overall mean was 2.85 with standard deviation 0.74. As the mean
value shows the majority of the respondents were in neutral status, as far as the mean range
criterion table….is concerned. This shows the problem regarding the organizational strategies
understanding with the employees who works there.

33
Performance planning
Table 4: the mean and standard deviation of Performance planning of performance
management practices in DHL.

Descriptive Statistics
N Mean Std. Deviation
My department has clear goal and
100 3.42 1.335
Objective
The developmental plan will be
measured on correct KPI and 100 2.77 1.033
employees behavior
KPI (Key performance indicator) is
developed based on the agreement 100 3.13 .981
between supervisor and Employees.
Performance measurement tools in
100 2.61 1.014
DHL Ethiopia are SMART.
I have clear understanding on the
performance evaluation on my 100 2.89 1.063
company.
I owned necessary skills and
competencies to achieve my individual 100 2.90 .969
goals and objectives.
Total mean 100 2.95 0.58

As shown in table4 - in the variable performance planning there were 6 questions asked for
respondents. Regarding the goal and objective mean was 3.42 and standard deviation of 1.33 has
been registered. The mean value of the developmental plan mean was shows 2.77 and standard
deviation describes 1.03. The mean value of key performance indicator was 3.13 and standard
deviation of 0.98. The mean and standard deviation of performance tool measurement were 2.61
and 1.014 respectively. The mean and standard deviation of performance of clear performance
evaluation were 2.89 and 1.063 respectively. The mean and standard deviation of skills and
competencies to achieve individual goals and objectives were 2.90 and 0.869 respectively.

34
The overall mean was 2.95 with standard deviation of 0.58. As the mean value shows most of the
respondents were in neutral status, as far as the mean range criterion table4 is concerned. This
shows there is a problem regarding Performance Panning understanding with the employees
working in DHL Ethiopia.

Performance Execution

Table5: the mean and standard deviation of organizational dimension of performance

management practices in DHL
Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

My supervisor monitors my performance and gives

100 2.60 1.326
developmental feedbacks regularly.
My Supervisor encourages me in developing my
100 3.40 1.326
performance.
I provide regular updates on progress toward goal
100 3.40 1.326
achievement in terms of results I achieved.
I am responsible employee for performance
100 2.60 1.326
execution (implementation) in DHL Ethiopia
My supervisor provides me the required resources
100 3.14 1.349
and equipment to do my job effectively.
Valid N (listwise) 100

Table 5: the mean and standard deviation of Performance Execution of performance management
practices in DHL. According to table5: in the variable performance execution there were 5
questions asked for respondents. Regarding the developmental feedback given from supervisor‟s
mean was 2.60 and standard deviation of 1.32 was registered. The mean value of the
developmental encouraging was shows 3.40 and standard deviation describes 1.32
The mean value of progress updates towards goal achievement were 3.40 and standard deviation
of 1.3 respectively. The mean and standard deviation of employees‟ responsibility on
performance execution were 2.60 and 1.326 respectively. The mean and standard deviation of
available resource and equipment for employees to their job effectively was 3.14 and 1.34
respectively.

35
The overall mean was 3.028 with standard deviation 1.13. As the mean value shows most of the
respondents were in neutral status, as far as the mean range criterion on table5; is concerned.
This shows the problem regarding the performance execution understanding with the employees
who works there.

Performance Assessment

Table6: the mean and standard deviation of organizational dimension of performance

assessment practices in DHL

Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

My performance is clearly measured based on my

100 2.72 1.036
assignment.
When the performance has below the target, my
supervisor and I discuss on the reason for future 100 2.81 .929
improvement.
The performance evaluation criteria used at DHL is
100 2.91 1.093
fair and true measurement.
DHL performance measurement is modified based
100 2.79 1.008
on the nature and characteristics of my job.
Valid N (listwise) 100

Source filled survey 2019

The mean value of the performance measured based on the assignment was shows 2.72 and
standard deviation describes 1.036 . The mean value of reasons for the future improvement were
2.81 and standard deviation of 0.929. The mean and standard deviation of performance
evaluation criteria were 2.91 and 1.093 respectively. The mean and standard deviation of DHL
performance measurement on nature and characteristics was 2.79 and 1.008 respectively.

