Performance Management Report: Approaches in AmBank Contact Center

This report provides an in-depth analysis of performance management within AmBank Contact Center in Malaysia. It begins by defining performance management and its importance, followed by an examination of various evaluation approaches, including behavioral, result, trait, and quality approaches. The report compares and contrasts these methods, highlighting their strengths and weaknesses. It then introduces AmBank and explores the potential implementation of a 360-degree feedback system. The report details the need for such a system, its application within AmBank, and discusses the challenges and benefits associated with its adoption. Finally, the report suggests how 360-degree feedback could improve employee performance within the organization.

Performance Management

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
TASK 1............................................................................................................................................4
a) Explaining different approaches to evaluate performance.................................................4
TASK 2............................................................................................................................................7
a) Introduction of AmBank and 360 degree feedback system...............................................7
TASK 3..........................................................................................................................................12
a) Need and Implementation of 360 degree feedback in an organization............................12
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................15
REFERENCES..............................................................................................................................17
APPENDIX....................................................................................................................................19
BIBLIOGRAPHY .........................................................................................................................20

INTRODUCTION
Performance of every employees play an important role in organization. There is required
to measure performance of staff members in order to improve their working efficiency.
Evaluation of performance is done in order to identify whether the work is actually done by all
employees or not. Performance management is a simple process by which managers and
employees working together to plan, evaluate and review the working of employees and whether
they give overall contribution to a firm or not. it is a regular process that help to set up
objectives, monitoring the overall performance and provide feedback in order to know whether
employees are meeting the need of company's objectives and goals. The present report focus on
performance management in AmBank Contact Center in Malaysia (Cooper, Ezzamel and
Robson, 2017). The bank mainly handles customers queries, their complaints and give them
solutions regarding their problems. The bank has 200 agents, 2 managers and 1 head of
department and more than 10,000 employees. At present scenario bank is not using 360 degree
feedback system. The report mainly discusses the major approaches of measuring performance
such as traits, result and behavior. It also compares different approaches of performance
management. The report describes the application of 360 degree feedback system in AmBank
Contact Center and the use of traditional performance management system. It also shows
effectiveness, issue and challenges of 360 degree feedback system in a company. The project
report also shows the implementation of 360 degree feedback in AmBank that could help to
improve employee’s performance. As the bank follow hierarchical system and the
organizational chart is as follows:

TASK 1
a) Explaining different approaches to evaluate performance
There are various approaches used by different companies to evaluate performance of
employees and some of them are mention below:
Behavior Approach: it is the best system that should be chooses by AmBank when there
is lot of uncertainty in market. This approach helps to get the right level of performance from the
employees which are based on their desirable behaviors. Behavior approach includes various
techniques that shape up the right behavior of employees for an effective performance in the
working area (Mone and London, 2018). This approach requires managers or leaders to behave
positive with their employees and emphasizing on building long term relationship with their
employees. By using this model into work place, leaders can easily identify who makes
behavioral cut and who does not. This approach is beneficial in close monitoring and giving
right direction to staff members so that they can improve their working efficiency. Under this
approach, performance evaluation is done by management and more attention is paid to product
Illustration 1: Org Chart

