What do you think of our new model for performance evaluation?

Dec 3, 2020 | I am MAPFRE

Y tú, ¿qué opinas sobre nuestro modelo de evaluación del desempeño?

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TEXT SARA ELENA TORRES HORTAL | PHOTOGRAPHS MAPFRE, ISTOCK

Last year, within the Digital Challenge initiative, MAPFRE implemented a new Performance Evaluation model, with the participation of over 26,000 employees, this representing 84 percent of the workforce. In 2020, with 92 percent of employees now covered by this model, performance evaluation is complying with the premises of agility, continuous feedback, and a multi-source system.

Currently, we companies are moving in an environment where changes are occurring at breakneck speed. Given this situation, both businesses and those of us who form part of them must prove capable of adapting and preparing ourselves with the same speed in order to remain competitive.

Our performance evaluation model helps with this because:

It focuses on people’s professional development.
It supports the attainment of objectives and impacts on productivity by defining and monitoring key activities, which helps achieve those objectives.
It aligns the objectives of employees with those of the business.
It identifies the potential of employees as this is a more objective appraisal.
It promotes an ongoing dialog with the focus on appraising endeavor, recognizing achievements and guiding the work we do.
It fosters the adoption of the MAPFRE behaviors – Collaborate, Innovate and Be Agile – through continuous feedback and a 360º evaluation, which enables us to reflect on our successes and failures in order to learn from them.
It enables us to be more agile when responding to the demands imposed by the needs of our work and, moreover, do so in a more aligned fashion.

In addition, the benefits of having a performance evaluation system became patently obvious in the coronavirus pandemic. Having such a solution has enabled us to remain aligned, focusing on business objectives and challenges, without missing out on feedback from our colleagues, and continue evaluating employees so as to help them achieve their business goals.

With the experience gleaned over more than a year and following intense deployment, this is a good time to seek opinions regarding this global, standardized performance evaluation process. We have spoken to colleagues occupying different positions in various countries — because the evaluation has been implemented progressively, according to the established timeline — so as to be able to offer you different viewpoints on the new performance evaluation model. At the end of the article, we suggest that you too offer your opinion.

The views of all of us will help us enhance performance evaluation within MAPFRE. Will you join in?

We began by asking, “What was your experience with the new performance evaluation model?” This model was designed with a view to making the employees the protagonists of its development, placing them at the center of the action because:

The company needs people who are proactively committed to MAPFRE.
This helps you to be inspiring and a point of reference if you are a team supervisor, and to grow together.

Each person experiences this change and their evolution in a different way, as we will see in these testimonies; however, all our colleagues agree that the change has been positive and contributes to their professional growth and development.

“My experience of this change has been satisfactory. The new model has enabled us to be much clearer about objectives and improve our communication. Although, initially, we had some doubts about the use of the platform, when it came to the practical side and we understood how to relate it to our daily work, it was simpler than we thought. The ability to provide feedback to my colleagues at any time and have a record of these appraisals helps us come up with a much more objective final evaluation of our collaborators.

Marco André Araújo Parra,
Issuing & Renewal assistant manager, Peru

“At first, I didn’t really understand it. There were so many fields I didn’t know, as they had never formed part of the evaluations using the previous platform. After getting familiar with the platform and the process, everything went much more smoothly. The positive side I see is that we can reveal our strengths or weaknesses in order to continue developing our professional know-how and improve throughout the period. I hope that the new evaluation model will continue contributing to my growth and development in a positive way, bearing in mind that motivation is key to the success of

Jennifer Ortiz Delgado,
Sales Office underwriter in Puerto Rico

“The moment any significant change is introduced is always viewed with suspicion and that’s what happened with the process of adapting to the new evaluation model. However, thanks to the videos, tutorials, and information made available on the intranet, as well as the training and support from colleagues in Human Resources, the change proved to be an easy process.”

Catarina Paiva,
Training Team in Portugal

“For me, this is turning out to be a highly positive change in the company’s culture. I’ve seen how working relationships have improved, collaboration has increased, and teams are more focused on finding solutions to problems. At the same time, negative behaviors and attitudes that did not facilitate achieving objectives have been eliminated. I hope this process will primarily guide us in the creation of a greater ability to adapt to change in the current environment.”