The overall mean was 2.8 with standard deviation 3.35. As the mean value shows most of the
respondents were in neutral status, as far as the mean range criterion table6 is concerned. This
shows the problem regarding the performance assessment understanding with the employees
who works there.

36
Performance Review

Table7: the mean and standard deviation of Performance Review of performance

management practices in DHL.

Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

My Supervisor evaluates my performance without

100 2.88 1.008
bias
The rating distribution at DHL makes distinction
100 2.60 1.005
between good and bad performers.
My supervisor keeps regular records on my
100 2.79 .998
Performance
Performance review process in DHL is fair and
100 2.77 1.033
useful for company growth and objectives.
I believe that there is no involvement by senior
management to dictate the performance review at 100 3.13 .981
the end of the year.
I have a clear understanding on the performance
100 2.61 1.014
evaluation on my company.
Valid N (listwise) 100

Source; filled survey

The mean value of evolution performance without bias was shows 2.88 and standard deviation
describes 1.008. The mean value of the distinction between good and bad performance were 2.79
and standard deviation of 1.998. The mean and standard deviation of fair and useful company
growth and objectives were 2.77 and 1.03 respectively. The mean and standard deviation of
senior management involvement to detect the performance review was 3.13 and 1.014
respectively. The mean and standard deviation of understanding performance evaluation on the
company was 2.61and 0.98 respectively.

The overall mean was 2.79 with standard deviation 1.0065. As the mean value shows most of the
respondents were in neutral status, as far as the mean range criterion table7: is concerned. This
shows the problem regarding the performance assessment understanding with the employees
who works there.

37
Performance Renewal and Re-contracting
Table 8: the mean and standard deviation of Performance Renewal and Re-contracting of
performance management practices in DHL.
Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

The performance appraisal form at DHL Ethiopia

has different relative measurement for different 100 2.60 1.326
KPIs (Key Performance Indicators).
Senior management team (SMT) is committed for
the successful implementation of the performance 100 3.14 1.349
management at DHL Ethiopia.
I have sufficient capability to control over the
activities that I am expected to perform in terms of 100 3.24 1.272
my performance contract.
Valid N (listwise) 100

Source; filled survey

The mean value of different measurement of key performance indicators was shows 2.60 and
standard deviation describes 1.326. The mean value of the successful implementation of the
performance management were 3.14 and standard deviation of 1.349. The mean and standard
deviation of controlling activities expected to perform in terms of performance contract were
3.24 and 1.272 respectively.

The overall mean was 2.99 with standard deviation 1.31. As the mean value shows most of the
respondents were in neutral status, as far as the mean range criterion on table 8 shows the
problem regarding the performance renewal and re-contracting with the employees who works
there has been identified and will concluded on the recommendation part.

38
Comparison of the mean of all dimensions
Table 9 the mean and standard deviation of the six dimension of performance management
practices in DHL.

Descriptive Statistics

N Mean Std. Deviation

Performance Execution 100 3.0280 1.29459

Performance Renewal and re- contracting 100 2.9933 1.28967
organizational strategies 100 2.8500 .74281
performance planning 100 2.9533 .58367
performance Assessment 100 2.8075 .79364
Performance Review 100 2.7967 .71992
Valid N (listwise) 100

According to the table… the overall dimension of management practices which are dealt in this
research paper namely performance execution, performance planning, performance assessment,
organizational strategy, and performance review and performance renewal and re contracting.
Also the total mean value of respondent were presented. The highest mean value among the six
dimensions were performance execution with mean value 3.02 and standard deviation 1.29.
Following it Performance Renewal and re- contracting, performance planning, organizational
strategies, performance Assessment and Performance Review with mean value 2.99, 2.95, 2.85,
2.80, 2.79 and standard deviation of 1.28, 0.58, 0.74, 0.79, 0.71 respectively.
All the dimensions mean value falls in the same category which is between 2.6-3.2; hence the
respondents were in neutral status. Therefore, the concerning bodies shall take it into account and
approach contingently to practice performance management.

