Purpose: A case study to complete a through, thoughtful, and objective analysis of the company’s performance appraisal system; identify strengths and areas that may need improvement; and make recommendations based on the present conclusions and some recommended readings in this area.

1. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 1
Performance Appraisal System at Infojobs S.A.
PA practices in a Spanish corporation. Infojobs case in practice.
Hristo B. Kolev1
AUBG2, EMBA3 program
1
Corresponding Author – contact: hbk127@aubg.bg
2
American University in Bulgaria
3
Executive Master of Business Administration

2. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 2
Abstract
Purpose:
A case study to complete a through, thoughtful, and objective analysis of the
company’s performance appraisal system; identify strengths and areas that may need
improvement; and make recommendations based on the present conclusions and some
recommended readings in this area.
Methodology/approach:
The paper is based on a personal interviews (with Joan Pau Fisas, Manager of People
Development Department4 at Infojobs, and Irene Molins, employee in Infojobs), the
International Journal of Human and Social Science’s article “Performance Appraisal
System using Multifactorial Evaluation Model” by Yee, C. C. and Chen, Y. Y.; and
the California State University Business School work study “Designing Effective
Performance Appraisal Systems” by Boice, D.F. and Kleiner, B. H.
Findings:
The paper finds that Infojobs has a well-established and good working formal
Performance Apprisal System5. Both managers and employees are satisfied and
support the actual technique to evaluate their performance, they believe that PAS
helps them to:
• create a motivated and committed work-place environment
• and to translate organizational goals and objectives into personalized
employee specific objectives.
4
PDD abbreviation will be used further down in the present paper
5
PAS abbreviation will be used further down in the present paper

3. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 3
However, the actual system needs some minor improvements/adjustments in
almost all performance appraisal areas: training; frequency of appraisal; maintaining
records; measuring system; and conduction process. Infojobs’ PDD managers are
aware of some of the mentioned flaws and are already taking actions.
Introduction
Henderson, R.I. (1984) in his work “Practical Guide to Performance Appraisal”
states that developing an appraisal system that accurately reflects employee
performance is a difficult task, and there are no generic or easily passed systems from
one company to another; their design and administration must be tailor-made to match
employee and organizational characteristics and qualities.
PAS could be defined as a communication system between employee and his
supervisor, the conclusions of which permits to identify areas of improvement,
training, development, etc. The lack of such communication system may be viewed
by the employee as approval of their current work habits and performance. Building a
well-working PAS begins with determining the organization’s goals and objectives,
clarifying job roles, job description and responsibilities. One of the most important
goals for this process is to make to employees understand how their personal job
performance contributes to the overall performance of the company.
Infojobs S.A.
Infojobs S.A. is a Spanish company established in 1998 in Barcelona. Its business
is to optimize selection and recruitment process for B2B clients through its online
platform. Infojobs is the bridge between the two parts of the market labor force –
Demand (unemployed or looking for new employment people) with Supply

4. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 4
(companies that offer jobs). The service is free for the Demand and pay-per-offer for
the Supply. Since 2009 Infojobs is part of the Norwegian media conglomerate
Schibsted (94%), still, its initial investors - Spanish-based company Grupo Intercom
owns the rest of the shares (6%). The company has divisions in Spain, Italy, Portugal
and Brazil. Spanish division is of about 200 people with headquarters in Barcelona,
and branch offices in other 8 major Spanish cities.
Infojobs’ Performance Appraisal System
Infojobs calls its PAS - EPD (Evolución Por Desempeño). The system was
designed and introduced in 2004 by the company’s PDD. EPD system is applied to all
employees in the organization, and meets all crucial recommendations for a complete
PAS given by Boice, D. F. and Kleiner, B. H. in their work “Designing Effective
Performance Appraisal Systems”:
Figure 1
Maintaining Mesurement
records system
Conducting the
Frequency of appraisal
appraisal
system
Pay for
Training performance
Organizational Performance
and employee Appraisal Legal issues
objectives System
Source: Hristo Kolev, interpretation of Boice, D.F. and Kleiner, B. H. article “Designing Effective
Performance Appraisal Systems”

5. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 5
Organizational and Employee Objectives: An appraisal process pretends first to
determine the organization’s objectives, next steps are to clarify job role, job
description and responsibilities, determining how the role and responsibilities
contribute to wider goals, determining: why individual and team performance is
important; and what is expected within the current planning period. The most
important point of the process is to ensure that the employee understands how his/her
job performance contributes to the overall performance of the company. Further in this
paper we will see how Infojobs measures the acceptance of its core values (PAS form
applied to all employees) and how goals are clearly transmitted to sales agents (RAC
form).
Training: Infojobs trains both parties of the process (managers and employees).
Mangers are provided with a specific approach and rating criteria and employees are
trained how to set objectives and give accurate feedback. However in this respect the
company needs to improve its system by:
• Perform periodic refreshing courses. The last training course for manager in
evaluating criteria was 2 years ago, thus many of the new managers in the
company have never performed it.
• Raters (in the case of Infojobs-the managers) should be evaluated on how
they conduct performance appraisals in order to make sure that the criteria
are consistent throughout all the organization.
Frequency of Appraisal: PAS is conducted in the organization on a yearly bases.
This is another flaw in the Inforjobs’ system, because makes it difficult to monitor the
Action Plan improvements (please consult point 4 of the PAS system further down).
Infojobs’ managers are aware of this problem, and have already decided to perform
PAS on quarterly bases, starting from Q1 in 2013.

6. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 6
Maintaining Records: Infojobs starts each PAS with the conclusion (results) of the
previous year evaluation. Crane, J.G. (1991) in his work “Getting the performance you
want” states that carefully maintained data establish patterns in an employee’s
behavior that may be difficult to spot by typical incident-by-incident supervision. If
Infojobs wants to go further in this respect, they should let employees be themselves
responsible for part of the process of record-keeping: this would help reinforce the fact
that a major part of the process is devoted to employee development and employees
themselves are responsible for their own development.
Measurement System: Infojobs’ system is based on 3 different techniques –
managers’ subjective opinion (criteria-based) about an employee; employee’s
feedback on managers’ opinion; and rating scales (details further down in Infojobs’
PAS (EPD) System). As outlined in the Yee, C. C. and Chen, Y.Y. (2010) article
“Performance Appraisal System using Multifactorial Evaluation Model”, it is
essential to understand that different organizations might use different techniques in
assessing staff performance. Infojobs uses other techniques like 360º, 180º and RAQ
(Results Activity Quality – Appendix 1), but they are not directly linked directly to the
PAS. The company should integrate all those techniques to the PAS in future.
Conducting the Appraisal System: In this respect Infojobs should improve in
some respects. In the actual system employees are evaluated only by their direct
managers, while analyst consider that in flat organizations (like Infojobs) multiple
rater systems should be used, where the input of all supervisors is required to complete
a thorough performance review. Another improvement in this respects comes from
Goff, S.J. and Longenecher, C.O. (1990) article “Why Performance Appraisals Still
Fail”, they suggest that employee should be encouraged to self-appraisal, this helps
the employee to be less defensive and passive in the appraisal review. The self-

7. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 7
employee appraisal problem is solved with the 180º and 360º, however these still need
to be integrated in the company’s PAS.
Pay for Performance: Only the sales agents in the company have part of their
payrolls linked to their performance and it is out of PAS. In Infojobs Pay for
Performance is measured by the RAQ form (Appendix 1) and is not integrated in the
PAS. This is exactly what Boice, D.F. and Kleiner, B.H. recommend in their work
“Designing Effective Performance Appraisal Systems” – stating that the link between
payment and performance is often unsatisfactorily established and even less often
maintained to the satisfaction of employees and supervisor/organization.
Legal Issues: theory says that there is a legal reason for the PAS, meaning that, for
example, failure to conduct appraisal “properly” may result in employees taking legal
actions. However in Spanish (thus Infojobs) environment this is not that straight
forward.
Infojobs’ PAS (EPD) System in details
Infojobs PAS evaluation is conducted once a year, using a 5 stages form (original
form is available in Appendix 2). The main aspects of the form are as follows:
1. Previous Period
o Evaluation results from previous period: keeping records ensures the
effectiveness of the system. Well-maintained records are essential if
the need arises to discipline, demote or dismiss an employee.
o Employee comments: gives feedback of the employee, this section is
the proof that the employee understands and accepts the PAS results,
and its further action plan.
2. Infojobs’ Values (present period)

8. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 8
o The company has 7 core values6 and the employee is ranked in an
even scale of 4 possible ranks - low; middle; high; and excellent: this
scale is a solution to the “average rating problem”, forcing the
managers to rate employees on one side of the central point.
o Employee comments: proves that the employee is aware of the
possible gaps between corporate values and his/her performance.
3. Competencies (present period)
o Strengths and Improvement area: From one hand the manager points
out the strengths of the employee and from other hand suggests
which competencies the employee should improve for the next year.
o Employee comments: proves that the employee is aware of which
areas his manager expects him/her to improve in future.
4. Action Plan
o Schedules a list of actions in order to develop needed competencies
(detected in point 3).
o Employee comments: proves that the employee accepts and is
engaged to the action plan.
5. Professional Career
o Employee expectation regarding his career in the organization
o Manager’s opinion
o Recommendations
6
Sincerity, Generosity, Humility, Effort, Ambition, Common Sense, and Joy

9. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 9
Once these 5 stages are completed, PDD staff elaborates a quadrant, which is the
final result of the PAS, where Y-axis represents the Nº of areas to improve (or Alerts)
and the X-axis represents the performance level (low if it is “–“ and high if it is “+”).
Figure 2
Source: Hristo Kolev, based on interview with Joan Pau Fisas and Irene Molins (PDD at Infojobs)
The company’s objective is to have 100% of its employees in the Quadrant 4 (Q4).
The worst situation is when an employee is in Q2, meaning that employees in thiat
quadrant have a lot of areas to improve (Alerts) and low performance at the same time.
These employees are put under closer monitoring during next year, and must change
their performance, and reduce their areas of improvement, if not are dismissed. Actual
employee distribution is Q1= 2%; Q2= 5%; Q3= 7%; and Q4= 86%.
Conclusions
For Infojobs people development is a core company value. Top management
believes that in times of global competition we are living at, people in organizations
are resource of competitive advantages, and the company can not afford unmotivated

10. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 10
and uncommitted. This is why PDD of the company has direct representation in the
Board of Directors (PDD manager Joan Pau Fisas is a board member). According to
the results of the Granfield-ESADE, (2000) research “Gestión Estratégica de
Recursos Humanos¨, less that 15% of HR managers participate in the board of
directors in Spanish organizations. This fact provides a linkage between employee
performance and organizational goals, making the PAS completely effective.
Other proof of the effective Performance Appraisal System in Infojobs is the award
“Best Place to Work” in Spain for 2011.
PAS is a dynamic process and needs to be improved with the pass of the time.
Infojobs’ PAS has some minor flaws in terms of training; frequency of appraisal;
maintaining records; measuring system; and conduction process, that need to be
addressed in the short turn. However, I believe that company’s managers will be able
to correct those flaws in the near future and Infojobs will be again in top positions of
the Best Place to Work in Spain’s rankings.
References:
Fisas Suriol, J.P. (24.10.2012) Infojobs PDD Manager interview
Molins, I. (25.10.2012) Ifojobs PDD employee interview
Boice, D.F. and Kleiner, B.H. (1997) “Designing Effective Performance Appraisal
Systems”
Henderson, R.I. (1984) “Practical Guide to Performance Appraisal”
Crane, J.G. (1991) “Getting the performance you want”

11. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 11
Yee, C.C. and Chen, Y.Y. (2010) “Performance Appraisal System Using
Multifactorial Evaluation Model”
Granfield-ESADE (2000) research “Gestión Estratégica de Recursos Humanos

12. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 12
Appendix 1
RAC DE INFOJOBS
NOMBRE: [Escribe aqui] MES: [Escribe aqui] MANAGER: [Escribe aqui]
Parte 1: CIFRAS CLAVE
VENTAS: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
Mercado Objetivo: Resultado: Logro:
GE #DIV/0!
! ACTIVIDAD: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
Objetivo: Resultado: Logro:
" 0 0 #DIV/0!
# (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial, casos a destacar). KO's, anticipos,
$ SITUACIONES RELEVANTES
retrasos, casos relevantes, …
Mercado (GE) Empresa A Destacar (ko, anticipo, retraso, …)
%
&
' Observaciones del comercial: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
" [Escribe aqui]
(
) RESUMEN DEL MES ANTERIOR
* ¿Qué he hecho bien? (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
( [Escribe aqui]
¿Qué voy debo cambiar o mejorar para el siguiente? (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
[Escribe aqui]
VENTAS: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
Mercado Objetivo: Previsión: Logro:
! GE #DIV/0!
" ACTIVIDAD: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
# Objetivo: Previsión: Logro:
0 0 #DIV/0!
$
% SITUACIONES RELEVANTES
(a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial, casos a destacar). KO's, anticipos,
retrasos, casos relevantes, …
+ Mercado (GE) Empresa A Destacar (ko, anticipo, retraso, …)
'
,
%
Observaciones del comercial: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
- [Escribe aqui]
Parte 2: SATISFACCION
SEGUIMIENTO CUALITATIVO
# Cualitativo definido para el Qx (Definido previamente por el manager)
% [Escribe aqui]
'
) Estado actual (Definido previamente por el manager)
# [Escribe aqui]
. &
%
Nivel de satisf. del comercial: (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
+
[Escribe Aqui]
+
)
/
Parte 3: COMPROMISOS
Seguimiento COMPROMISOS mes anterior (a cumplimentar previamente por el comercial)
+ [Escribe aqui]
*
)
!
# Compromisos para el mes próximo
0 (durante la reunión)
* Descripción Tarea Objetivo Deadline
( "#$%&'(')*%+,-%./%0*-*1.2%+/'.-).%3 !!!
#
*
!
Parte 4: VALORACIÓN FINAL MANAGER (ventas, actividad,
[Escribe aqui]
1 !
% + %
- ) &
* / %
( & 2
% $ "

13. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SYSTEM AT INFOJOBS S.A. 13
Appendix 2
EPD
Indicaciones: Cuando escribáis en los recuadros cambiará el formato del documento, no os
preocupéis, intentar adaptarlo según este modelo una vez este cumplimentado.
A rellenar por el evaluado
Nombre: Periodo evaluado:
Posición Actual: Fecha evaluación:
Evaluador:
Evaluación periodo anterior:
Comentarios del evaluado:
Valores Infojobs: (demostrados en el periodo)
Bajo Medio Alto Sobresale
Sinceridad
Generosidad
Humildad
Esfuerzo
Ambición
Sentido Común
Alegría
Comentarios del evaluado:
Competencias: (demostradas en el periodo)
Fortalezas A desarrollar (en el próximo año)
- -
- -
Comentarios del evaluado:
Acciones de mejora: (a desarrollar en el próximo año)
Competencia Acción Fechas Responsable
1.
2.
3.
4.
Futuro profesional:
Expectativas del evaluado:
Opinión Manager:
Recomendaciones: