Developing and Managing Others
Learning how to attract and retain the best people

POST-COURSE ASSIGNMENT

2016 Part A. Morgan Stanley Case 3 My assessment of the new performance evaluation process 3 Did the new system meet expectations and targets? 4 Critical factors that contributed to the successful implementation of the system at Morgan Stanley 5 Part B. My personal development plan 5 Part C. Two people management examples using the SARL form 9 First example 9 Second example 10

Part A. Morgan Stanley Case Morgan Stanley is an American multinational financial services corporation. The corporation, formed by partners Henry S. Morgan, Harold Stanley and others, was founded in 1935. In 1993 the company headed by John Mack turned into a “one-firm firm.”
At the beginning of 1990s, amid its rapid growth the company was facing a problem of choosing future leaders capable of effective management. Throughout its history, Morgan Stanley had formal performance evaluation and career growth systems. Each year the company was recruiting fresh blood from top universities who had “raw intellect and some basic social skill” and who shared the company’s values. The atmosphere within the company contributed to career development and growth. At the same time, the company itself didn’t monitor individual results or career growth of its employees on a regular basis. Performance evaluation was based on “up-or-out” principle. Managers didn’t pay enough attention to training their subordinates because of the increasing number of employees.
My assessment of the new performance evaluation process
In 1993, Morgan Stanley formulated its new mission statement, focusing on clients and their needs. Thus, the company’s personnel became the major tool for achieving success. Once the mission was revised, it was time for strategic changes within the company. In 1993, the company implemented a firmwide 360 performance evaluation system for 2,000 employees globally.
Below are the advantages of the new process. * It was implemented at the right time. The old performance appraisal system was formal, not systematic, and biased; no hard copies of assessment results were kept and no individual feedback was provided to an employee who was being assessed. That’s why the system was not effective. It couldn’t determine which areas of knowledge and skills of an individual employee, a team, and the whole company needed to be improved. It no longer met the company’s new needs and goals. * The new process is a part of the overhaul strategy. Evaluation is performed on a regular basis and it involves a bigger number of participants (a director, colleague, subordinate, and client) who provide feedback and details about each employee and the team in general. * An employee assesses him/herself. * There are four clearly defined evaluation criteria. * Forms that must be filled in are open-ended and have sections with specific questions for each criterion. * All assessment data regarding each employee is consolidated in a separate document. * Feedback is provided to an employee who is being assessed. * More objective, honest, and open results.
On the other hand, the process has several disadvantages. * The new process is long and complex. * It’s characterized by a high probability of errors because clear and consistent summaries are required to assess comments. * Neither appraisers, nor employees being appraised underwent relevant training. * The system is based on digital assessment, which makes it difficult to compare two employees whose results differ by a small margin. * Problems with providing fair assessment. Employees are not always ready to evaluate fairly weaknesses of an employee under assessment. * Feedback was provided once a year when decisions about annual bonuses and promotions had already been made. * Some employees believe that the new system “captures so many soft qualities that don’t really matter.”
Did the new system meet expectations and targets? The goal of the new performance evaluation process was to implement the company’s new strategy based on new values and mission. Hence, it was important to introduce a new structured professional development system and make the evaluation process more independent, transparent, easy to understand, honest, and open. Another goal was to give managers tools to create an atmosphere of trust and have “career-related conversations” with their subordinates. Finally, the company had to ensure individual feedback on assessment results, promote professional development and team work, and explain decisions on promotions and bonuses. It was impossible to combine two absolutely different processes: evaluation system and professional development. Thus, the implemented process focuses on the annual 360 assessment of the personnel. The company reached its goal: it managed to make the assessment a mandatory, regular, and strategically important process in the company. This process can and should be improved further to address problems mentioned above.
Critical factors that contributed to the successful implementation of the system at Morgan Stanley
The fact that Morgan Stanley’s leadership realized that the personnel was an essential value, resource, and a competitive advantage of the company helped to implement the new evaluation process. Adopting new values was crucial for attracting and retaining the best talent in the market. The company was seeking employees who would work not only for money and who would see prospects for professional and career development through new challenges and team work.
It’s not enough just to establish new values. It’s also important to ensure that processes within the company are modified as well. The company’s management was willing to make necessary alterations. What needed to be changed first was the HR function: recruitment, evaluation, and training. Moreover, the corporate culture had to shift to reward team work and employee relations based on merit and respect.
The overhaul of the performance evaluation process required $1.5 million of investments and the long-term effort of the working group. The human resource management department changed its name to the Office of Development, which reflected its new goal of developing personnel. It also became an important center driving new changes and its role within the company increased considerably.
Part B. My personal development plan
Before creating a personal plan for the development of my leadership/management skills, I made self-assessment to determine their levels under a “stop, start, continue” system used at Morgan Stanley. I obtained feedback from my colleague (a full-time MBA student), a school employee, and my former boss. Afterwards I integrated all information in Table 1.
Table 1 № | Question | Comments | 1 | To be more effective manager / leader and for the greatest impact, what should I stop doing? | - believing that I can do the work on my own and better than others;- looking for solutions for other people, trying to solve their tasks;- losing self-confidence; and- understating my achievements; | 2 | To be more effective manager / leader and for the greatest impact, what should I continue doing? | - improving goal-setting for the team and each individual member;- developing my communication skills;- investing time in training of employees;- taking responsibility for my actions and actions of my team; and- working with a “Do like I do” motto; | 3 | To be more effective manager / leader and for the greatest impact, what should I start doing? | - motivating the team to focus on common goals;- focusing on current tasks rather than distant plans;- regularly monitoring task performance;- giving positive, as well as negative feedback;- asking the team questions; and- using innovations; |