39
 CHAPTER FIVE
MAJOR FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1 Summary of Major Findings

Performance management system at DHL has been assessed under six major dimensions,
namely “organizational Strategy”, “Performance Planning”, “Performance Execution‟,
„Performance Assessment”, „Performance Review‟, „Performance Renewal & Re-contracting ”
According to the tables, the overall dimensions of management practices which are dealt in this
research paper listed as performance execution, performance planning, performance assessment,
organizational strategy, performance review and performance renewal and re contracting total
mean value of respondent were presented.

The highest mean value among the six dimensions was performance execution with mean value
3.02 and standard deviation 1.29. Following it Performance Renewal and re- contracting,
performance planning, organizational strategies, performance Assessment and Performance
Review with mean value 2.99, 2.95, 2.85, 2.80, 2.79 and standard deviation of 1.28, 0.58, 0.74,
0.79, 0.71 respectively. To describe briefly; Performance renewal and re-contracting with mean
value of 2.99 and standard deviation of 1.28, Performance planning with mean value of 2.95 and
standard deviation of 0.58, Organizational Strategy with mean value of 2.85 and standard
deviation of 0.74, Performance Assessment with mean value of 2.80 and Standard deviation of
0.79, Performance review with mean value 2.79 and Standard deviation of 0.71.
All the dimensions mean value falls in the same category which is between 2.6-3.2; hence the
respondents were in neutral status. Therefore, the concerning bodies shall take it into account and
approach contingently to practice performance management.

40
5.2 Conclusion

The aim of this study was to assess the performance management of DHL. Based on the finding
DHL should improve its performance management to align with its strategic goal and objectives.
Some dimentionsions are highly rated and other dimensions are low rated based on the
employees performance perception gained from the result of the findings. The level of perception
on organizational mission, vision, strategic objectives and values by respondents of different
sections has been assessed. Among the six dimensions, the respondents have a strong opinion on
performance execution and performance renewal and re-contracting on the other hand the lowest
perceived areas are performance assessment as well as Performance Review respectively.

As observed from the findings, performance management system at DHL Ethiopia would work
to improve its performance management system. Therefore, the performance management
system that DHL currently practicing must be revised to align with the company goal mission,
vision as well employee‟s goal and objectives. All six dimensions of performance management
system starting from Organizational Strategy to Renewal and Re-contracting would have to be
carefully re-assessed in order to meet organizational and its employee‟s goal and objective. The
gaps that performance management have clearly assessed based on the research question
developed and the gaps were separately mentioned under chapter four.

In general, as understood from the results, the management performance system of DHL
Ethiopia should work to improve its performance management system.

41
5.3 Recommendations

 Management should work hard in building the confidence of the staff members in the
implementation of the performance management at DHL Ethiopia.
 Individual and team performance objectives would be directly related to each other and to
those of the organization, and in support of overall group performance, particularly in
terms of goals and objectives aligning in individual development and company growth.
 DHL Ethiopia should use the performance appraisal to strengthen the relationship
between the superior and subordinate by implementing motivational scheme, creating
transparency, avoiding bias, and improving employees attitude by developing employee‟s
moral in order to achieve both organizational and individuals goal and objective.
 The organization should focus its attention on setting clear performance expectations
(results, actions and behaviors), as this helps the employee know what needs to be done.
 Providing regular feedback by discussing with employees with developmental feedback
and coaching methods. Good performance management was increasing efficiency and
effectiveness of the organization so that DHL should work on its performance
management to enhance its productivity.
 The incentive package associated should be revisited; especially both performance
assessment and performance review should be re-assessed.
 The performance appraisal system should be revised to reflect the specific requirement of
each position as much as possible.
 The rating system should be revised to make good distinction between good and bad
performers.
 Management should not interfere and dictate the outcome of performance management
process that doesn‟t align with its employee‟s personal goal.
 DHL Ethiopia should develop policy that incorporates the above recommendations as a
result of this study, in order to be benefited from its employees.

