Merging design thinking and performance appraisals
In today’s working environment the structure of work and the expectations of employees are shifting. Can design thinking be the mindset and set of tools to transform workplaces into ones that support these changes?
Globalization and digitization have and will continue to change the working environment. The need to enable a healthy work-life balance and support holistic well-being of employees is pivotal. It is important to ensure the presence of a workforce that can sustain the fast-paced and uncertain working environment, as human resources are an organization’s most valuable asset.
The thesis researched how to create a way to implement design thinking into a performance appraisal process, a typical human resource and leadership function used to benefit both an employer and employee. The outcome of the exploratory study was a tested and further developed design thinking -based performance appraisal structure. An important objective of the study was to discover what kind of an overall impact the design thinking -based performance appraisal process would have on an employee and their perceived sense of job fulfillment and intrinsic motivation.
Merging design thinking and performance appraisals
Co-design was used during the ideate-phase of the design process. A small group of subject matter experts in the fields of service design, life design, and human resources participated in a co-design workshop. The main outcome was the idea of a performance appraisal structure that is broken down into two main portions. These portions were a life design group workshop for employees to participate in together with their peers and an individual performance appraisal discussion held between an employee and their supervisor.
Although the traditional performance appraisal structure was largely disrupted during this study, it was still important to maintain its core principles and objectives. As Kaihua strived to implement the methods and principles of design thinking into as much of the entire performance appraisal structure as possible, the flow of the traditional discussion portion was constructed according to the Design Council’s double diamond -model. This means that the performance discussion held by the supervisor for the employee progressed in a divergent & convergent way, moving from thinking about the big picture to narrowing down on the specifics.
The study demonstrates that performance appraisals and design thinking can be merged and done so in an employee-centered way that highlights the best of both fields. The tested prototype and further developed iteration plan of the design thinking -based performance appraisal can be viewed in full in Kaihua’s thesis by clicking on the following link: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022060515407
Discovering the impact of design thinking -based performance appraisals
As mentioned, an aim of the study was to discover, what kind of an immediate impact participating in a design thinking -based would have on employees. Compared to how the employees evaluated their attitude toward performance appraisals and their perceived sense of intrinsic motivation and job fulfillment before participating in the study, the impact on all areas was positive after undergoing the experience. Nearly all employees that data could be collected from expressed that the experience had a positive impact on them, and the remaining small portion expressed no impact.
The employees stated that the design thinking -based performance appraisal experience helped them gain clarity for their future and personal goals and enabled them to take more concrete steps toward their goals and dreams. Also, it gave them new tools to use in the future, gave them new perspectives and a sense of motivation and inspiration, and more.
Summary
To ensure the workforce in today’s fast-paced working environment feel holistically well and motivated, organizations can turn to design thinking to transform their human resource management. The study showed that design thinking as a mindset and set of tools can be used to transform an individual function within an organization to better support the well-being of their employees. The study also revealed promising results as to the impact a design thinking -based has on an employee and their perceived sense of motivation and meaningfulness.
The study provides a starting point as to how design thinking can be merged into existing human resource management and leadership practices. The outcome of the study can be replicated in any organization that has the willingness to try it out and study the impact it has on their employees.
Turku University of Applied Sciences Master School student in Service Design Elina Kaihua has researched in her Master’s Thesis how performance appraisals can be further developed. She used different service design methods and tools in order to find new and innovative ideas. Elina Kaihua’s Master’s Thesis points out the importance and benefit of service design when developing the activities in human resources like for example performance appraisals.
Link to the thesis: https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2022060515407
Sources:
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Deloitte Insights. (2020). 2020 Deloitte Global Human Capital Trends. Accessed November 20, 2020. Deloitte: https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/insights/us/articles/us43244_human-capital-trends-2020/us43244_human-capital-trends-2020/di_hc-trends-2020.pdf
Doorley, S., Holcomb, S., Klebahn, P., Segovia, K., & Utley, J. (2018). Design Thinking Bootleg. Accessed February 5, 2021. D.school: https://dschool.stanford.edu/resources/design-thinking-bootleg
Kaihua, E. 2022. Disrupting performance appraisals.