Daniel Jiménez Muñoz,
Human Resources manager at MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

With more than one year’s experience, this is a good time to seek people’s opinion of this global, standardized performance evaluation process.

We have spoken to colleagues with different responsibilities in various countries so as to be able to offer you different viewpoints on the new performance evaluation model.

MARCO ANDRÉ

JENNIFER

CATARINA

DANIEL

Now we know what the experience was like, the next question is to discover the most positive conclusion they drew from the new model and what they expect from it, what they feel it can do for them. In this case, these are some of the opinions:

“The most positive part is knowing the points I need to improve personally, as seen by my close colleagues and internal clients. It makes you consider new ways of working and offers another viewpoint for focusing your efforts in the new year. It therefore lets me know where there is room for improvement.”

Andrea Cuadrón Moreno,
internal auditor at MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

“It enables me to establish guidelines and future projects to be carried out throughout the year, and I hope this model offers a record of the progress made on objectives and the year’s activities. It will enable me to monitor my activities and get constructive feedback from my colleagues, something that may help advance my professional development.”

Alfonso Jiménez García-Perrote,
MAPFRE RE underwriter

“It helps me view my growth and my annual achievements, something I sometimes overlook in my daily work or over time. I have a short-term memory and I find entering the module and realizing all the tasks I’ve completed rather comforting, thinking: “Wow! I did all this.” It helps me keep growing and raise my profile, not just in my area, but in every area with which I interact.”

Alinea del Pilar Melliz Rojas,
sales manager, Peru

sales manager, Peru “In my opinion, constant, constructive feedback, followed by concrete examples, motivates and encourages everyone in their continuous improvement process.”

Eleonora Ruggi,
Sales CC Chief SPV and Back Office Chief SPV, Verti Italy

ANDREA

ALFONSO

ALINEA DEL PILAR

ELEONORA

The most positive aspect

At this moment in time, most countries are performing a 360º evaluation. At this point in the model, the challenge is to be as objective, impartial and fair as possible. Bear in mind that, on the basis of how you rate a colleague or someone who is on your team, you will be helping them grow professionally.

“The 360° evaluation lets us know what they think of my work at different levels. While it’s great to receive better than expected ratings, I must say that comments on the aspects I need to improve are really useful.”

Marco André Araújo Parra,
Issuing & Renewal assistant manager, Peru

“With the 360º Evaluation, I can get a clearer view of my performance and interpersonal relationships. Through constructive feedback you can discover faults or shortcomings that you wouldn’t see without someone else’s help.”

Catarina Paiva,
Training Team in Portugal

“You’re no longer solely evaluated by your supervisor. Now you also have the opinions of other colleagues, whether or not they’re in your department. I therefore believe they’ve managed to ensure the system has greater objectivity and is not simply a one-way evaluation, given that the supervisors are also evaluated by their team as well as by other collaborators. The opinions of my colleagues are really useful, as they often reinforce my own; however, on other occasions, I’ve been able to detect qualities that are important to others and which, perhaps, I hadn’t even perceived up to that moment in time.”

Ana Maria Lázaro Gutiérrez,
chief technician, MAPFRE RE

“In general, we interact much more with colleagues than with the person who has to evaluate us and, as a result, feedback from those colleagues adds a lot of value to the supervisor’s overall evaluation.”

Ana Isabel Rodriguez Jimenez,
Marketing technician, MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

“The most interesting part is that you maintain free-flowing interpersonal relationships with your immediate superior. In this way, we both know we agree about the task we’ve been assigned, as the evaluation highlights which aspects need to be improved and in which other areas you should receive additional training. This will help us, at any given time, to opt for promotion or apply for other positions within the same company. Moreover, and no less important, this helps us enhance internal communication, as we can demonstrate our individual capabilities and motivations.”