42
 References
Internet source:

Deutsche Post DHL official website, DHL employee:

http://www.dpdhl.com/en/responsibility/employees/engaging_in_dialog_with_our_employees.ht
ml, Access date: 2012, 04, 22.
Deutsche Post DHL official website, DHL health management:
http://www.dpdhl.com/en/responsibility/employees/health_management.html, Access date: 2012,
04, 28.
DHL official website:

http://www.dhl.com/en.html, Access date: 2012，04，25.

American National Standard Institute, Inc. Performance Management Standard retrieved

http://www.shrm.org/HRStandards/Documents/Performance%20Management%20AN
S%20%282012%29.pdf Armstrong, M. (1994). Hand book of performance
Management. UK. Kogan Page LTD.
Armstrong,M. (1998). Performance Management. New Jersey: Pearson- Hall. Armstrong,M.
(2000). Perfromance Managment. New Jersey: Pearson Hall.

Armstrong, M. (2009). Performance Management. New Jersey: Pearson Hall.

Armstrongm M. & Murlis, A. (2007). Reward Management. UK. Kogan Page LTD. Aguinis, H.
(2009). Performance Management .New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Bacal. (2004).Manager‟s
Guide to Performance Reviews. New Jersey.MC GrawHill. Babin, Z. & Griffin. (2009).
Business Research Methods, Eighth edition. NY: McGrawHill. Beach, Dale (1985)
Management of People at Work, New York, Macmillan. Brumback.G.B (2003).Blending
“we/me “in Performance Management, Team Performance management: An
International Journal, 9(7).
Dessler, (2005). Human Resource Managmenr. NewJersey: Prentice Hall.
Flippo, Edwin (2007). Management Concept and Practices, New York, Mc. Graw-Hill. George,
J. & Jones, G. (2008). Understanding and Managing Organizational Behavior, New
Jersey: Prentice Hall. Great Seal of the state Oklahoma, Performance Management
Process Handbook; http://www.ok.gov/opm/documents/ handbook.pdf Herman, A.
(2007). Performance Management. New Jersey: Pearson Hall.

Israel, GD. (2009).Sampling the Evidence of Extension Program Impact. Program

Evaluation and Organizational Development, IFAS, University of Florida. PEOD-6
Kaplan, R.. & Norton, D. (2006). Alignment: using the balanced scorecard to create corporate
synergies. Harvard Business School Publishing Corporation United States of America.
Kempton, J. (N.D.). Human Resource Development current Issues and Themes.
43
Kenexa IBM Company Performance Management Best Practices retrieved
http://www.kenexa.com/Portals/0/Downloads/Performance%20Management%20Best
%20Practices_Part%201.pdf Krausert, A. (2009). Performance Management for different
working groups. Newyork: Heidelberg.
Mohrman, A. (1995). Performance management is 'running the business'. SA: Houston TX.
Ontario, Income tax Act. One step, retrieved July 20, 2013 from
http://onestep.ca/resourcesperformancemanagmentguide.pdf
Palialgos, A. & Panyyayotopoulou, L ,(2011).Organizational justice and Employee
satisfaction in Performance Mamagment, Journal of European Industrial training 35 (8)
Phillips, J. (1999). Accountability in Human Resource Management. Houston: Gulf
Publishing.

Mawardi Ibrahimi, ( 2013 )

Silva, D. (2010). Performance Management in Primary Health care services. Evidence from a
field study, Qualitative Research in Accounting & Management 7(4)

Sacher, M. (2004). Success through Team performance. Melbourne, Austrailia.

Wilson, J. P. (2009). Human Resource Development. USA: Kogan Page Limited.

44
 Appendix
St. Mary's University
Faculty of business department of marketing management

Dear Respondents,

Thank you very much for being a volunteer and for taking your time in filling up this
questionnaire. The questionnaire is to be filled by DHL Ethiopian staff members and is
distributed to you to get your highly valued inputs. Performance Management is a formal and
explicit process whereby an organization involves its employees, both as individuals and
members of a team, in improving overall effectiveness and the accomplishment of its strategic
goals. The main purpose of this questionnaire is to assess the performance management practices
at DHL Ethiopia and identify areas that needs improvement. Filling up the questionnaire will
take only few minutes. The questions are designed in a five point likert scale. Please indicate
your opinion by circling on the appropriate number. If you have strong opinion and agree
strongly on the points raised, please circle on number five. If you strongly disagree with the
points raised, please circle on number one. If your opinion is not very strong, please circle on the
middle numbers between two and four that reflect your opinion.