knowledge and strategies that management is used to get the behavior approach into work area.
Result Approach: this approach is mainly focus on removing individuality by
evaluating objectives which are based on employees performance result. This approach needs
little monitoring as well as less direction as compared to other approaches. Entity provides
compensation to all employees on the bases of revenues generated by them. This approach is
generally acceptable by organizations because there is no biases (unfair). This method focuses
on short term outcome and avoid long term benefits. This approach is carried out at th time when
employees have skills to complete given task which can be identified and corrected their
inaccurate behavior (Kroll and Moynihan, 2018). There is a clear link between employee’s
behavior and the outcomes which proves that result approach is more appropriate to use. This
approach helps employees to improve their skills and develop expertise in order to achieve
defined as well as desired outcomes.
Quality Approach: this is the third and important performance management system
which mostly focus on improving customer satisfaction by reducing errors. This system is
mostly used by management in order to improve the process of business. This approach is mostly
uses multiple sources to evaluate the performance of every employees. This system help to
assess both employee as well as system and external as well as internal factors are involved
while introducing this system into a work area (Approaches of performance appraisal
management system, 2018).
Trait Approach: it is a third and most important approach that is used to measure their
characteristics at the time of review cycle. Traits are normally unchanging characteristics of an
employee such as personality and intelligence (Peljhan and Marc, 2018). Sometimes this
approach is problematic because these are stable or unchangeable and even this are not in control
of an employee's. Most of the employees feel unsatisfied with this approach because it is not as
fair as other are. This method or approach is inexpensive to develop and it is too easy to use or
implement but trait approach is unable to take feedback from other staff members and even it
can not be used for making decisions related to reward and promotion. It is too difficult for
managers to justify giving employees lower score because they are introverted and this does not
means that capability of every employees is equal to their performance.
Comparison between Behavioral and Result Approaches

There is a clear cut link between behavioral and result approaches. The result approach is
mainly focus on the end result of employee’s action, it is more appropriate and objective then
behavioral approach. Result based appraisal is defined by less monitoring while behavioral
approach is characterized by close monitoring. These both methods are used to improve the
performance level of every individual who work in a company but they both have their own
importance. Evaluation of result approach is done with objective measures while in behavioral
approach it can be done with subjective measures in order to achieve results. The biggest
advantage of using result approach is that it measures easily and accepted by all members
including managers and employees while in behavioral performance management it takes large
amount of control for managers or leaders and even they consider external factors too for
evaluating employee's performance (Richards and et.al., 2017).
According to Warner,2018 result based management system is mostly used by small
firms, where there is direct link between employees effort and their performance and when jobs
are complex and there is no way to achieve result it is the best method to used for the situation.
On the other side, behavioral approach is best to choose for large scale business when there is a
fluctuation in market and it is difficult to identify the outcomes of an organization, even
managers have an idea that which employee led an effective performance.
Comparison between Behavioral and Trait Approaches
Behavioral and trait approaches are two different methods which help to evaluate the
employee's performance. DeNisi and Murphy, 2017 study declares that Behavioral simply means
that the action of employees where as trait means their characteristics. Behavioral approach looks
the specific actions which is directly related to job where as in trait approach the managers will
look at the degree to which employees show a desired trait. Trait appraisal is simple to use but
they are highly subjective whereas behavioral appraisal is more objective, fair and accurate. In a
company, trait approach is mainly used to reward employees who perform well and contribute
well in improving overall performance of business unit. But it is completely opposite in the case
of behavioral approach because it is mainly used to assess the performance level on quantitative
task (Cooper, Ezzamel and Robson, 2017). Trait approach is difficult to apply because it
difficulties not possible to counsel the employee for improved performance and it is also less
useful in determining which employees to reward or promote whereas, in behavioral approach it
is more useful to give counsel and also helpful to give rewards and promotions too. Behavioral

appraisal can be time consuming and expensive but trait appraisal is too simple to use as well as
not expensive. Both these approaches are used to assess an employee's performance in a
company but trait approach is not mostly used by the company as compared to behavioral
approach.
Comparison between Result and Trait Approaches
Result and trait appraisal are two different approaches of performance management
system as these both are used to improve or check the performance of every employees. But they
are completely differ from each other. Result appraisal are based on the end of employee action
whereas trait approach is directly link to their personality and their characteristics. Trait appraisal
is consider unfair mean of system but result based management system is quite fair as compared
to other approaches. Result approach is acceptable by all the employee but trait approach is not
because it is less fair from other. Result approach is most likely by the management team
because it help to determine the actual result at the end and help to improve their skills in order
to achieve all the desired results of a company. But on the other side trait performance
management system is completely different because there is no change in their characteristics
such as personality and intelligence (McDermott and et.al., 2017). Result approaches are more
objective as compared to trait approach. Result approach is ideal when employees of a company
have basic skills to complete the assigned task but on the other side, in trait appraisal,
characteristics of employees remains unchanged or stable and they are not in control of the
employees. It is difficult for a manager to justify the performance of employees by using only
trait approach because they are reserves in nature whereas result based management system is
quite helpful to give reward and for promotion too.
TASK 2
a) Introduction of AmBank and 360 degree feedback system
AmBank Contact Center started in 1997 in Malaysia, it operates its business in retail
banking, wholesale banking industry. Company also offers life insurance to its valuable
consumers. Currently, there are more than 10,000 employees working in the organization those
who are always ready to provide amazing services to their customers. They mainly handling
customer inquiries, complaints and give them proper solutions of their problems. The bank give
complete authorize to design performance management due to operations need. At present

scenario, AmBank is supported by a network of around 200 branches and more than 750 ATM
machines in Malaysia (Ahmed and et.al., 2016). The bank uses traditional performance
management system in order to check the performance of their employees but the bank should
use 360 degree feedback system.
360 degree feedback system is also known as full circle feedback or peer review. In this ,
employees provide feedback from all side and this system is mostly used by managers or leaders
in order to evaluate performance of each staff members in entity in better way. 360 degree
feedback system automatically converts the report into result and present that in a format that
help a feedback recipient. It is a system which helps to take review of bank employee from the
people working most closely to them i.e. managers or supervisors (360 Degree Feedback
Appraisal, 2018). It is a system which takes feedback from all angles and it is completely
different from traditional performance review. 360 Degree feedback system not only focuses on
performance but it also tells about employee's behavior. It is a ways that aids in making effective
connection with workers and building strong relationship with them.
Currently, AmBank is not using 360 degree feedback system, it applies traditional
performance management system with continuous appraisal which is not good for bank because
it always avoid cost overheads, it is unable to provide proper feedback regarding employee's
behavior and their working pattern in business unit. 360 degree feedback takes review from top
to bottom of the employees i.e. from directors to agents including employees. This system
Illustration 2: 360 degree
feedback system
Source: 360 degree feedback
system, 2018

provide a complete picture of employee's performance as by implementing this system into work
area. It helps to increase self awareness among employees,. This is beneficial in order to identify
necessary changes that can support in improving capabilities of workers.. 360 degree feedback
system plays an important role in employee's personal as well as professional growth. It is the
only way that gives a direct report from the seniors to their juniors (Buckingham and Goodall,
2015). There are various applications of using 360 degree feedback system in AmBank and some
of them are mention below:
 To determine employee's personal attitude and their behavior.
 To developing leadership quality.
 To identify the best performer in work place.
 For team building and development.
 For career development.
 To identify the performance level of every individual in an organization.
 Training workshop such as pre and post assessment.
360 degree feedback is done in every 12 months because it can gives AmBank employees
sufficient opportunities to implement their development plans before the next 360 feedback. By
using this feedback system, an employees receive confidential feedback from those people who
work nearby them and these peoples includes manager, colleagues, their subordinates or may be
customers. The main use of 360 degree feedback system is that it is a developmental tool that
takes 360 review and used to help their team members in order to grow their career. As this
system is not used as a performance rating instrument and not even for deciding promotions of
any individual in a company. So, there is a need to implement this system into AmBank in order
to enhance the performance level of all employees as well as managers and leaders.

There are many advantages of using 360 degree feedback system in AmBank some of
them are mention below:
 Improve Working relationships: 360 degree feedback system helps to improve
relationship between employees and managers or with their subordinates. As this system,
is not used to evaluate performance only but also help to know personal attitude of their
employees. By introducing this system help to improve personal as well as professional
relations (Benefits of 360 degree feedback system, 2018).
 Encourages personal development: 360 degree feedback system helps to provide
personal development and the employers who provide more personal development
opportunities will gain talent more than employees. While implementing this, a proper
and honest feedback is required.
 Increases self- awareness: this system helps employees and whole staff to become more
aware. It means that understanding own personality, which includes strength, weakness,
motivations and emotions.
 Enhance performance: by introducing 360 degree feedback system helps to improve
level of performance in every individuals. It is the most important developmental tool
that help to improve relationship, increases accountability and provide clarity regarding
improving the performance level (Budworth and Chummar, 2018).
Illustration 3: 360 degree feedback
Source: 360 degree feedback, 2018

 Help to build confidence and boost up morale: this system helps to increase
confidence level of all employees and when they get positive feedback, employers
become confident that their skills are grown up. Even staff feels better and they become
positive towards the brand.
 Increases Accountability: it is the most important advantages of using 360 degree in a
work area that it helps to increases accountability. It is the most important at work and it
help to clarify the behaviors which help to make good judgment.
 Help to change company's culture: introducing 360 degree feedback system in a
company help to change the culture. This sort of change is come from inside and leaders
must grow their employees before seeing any cultural change in an organization.
There are so many problems which AmBank faces at the time of implementing 360
degree feedback system and some of them are as follows:
Exceptional expectations: this system is not exactly same as other performance system.
The people of company expects too much from this system to obtain support from organizations.
It creates failing of implementation of this system process into a work area (Cormack and et.al.,
2018).
People comments personally rather than constructive: it is the biggest problem which is
faced by the owner of company that many peers may comment personally which creates a bad
experience of 360 degree system and as a result, it turns people off on the forward going process.
It is the negative aspect of using this process in a work place.
Lack of confidentiality: this system process faces another problem that is lack of
confidentiality. People are worried at initial level that how the data will be used and whether it
will remain secure or not (Gorman and et.al., 2017).
Forget the strength and only focus on individual weaknesses: many companies totally
forget about strength that is covered in 360 degree feedback system. Upper authorities’ attitude
seems that they only focus on weakness and want to remove that. But actual reality is they
completely forget about employee's strength and only focus on weakness which create negative
environment in the job place.
Process of design fails: As this management system follow effective change and
guidelines of management. A design of 360 degree system is quite difficult so many companies
fall to learn the process of design and did not implement those into a work area.

Insufficient information: when the process is going to implement, there is no one to ask
for the clarification about those unclear statements which are given by peers and it gives
insufficient information thus, mangers cannot make sound decision about performance of
individual in workplace (Chopra, 2017). Thus, there is a need to hire supervisor and interested
managers who understand their feedback and even train people in order to develop action plan.
Poor leadership: if the owner or managers of a company did not pay proper attention
towards a system then it will not prove any helpful source and there is no change in a behavior of
their employees. Proper training should be provided in order to improve the level of performance
of every employee's (Problems related to 360 degree feedback system, 2018).
Not really an honest assessment: by implementation of 360 degree feedback system into
work area, it does not mean that it gives proper assessment regarding other employees. Even
other peers might be scares to hurt another person's feeling if they rank them in below or average
way. It shows that this method is not realistic and reliable (Brown, Inceoglu and Lin, 2017).
Takes too much time to implement: It takes too much time to show a result, because a
person needs to be told all the good as well as their bad points and the way to improve those. So
it takes too much time to provide proper feedback and as a result company did not use 360
degree feedback system as it can be time consuming and needs to cover all the topics.
TASK 3
a) Need and Implementation of 360 degree feedback in an organization
As, AmBank is a Malaysian bank who have currently more than 10,000 employees but it
uses traditional performance management system for appraisal of their employees performance.
But this system it not fruitful because it does not help to appraise overall performance of the
employees. So, there is a need to introduce new system in the bank i.e. 360 degree feedback
system. It is a best method which help to give a complete picture of all the employees. The
system is helpful and gives more focus on learning and development activities that help to
increase every individual ownership for their own development (Latham, 2015). Apart form this,
360 degree feedback system help every individual to give an opportunity to provide honest
feedback of their peers otherwise they can be uncomfortable to give face to face. Feedback is an
essential aspects in bank because it help to improve the level of performance of every individual