Performance Appraisal at Telespazio; Telespazio is a space services company operating globally with headquarters based in Rome, Italy. Telespazio was founded in 1961 by Italcable and the RAI. The company is established under the National Research Council (NRC) and Posts and Communications Ministry in Italy (Profili et al., 2018). Telespazio initially ventured into providing telecommunication services utilizing artificial satellites. Few years later, the company partnered with NASA. Telespazio broke record of its achievements after broadcasting live television regarding the moon landing on July 20, 1969. At 50 years since Telespazio was founded, it is used by new companies in the space industry as a point of reference (Profili et al., 2018). The company has since expanded its scope of operations from space systems to earth observation services, satellite navigation, satellite control, management of launch services, and integrated communication services (Profili et al., 2018). However, it is essential to note that the growth of Telespazio through mergers and acquisitions necessitated changes in the company’s governance structures. Telespazio was in 2010 ranked as one of the leading companies globally in integrated connectivity, satellite navigation, earth observation services, and provision of value-added services (Profili et al., 2018). Telespazio has more than 2,500 employees working in its 25 sites globally (Profili et al., 2018). This paper aims to discuss the appraisal of employees within the Telespazio. More

Discuss the current evaluation methods

This article proposes that organizational objectives should be set and assessed based on measurable factors, including facts, figures, quality, and deadlines (Profili et al., 2018). An adequate system ensures that goals are reached in the right way. This is because the objectives achieved through unethical means are considered dangerous to an organization than unmet goals. The evaluation methods for managers used at Telespazio include one target not met, two targets achieved, and three targets exceeded (Profili et al., 2018). The evaluation methods used for employees include one, skills and competencies that need to be improved, two outstanding skills and competencies, and three the performance is standard, (Profili et al., 2018).

How the organization uses the appraisal assessments to identify employee roles?

The skills and competencies relating to a specific role in Telespazio are integrated in the Competency Management System (CMS). This makes it easy for the organization to communicate its expectations for each role performed by the employees. In other words, Telespazio uses a feature of the appraisal assessment to identify the skills and competencies of employees before assigning them different roles (Profili et al., 2018). The CMS enables the business organization to analyze aspects such as experience, technical and professional skills, and employees’ flexibility before assigning them tasks. Performance Appraisal at Telespazio;

The current appraisal system

The performance appraisal technique used at Telespazio currently is the T-PAD. The T-PAD stands for Telespazio Performance Appraisal for Development program. The T-PAD was revised from PAT, an appraisal method designed in 2005 (Profili et al., 2018). The primary purpose of creating the PAT program was to ensures that the employees’ efforts are consistent with organization goals. The program aims to ensure that Telespazio as a company achieves positive results and promotes workforce professionalism. The T-PAD program currently used encourages values such as transparency and sharing (Profili et al., 2018). The main focus of the current appraisal system is employees’ roles and competencies. Interestingly, the program is paperless.

Performance ratings

The new method for rating competencies at Telespazio is the use of performance appraisal. Managers in Telespazio should select less than 15 percent of the employees working in a unit with outstanding performance. The employees chosen for assessment must meet the minimum score identified as 7, 8, or10 (Profili et al., 2018). None of the staff selected for study had an outstanding performance when the four evaluators method was first launched. Performance Appraisal at Telespazio;

Telespazio’s practices for performing appraisal interviews

Through the T-PAD program, Telespazio has been able to perform appraisal interviews. The program supports structured interviews between managers and new employees aimed to get to know each other in depth (Profili et al., 2018). The SAP forms are also used by managers to reconstruct the personal history of each employee easily.

Although the T-PAD is a sound performance appraisal system, a few changes can make it more effective. One of the changes is ensuring that the system developers obtain continuous feedback about it. This would ensure that the system is continuously improved. The second change is to include a self-evaluation mechanism. The third and last change is to ensure that the performance appraisal method fully covers the compensation and reward element.

One of the appraisal tools that would benefit Telespazio is the random controlled trial. Using a random controlled trial tool in performance appraisal has benefits such as eliminating bias and masking treatment’s identity from investigators (Santos & Santos, 2020). The most effective method that Telespazio can use to conduct appraisal interviews is the behaviorally anchored rating scale (BARS). This is because the managers can rate employees’ performance based on the behaviors they exhibit (Martin-Raugh et al., 2016). Using BARS has benefits such as improving organizational performance and enhances reliability as it is an accurate method of employee appraisal (Martin-Raugh et al., 2016). Performance Appraisal at Telespazio;