As a result, my strengths in the supervisory area include: 1) communication skills, 2) development of my subordinates, 3) goal-setting for my subordinates, 4) sharing responsibility for my actions and actions of my team, 5) working on a par with other team members.
At the same time, I need to develop the following areas in order to improve my leadership and management skills: 1) motivating the team to achieve goals and perform tasks, 2) prioritizing current tasks, 3) systemizing the process of monitoring the team’s performance, 4) giving positive, as well as negative feedback, and 5) regularly collecting feedback from the team by asking questions.
I think that the development of the following three skills is crucial: 1) regular monitoring of the team work, 2) open feedback for all team members, without avoiding negative comments, 3) Picture 1 Source: http://lifehacker.ru/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/

Picture 1 Source: http://lifehacker.ru/wp-content/uploads/2014/08/

receiving regular feedback from the team.

I designed a development plan for each area, using framework (education, relationship, and experience) shown in Table 2.
Table 2 № | Area of development | Development plan | | | Experience 70% | Relationship 20% | Education 10% | 1 | Regular monitoring of the team work | 7) Ask participants to try my method during group work at school. 8) Later ask for their feedback on what worked, what didn’t, and what had to be improved.9) Make changes if necessary.10) Use the method in private life to monitor performance of my own goals and tasks to avoid procrastination.11) Apply it at the workplace. | 3) Choose two mentors who, in my opinion, are successful leaders. 4) Find out which techniques they use to control work. 5) Systematize obtained knowledge from books, courses, and mentors. 6) Ask mentors to give feedback on my technique. Make changes if necessary. | 1) Read books:
«Project Management: Proven Project Management Methods to Complete Projects with Time & Money to Spare» by ClydeBank Business,“HBR Guide to Project Management” by Harvard Business Review 2) Sign up for Project Management course on Coursera.com | 2 | Open feedback for all team members, without avoiding negative comments | 6) Practice giving feedback at school during group work and classes. 7) Ask classmates for feedback on what worked and what didn’t. 8) Make changes if necessary.9) Continue using it in private life to avoid misunderstanding. 10) Apply it at the workplace. | 2) Ask two people who know how to give constructive feedback to share their experience and techniques that they use.3) Come up with my own tactic based on books that I read and recommendations that I received.4) Ask my mentor to give feedback on my tactic. 5) Make changes if necessary. | 1) Read books:
«Unlocking Potential: 7 Coaching Skills That Transform Individuals, Teams, and Organizations» by Michael K. Simpson,«Giving Effective Feedback” by Harvard Business Review | 3 | Receiving regular feedback from the team | 7) Start using the technique during group work at school. 8) Ask participants to give feedback on what worked and what didn’t. 9) Continue using it at school. 10) Start using it in private life, collecting feedback from family and friends. 11) Apply it at the workplace. | 2) Analyze how my bosses collected feedback. 3) Ask my colleagues and classmates about their experience and what, in their opinion, works and what doesn’t. 4) Come up with my own technique based on the information I obtained. 5) Ask two colleagues to read it and assess it. 6) Make changes if necessary. | 1) Read books:
«Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire» by Simon Sanek,
«Good Leaders Ask Great Questions» by John C. Maxwell |
Part C. Two people management examples using the SARL form
I will give examples from my previous work experience to illustrate the use of the SARL form.
First example
Situation
At my last job, I was responsible for managing work of the team of merchandisers. The department was formed at my initiative because having analyzed functional duties and man-hours, I found out that store’s sale force didn’t have time to look after the display of goods. As a result, not all goods were displayed in the selling area or there was confusion in the selling area, which meant that the company was losing potential clients and sales were hurt. The merchandising team consisted of 15 employees headed by a supervisor. Each team member was responsible for specific stores that he or she had to visit on a daily basis. There was a description of their functional duties and planograms. The work of merchandisers was controlled by a supervisor. After three months of work, I didn’t see any considerable changes in store operations: sales and % of customers attended. Hence, I had to realize what was happening and take corresponding measures. I made the following plan: 1) visit stores and assess work of merchandisers; 2) make conclusions based on observations; 3) appoint a meeting with a supervisor to discuss the situation, my assessment results and further steps to rectify that situation; 4) implement a plan of changes; and 5) measure results.
Action
1) I visited all stores of the chain during the week. I identified work problems that had to be eliminated as soon as possible. 2) I met with the head of the merchandising team. 3) I proposed a plan of changes. 4) I took the responsibility for implementing and monitoring the plan. 5) After one month, I measured the results. 6) I made changes to the plan and chose a new head of the merchandising team based on the attestation results.
Results
1) At the meeting, the head of the merchandising department didn’t agree with my assessment of his and his team’s work. 2) He decided to leave the company. 3) Four merchandisers left the company as well. 4) I headed the merchandising department. 5) I improved and implemented the plan of changes.
Learning
1) Determine measurable criteria to assess the work of a department before creating it. 2) Performance assessment criteria should be provided to employees and the department’s director on the first day of work. 3) Discuss these criteria together with the supervisor on a regular basis. We could have implemented changes two months earlier. 4) Collect feedback from merchandisers on a regular basis. Many problems could have been identified earlier. 5) Discuss with the supervisor his/her work plan on a regular basis and make changes if necessary.
Second example
Situation
A few years ago, I was tasked with organizing a department for personnel training and development which the company hadn’t had before I joined it. I chose a director of the department and participated in hiring key employees. Together with the new director, we set goals for the department and designed a performance plan for the first year. As part of the plan, trainings for field personnel had to be developed. The goal and structure of each training program was agreed on and approved by the director of the training department and the trainer. Then trainers had to prepare presentations, handouts, and other materials. As soon as training programs were ready, I asked all trainers to conduct their trainings at the HR department to test the programs and allow participants to provide feedback on what worked and what didn’t work. Trainings were scheduled for the weekend in order not to interfere with the work of employees during the week. I noticed that all presentations and handouts were created without using corporate standards and the company’s logo. My task was to draw attention to the quality of presentations and rectify this in the shortest time possible. I had the following plan: 1) provide feedback on the quality of presentations and handouts to the director of the training and development department; 2) set deadline for making changes; and 3) check the final versions.