Jennifer Ortiz Delgado,
Sales Office underwriter in Puerto Rico

ANA MARÍA

ANA ISABEL

As regards giving feedback to your colleagues, regardless of your job, there are different opinions, although for most people it is not an easy task. This is what we have been told by those we asked and who have been through the process:

“It’s not always an easy experience, especially when it comes to giving negative feedback. You may find it a less complicated task when you incorporate it into the performance evaluation process, given that this is an opportunity to pay more attention to the people on your team. We should not forget that this is actually the most important part of our work, but sometimes your daily routine doesn’t make this easy. However, with the performance evaluation, we can create a space with our collaborators where we can exchange opinions, put forward ideas for improvement, or highlight those aspects that stand out above others. Likewise, design strategies for their own evolution and development within the company. And, of course, it is certainly a space that gives us the opportunity to receive feedback from our collaborators and not just give it.

I believe that, in general, we lack that culture of evaluation, if we can call it that. We must set aside our prejudices regarding criticism and always consider it to be positive and constructive.”

Ana Maria Lázaro Gutiérrez,
chief technician, MAPFRE RE

“Receiving feedback is a moment that all of us, as employees, await with some concern and trepidation. We all look forward to receiving information that can help us keep growing and improve how we fulfill our work responsibilities. With this model, people reach the final feedback stage with the appraisals of their peers and internal clients, references that have already allowed them to reflect on aspects or competences in which they can see openings for improvement and growth.

This is important for the one who has to give the feedback to someone, since it means that, as a supervisor, it is necessary to incorporate the input of peers and internal clients into our rating process. Feedback is expected to provide answers or information, not just from the viewpoint of the supervisor, but rather about the whole process. As a result, we must combine all the input we receive throughout the process into the final feedback process.”

Javier Solís Montalva,
Territorial CEO of the Catalonia-Balearic RGM in Barcelona

“When we are clear about the objective of the performance evaluation and this new model for performing it, it must be understood as an opportunity for growth on many fronts, not just the professional aspect, but also personal characteristics (insofar as soft skills are concerned – such an important factor for maintaining and developing any activity today). Simply requesting feedback from peers regarding the way I work not only entailed the need to be humble enough to accept critical comments on aspects to be improved, but also forced me to express my views assertively, yet respectfully to my colleagues regarding the performance of their activities and their attitudes with respect to the same. This new evaluation model allows us to analyze these questions from various disciplinary perspectives – not just based on the views of our immediate superior, but also those of our colleagues – and hopefully it will offer us a clear path to enhancing our role within the company each day. I believe this calls for great maturity, good sense, sincerity and objectivity on our part, both when giving and receiving feedback, so as to be able to augment the effectiveness of the evaluation and achieve the desired objective.

Jorge Enrique Rojas Nieto,
family assistant at MAPFRE Servicios Exequiales, Colombia

“The experience has been really positive. I think having the chance to assess and be able to comment on the strengths and weaknesses of my colleagues is a way for us all to keep learning, improving in our work and strengthening working relationships.”

Andrea Cuadrón Moreno,
internal auditor at MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

“It’s a positive experience that has enabled my team and I to keep up to date and remain constantly in touch in our daily work. This new process gives us the opportunity to maintain the focus on people and to always be present for them, especially during these months when we are working remotely due to the COVID-19 emergency.”

Eleonora Ruggi,
Sales CC Chief SPV and Back Office Chief SPV, Verti Italy

JAVIER

JORGE ENRIQUE

And, of course, we had to ask them what ideas they had for improving the evaluation model. These questions are always enlightening, helping MAPFRE keep improving, in this case as regards this human resources process. And these are the suggestions of our respondents:

“Many employees still believe that the evaluation is a mere formality they have to go through, and that it’s of no use at all. Perhaps more emphasis should be placed on the importance it can have, as regards both individual development and fulfilling the company’s strategy.”

Ana Isabel Rodríguez Jiménez,
Marketing technician, MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

“It’s hard to get replies from some colleagues (especially internal clients) you send the questionnaire to. I feel this could be an area to be worked on, encouraging employees to respond.”

Andrea Cuadrón Moreno,
internal auditor at MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

“Greater attention should be paid to the selection of those participating – peers and internal clients – in the evaluation process. It’s necessary to define in greater detail who should form part of these groups and even, if possible, limit or restrict this choice to ensure they are colleagues who can really provide a direct, objective view of the employee. This would help make the information and assessment even more complete, objective, constructive and valid for completing the final feedback.”

Javier Solís Montalva,
Territorial CEO of the Catalonia-Balearic RGM in Barcelona

“I feel we should set some kind of limit or deadline for feedback responses.”