1 Strongly disagree 2 disagree

3 Neutral 4 agree

5 strongly agree

Section A
Biographical Information

Gender

Male ( ) Female ( )

45
Please complete this section by marking the appropriate block with tick mark.

1 In which department are you working in?

1.1 Ground operation

1.2 Gateway

1.3 Sales and marketing

1.4 Finance

1.5 Human Resource

1.6 Management

2 How long have you been working in DHL Ethiopia

3.1 0-2 years

3.2 3-5 years

3.3 6-8 years

3.4 9 and above years

Please indicate the extent to which you agree with each statement by circling the
appropriate choices.

Part 1 Organizational Strategy

NO Description Rating

1 I am fully aware of DHL's mission, vision, strategic objective and 5 4 3 2 1

values.

2 DHL mission is very clear that makes its business to be realistic 5 4 3 2 1

3 Mission and strategic goals of DHL allow me to make great

contributions to the company and for my personal development.

46
 5 4 3 2 1

4 I believe that, a performance management in DHL is providing

systematic process for improving both on organizational and
employees performance. 5 4 3 2 1

PART 2. Performance Planning

NO Description Rating

1 My department has clear goal and Objective 5 4 3 2 1

2 The developmental plan will be measured on correct KPI and 5 4 3 2 1

employees behavior

3 KPI (Key performance indicator) is developed based on the 5 4 3 2 1

mutual agreement between supervisor and Employees.

4 Performance measurement tools in DHL Ethiopia are SMART.

5 4 3 2 1

5 I have clear understanding on the performance evaluation on my

company.
5 4 3 2 1

6 I owned necessary skills and competencies to achieve my

individual goals and objectives.
5 4 3 2 1

Part 3. Performance Execution

NO Description Rating

1 My supervisor monitors my performance and gives 5 4 3 2 1

developmental feedbacks regularly.

2 My Supervisor encourages me in developing my performance. 5 4 3 2 1

47
3 I provide regular updates on progress toward goal achievement in 5 4 3 2 1
terms of results I achieved.
4 I am responsible employee for performance execution
(implementation) in DHL Ethiopia
5 4 3 2 1
5 My supervisor provides me the required resources and equipment
to do my job effectively.
5 4 3 2 1

Part 4. Performance Assessment.

NO Description Rating

1 My performance is clearly measured based on my assignment. 5 4 3 2 1

2 When the performance has below the target, my supervisor and I 5 4 3 2 1

discuss on the reason for future improvement.

3 The performance evaluation criteria used at DHL is fair and true

measurement.
5 4 3 2 1

4 DHL performance measurement is modified based on the nature

and characteristics of my job.
5 4 3 2 1

Part 5. Performance review

NO Description Rating

1 My Supervisor evaluates my performance without bias 5 4 3 2 1

2 The rating distribution at DHL makes distinction between good 5 4 3 2 1

and bad performers.

3 My supervisor keeps regular records on my performance

5 4 3 2 1

4 Performance review process in DHL is fair and useful for

company growth and objectives.
5 4 3 2 1

5 I believe that there is no involvement by senior management to

48
 dictate the performance review at the end of the year. 5 4 3 2 1

6 I have a clear understanding on the performance evaluation on

my company.
5 4 3 2 1

Part 6. Performance Renewal and re-contracting

NO Description Rating

1 The performance appraisal form at DHL Ethiopia has different 5 4 3 2 1

relative measurement for different KPIs (Key Performance
Indicators).

2 Senior management team (SMT) is committed for the successful 5 4 3 2 1

implementation of the performance management at DHL
Ethiopia.

3 I have sufficient capability to control over the activities that I am

expected to perform in terms of my performance contract.
5 4 3 2 1

49
54