Action 1) I shared my concerns about the quality of presentations with the director of the training and development department. 2) I set the deadline for making changes (1 week). 3) The department’s director communicated my feedback to his subordinates. 4) One week after, I received presentations by e-mail; they were in line with corporate standards, but they still had to be improved (the quality of graphics, fonts, etc.).
Results
1) The problem with the presentation format was not solved and the time was lost.
Learning
1) Provide corporate template and instructions on making presentations in advance. 2) As I was assessing training programs, I had to give feedback to each trainer about the training in general and the quality of materials, i.e., hold short sessions with the trainer and the director and acknowledge each individual result. 3) Ask the department’s director to collect all presentation materials and show them to me. 4) Agree with the design department to improve presentations and handouts. This would have saved time and trainers wouldn’t have spent time on work that had to be redone.

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[ 1 ]. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_Stanley
[ 2 ]. Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Katherine Lawrence. Morgan Stanley: Becoming a "One-Firm Firm". Harvard Business School Case 400-043, December 1999. (Revised May 2000.), p.5
[ 3 ]. Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Katherine Lawrence. Morgan Stanley: Becoming a "One-Firm Firm". Harvard Business School Case 400-043, December 1999. (Revised May 2000.), p.6
[ 4 ]. Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Charles A. O'Reilly III. Morgan Stanley:
The Firmwide 360-degree Performance Evaluation Process at Morgan Stanley TN. Harvard Business School Teaching Note 400-078, June 2000, p. 1
[ 5 ]. Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Charles A. O'Reilly III. Morgan Stanley:
The Firmwide 360-degree Performance Evaluation Process at Morgan Stanley TN. Harvard Business School Teaching Note 400-078, June 2000, p. 4
[ 6 ]. Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Katherine Lawrence. Morgan Stanley: Becoming a "One-Firm Firm". Harvard Business School Case 400-043, December 1999. (Revised May 2000.), p. 12
[ 7 ]. Burton, M. Diane, Thomas J. DeLong, and Charles A. O'Reilly III. Morgan Stanley:
The Firmwide 360-degree Performance Evaluation Process at Morgan Stanley TN. Harvard Business School Teaching Note 400-078, June 2000, p. 14