St. Jude's Case Study Read the overview below and respond to the questions that follow. The next time you order a pizza from Domino's, check the pizza box for a St. Jude Children's Research Hospital logo. If you're enjoying that pizza during a NASCAR race, look for Michael Waltrip's #99 car, which Domino's and St. Jude jointly sponsor. These collaborations spotlight the mission of the Tennessee-based hospital, which works to save children by finding cures for catastrophic illnesses through research and treatment. St. Jude currently has more than 4,000 active patients, and each day, approximately 200 children visit St. Jude for clinical visits or admission as a patient to one of the hospital's 60 rooms. The managers and employees at St. Jude have worked hard to build America's third largest health care charity, where "no one pays for treatment beyond what is covered by insurance, and those without insurance are never asked to pay." CONCEPT REVIEW: The following case on St. Jude describes a dilemma that the organization faced in regard to performance evaluations in the past. Read the case and use the concepts of job analysis and job performance to interpret St. Jude's actions. The very existence of St. Jude depends on the public's perception that their contributions to the hospital will be used effectively. According to Chief Operations Officer John Nash, approximately 30 donations are needed for each $1,000 the hospital spends.
The leaders of St. Jude believe that the effective use of donations and the reputation of St. Jude depend very much on the performance of each and every employee. However, after experiencing tremendous growth in the 1990s, St. Jude began to suffer several performance problems, many of which were traced to employees' performance evaluations. Managers only used the top two rating categories when evaluating their subordinates' performance, virtually ignoring the bottom three categories. As a result, all employees appeared to be exceeding performance standards, and the rating system could not identify areas in need of improvement or separate high from low performers. Another problem with the performance evaluations at St. Jude was that the rating system did not distinguish between different types of jobs in terms of the task and interpersonal activities that were necessary for success. Although academics, scientists, doctors, medical students, nurses, fund raisers, accountants, and human resources and public relations personnel employed by St. Jude carried out many different types of tasks in many different contexts, the evaluation system was not flexible enough to tailor feedback to each employee. In response to these problems, St. Jude began working with a consulting firm to develop an improved performance management system. The overall goal of the new system was to motivate managers and employees to think about job performance in a way that would promote the life-saving mission of St. Jude.
In developing the revamped system, hundreds of employees across different job levels and functional areas gave input. The system's components now include documentation of performance goals for each employee within specific jobs and a roadmap for how to accomplish these goals. The evaluation system also encourages communication throughout the year between supervisors and subordinates. Whether a performance shortfall issue has to do with core task responsibilities or more general behaviors like cooperativeness and teamwork, employees now have the information and support they need to improve. Although instituting the new system was not easy, the effort was worthwhile. Improved employee performance translates into better usage of donated funds - all of which are necessary to save the lives of the small children who roam the hallways of St. Jude. Questions to consider:
1. Please discuss the key factors you believe may be affecting employee performance at St. Jude's and explain why these factors may be related to performance, using your readings from this week.
2. What types of behaviors could be included in a performance appraisal of a St. Jude's employee? Why? 400 original words....