Alinea del Pilar Melliz Rojas,
sales manager, Peru

“I’d propose boosting the activities as a way of undertaking a shorter-term follow-up and visualization of the results obtained, with the aim of pivoting on them should this prove necessary.”

Daniel Jiménez Muñoz,
Human Resources manager at MAPFRE ASISTENCIA

“Change management, as this new model is completely different from the previous one. I believe that, for the user to use it constantly, continuous change management is needed so as not to forget the concepts and objectives laid out in the initial training sessions.”

Alfonso Jiménez García-Perrote,
MAPFRE RE underwriter

“I think there should be some space where, in the short or long term, we can see whether our progress has been active, favorable and developing in line with our objectives. The company could thus understand that everyone’s motivations are not always the same, as our reality is constantly changing and our interests go hand in hand with those circumstances.”

Jennifer Ortiz Delgado,
Sales Office underwriter in Puerto Rico

“That, as a result of each evaluation year/cycle and the aspects with room for improvement identified, the employees may lay down a group of priority activities for the following year/cycle, or may consider a change in their responsibilities or functions.”

Marco André Araújo Parra,
Issuing & Renewal assistant manager, Peru

RAQUEL

MÓNICA

What can we improve

The role of People and Organization

The performance evaluation is a process which applies to all employees, but the area directly responsible is Human Resources. These teams have encouraged and boosted the adoption of this model among all our employees. “At MAPFRE, we are driving a change that entails a thorough transformation of ourselves as professionals; we now have to move forward and become the protagonists of our own DEVELOPMENT. To do so, within the framework of #Digital Challenge, we have changed our performance evaluation model,” as Raquel Arenal Benito, Talent manager at MAPFRE ESPAÑA, explains.

This new evaluation model should be viewed as an organization-wide process that has to be embraced by us all, regardless of our position, given that each and every one of us must be fully committed to the success of the project. In such a way that, thanks to this process we all win: employees and the company.

Mónica Henao Pérez, manager at MAPFRE COLOMBIA puts it this way: “From the Human Resources area, we are confident that this new performance evaluation model will make a highly important contribution to our employees’ development, making them the protagonists from the very moment they initiate their activities, with the possibility of being connected with, and receiving continuous feedback from, the different areas and people with whom they work on a daily basis. As well as the focus on objectives and behaviors, possessing such a simple, innovative tool makes each person aware of their key contribution to the achievement of the organization’s goals. We can thus work in an aligned, collaborative manner, all committed to the MAPFRE strategy.”

We cannot end this article without launching two messages:

A big thanks to all those who participated and offered us their views so we could compile this feature. Their generosity helps us continue promoting the evaluation performance model among all our colleagues
We suggest you also consider giving us your opinion of the new performance evaluation model. Telling us what you think will enable us to keep improving it. You can do so via this mailbox: intranet.global. personas@mapfre.com

If you would like to find out more about MAPFRE’s Performance Evaluation, you can seek the topic on the global intranet. It is called Evaluation and can be found in the People Space, at: My Development‑Performance Evaluation.

How can the new performance evaluation model benefit you?

YOU ARE ULTIMATELY RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR DEVELOPMENT Through your endeavor and commitment.

YOU HAVE GREATER AUTONOMY AND A MORE ACTIVE ROLE IN BUILDING YOUR PROCESS How? Once you have established your objectives, you yourself determine your activities for the individual objectives and the collective objectives — of the projects on which you are collaborating — or other projects you take on during the year. These activities will help you achieve your goals throughout the year.

You need to reflect on what those activities should be (which you should not confuse with your daily/weekly tasks…) and review them every quarter, to make sure you fulfill them, or else modify them where necessary, asking others for feedback on how you are carrying them out. That constant feedback from your colleagues is the most innovative aspect of this model, given that we did not include it before. Over 52,000 activities were created last year.

In the case of the 360º evaluation, you are going to help build your 360º process by proposing the people you feel should participate in the internal client and peer groups.

THANKS TO ONE SINGLE TOOL YOU CAN ACCESS FROM THE GLOBAL INTRANET

What do you think of our new model for performance evaluation?

The most positive aspect

What can we improve

How can the new performance evaluation model benefit you?

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