Pomg2710 Operations Management: Performance Management Assessment Answers

Performance Assessment:  

In the assessment phase, both the employee and the manager are responsible for evaluating the extent to which the desired behaviours have been displayed and whether the desired results have been achieved. Although many sources can be used to collect performance information, in most cases the direct supervisor provides the information. It is important that both employee and the manger take ownership of the assessment process. Assessment is done by appraisal form. Some companies use self-appraisal forms.

Performance Review: 

• Appraisal Meeting- Meeting between the employee and the manager to review their assessments.The aim being to provide performance feedback specifically when the performance is deficient.

Literature review:

Discussion on Various Approaches and Behavioral of Measuring Performance in Today’s Modern Organizations

Modern organizations have certain new competencies that include ability for operation in ever changing and ill-defined organization. They also need the capacity for dealing with abstract and routine work process and at the same time ability to handle responsibilities and decisions. Modern organization also focuses on interactive and group work. They also look for system wide understanding and possess the ability for operating within a time horizon that expands geographically(Van Dooren, Bouckaertand Halligan2015). These organizations also possess specialized knowledge and competencies that are customer assistance oriented. Therefore, there is a need for measuring the performance and behavior of the employees in modern organizations.

However, the various approaches of assessing performance management are as follows:

1. Trait Approach:

The trait approach however puts emphasis on the traits of the individual that is stable throughout the life span of individuals(Judgeand Zapata2015). The approach is most suitable for organizations that involve structural changes drastically.

2. Behavior Approach:

This approach of performance management provides emphasis on the doings of the individual. This approach is suitable for organization where no obvious link exists between results and behaviors; outcomes remain a dream of distant future andoccurrence of poor results is due to causes is beyond the control of the employees(Luthans, Luthansand Luthans2015).

3. Result Approach:

This particular approach used for assessing the performance management is through emphasis on the results and outcomes of the employees(Zairi2012.). This approach is however suitable for organization where workers are skilled in terms of behavior, results remain consistent over time and there exists various approaches in doing the job.

On the other hand, measuring performance involves:

1. Determining the Accountabilities: This involve identification of the tasks and the identification of the group task and clubbing them into clusters, particularly known as accountabilities
2. Determining the Objectives: This refers to determination of measurable and important outcomes(Estampe et. al 2013). Therefore, objectives should be specific, challenging, significant, prioritized, time bound, achievable, flexible and limited by time
3. Determining the Performance Standards: The performance standards should be concrete, specific and measurable, practical to measure, meaningful, achievable and realistic with regular review

On the other hand, behavior measured by assessing the competenciesdefined as measurable clusters of skills, abilities and knowledge that are critical in the determination of the achieved results(Swank, Lambie and Witta2012). For measuring behavior, two types of competencies considered which are differentiating competencies and threshold competencies. 

Recommendation:

Behavioral Approach

The behavioral approach refers to the analysis of the actions of the employees for identifying behavioral patterns that are specific to the job and based on which an effective employee can be separated from a non performing or less effective employee.  Thus, the behavioral adopted for measuring and accessing the performance of the employees. This approach for performance management is most suitable for the organizations when there is no obvious linkage between the results and the behavior and outcomes are a matter of distant future. This approach also followed in organization whose poor results depend on the causes that are beyond the control of the employees(Oliver2014).  However, the assessment of the behavioral approach done based on two competencies that are differentiating competencies and threshold competency. Differentiating competencies allows differentiation between the average and superior performers whereas threshold competencies focused on the competency that everyone must possess for displaying in a job.

Comprehensive Method of Measurement of Employee Behavior with Focus on Specific Competencies put forward by the Company

Al Shuroog Insurance Company has implemented a performance management system depending on which the company took the decision of measuring the behavior of the employees. According to the company, the approach involved assessing the competencies that included customer service, creative thinking, dependability and communication.

As far as Customer service is concerned, Al Shuroog Insurance Company believes in ensuring satisfaction of the customers with a service or product. The customer service activity is either in the form of interaction that takes place in person or by means of a phone call or self-service system (Wilson et. al 2014).

However, for effective customer service the employees of Al Shuroog Insurance Company must possess certain behavioral indicators. Therefore, the employees must be knowledgeable, courteous and accessible (Hooper, Coughlan and R. Mullen 2013). At the same time, they must be a good listener and possess the willingness for comprising and reaching a resolution. Further, the employees of Al Shuroog Insurance Company must also possess strong vocabulary skills that will enable them to speak clearly.

For the insurance company, Al Shuroog, Creative thinking refers to the ability of perceiving the world by newer means, finding the hidden patterns, making connections and generating solutions (Mumford, Medeiros and Partlow2012). The process involves thinking and then producing.

Thus, for creative thinking the employees of Al Shuroog Insurance Company must undertake smart risk thereby trying different and new approaches for getting their job done. Moreover, to possess such a competency the employee must possess the ability of reviewing the work processes personally and make necessary changes in the established and traditional processes(Wang2012). The employees must be able to apply the process or practice to the situations of the new work for the benefit of the customers. They must also be able to decide on appropriate action for addressing any inefficiencyin the work process and thereby establish improved means.

Al Shuroog Insurance Company defines Dependability by the quality that allows being trusted. Thus, to possess the competency of dependability the employees of Al Shuroog Insurance Company should be able to bring their best when they are work (Trivellasand Drimoussis2013).  Moreover, the employees must also be able to able to elevate trust and work through collaboration, cooperation, contribution and consideration.

The Al Shuroog Insurance Company believes in undertaking Communication that refers to respectfully listening to others for gaining complete understanding of the issues. The company also believes that communication also refers to comprehending the written material and presenting information in a concise and clear manner either in written form or in oral version for ensuring better understanding of the ideas (Henry, Holmboeband Frankel2013).

Therefore, to possess behavioral competency, the employees of the organization must be able to adapt the style and tone of the message for accommodating variety of audiences. They must also be able to better communicate feelings, ideas and feelings not only directly but also openly(14). The behavioral competency for communication also includes delivery of concise, clear and accurate message for effectively informing the audience. They must also possess the ability of effectively understanding the conversations of the speaker thereby avoiding any kind of miscommunication.

Communication Plan

Communication plan determines the ways of dissemination of the information regarding the performance management system in the organization. The communication plan of an organization thus helps in providing information about the relationship between the organizational strategy and performance management(Biggsand Biggs2013). The plan also helps in providing information about the benefits of the performance management and at the same time information on the decryption of the performance management process. The communication plan also helps in defining the roles and responsibilities of the employee and the appeal process. Further, the plan also helps to define relationship between other systems and performance management that includes promotion, succession planning and training.  

Feature and Limitation of Communication Plan

The features of communication plan for organization involves(Greer Jr and Ngo2012):

1. Defining the goals and objectives: The communication plan must accurately define the goals of the organizations and the outcomes the organization is trying to achieve through the implementation of the communication plan
2. Identifying the target audience: Implementation of the communication plan must also involve identification of the target audiences that will enable in development of the communication messages and determine choosing of the best activities, materials and channels of communication
3. Determining the Key Messages:Identification of the key pointput across with the help of the communication plan requires identification and there should not be a shift of focus
4. Choosing the Right Channels: The choice of right communication channels for carrying the messages is necessary that will help in drawing the attention
5. Choosing the Appropriate Time and Frequency: The frequency and time necessary for getting the messages across is necessary and acts as determining factor in putting the message across to the targeted audience helping in understanding the goals of the organization
6. Assigning the Responsibility of Message Delivery: The communication plan must also determine the assigned people responsible for the delivery and development of their messages and ensure they are committed to the job
7. Determining the Budget required for the Plan: The determination of financial resources is also necessary for the implementation of the communication plan and understand whether it is feasible.
8. Evaluation of the Communication Plan:Evaluation is important as it helps in determination of the effectiveness of the communications plan.

There are however certain limitations of the Communication Plan:

The communication plan of the performance management approach has a limitation since the responsibility of both public and inter organizational communication depends on the employees of the organization. There might be cases when an organization might hire employees of a lower level who might engage in interaction in various social media platforms. This might lead to distortion of the information in reaching the target audience in understanding the strategies of the organization(Thackeray et al 2012).Thus, delivery of messages assigned to higher-level employees as they can assume responsibility in preserving the actual messages that is reaching the others. Thus, an organization must wisely choose its representatives.

There exists another disadvantage of the communication plan due to its direct nature. As there is no uncertainty or doubt about the messages so, they can come across as offensive as well as blunt to many of the employees.

Present Communication Plan of Al Shurooq Insurance Company

The company Al Shurooq Insurance Company formulates a communication plan that enabled dissemination of information on the performance management system of the organization on a wider basis. The company not only disseminates general information about the organizational performance so that the employees remain fully informed about the relationship that exists between the organizational strategy and the performance management. In addition to this, the communication plan of the organization helps the employees to know about the benefits of performance management and at the same time specifies the responsibilities and roles of the employees(Terborgh and Estes 2012). However, the communication plan adopted by Al Shurooq Insurance Company been perceived as addressing the section of the employees who agrees with the communication plan of the employees. This has led to biases in communication plan.

Comprehensive Communication Plan without Any Biases

However, a comprehensive bias free communication involves engaging all the employees as a part of the communication plan implemented for performance management. The company must have provisions for understanding the needs of the employees. The company must also ensure creation of positive attitude towards the newly implemented communication plan undertaken by the company before the creation of any kind of negative rumors (RajagopalRobertsand Lim2012). The organization must also put forward consequences and facts and make sure that the communication plan is also put across in written. Moreover, the messages disseminated as a part of the communication plan should avoid tokenism and patronizing language towards any particular employee of the organization. The company must also use multiple communication channels like meetings, paper and e-mail for delivering information. Further, the company must also make sure that they use credible communicators who are not only trusted but also at the same time is admired within the organization. However, the most important aspect of the communication plan of an organization should be the frequent repetition of information.

What is not good about Their Plan?

The communication plan of Al Shurooq Insurance Company addressed only a section of the employees who agreed with the plan initially. This led to creation of the bias in the communication plan of the company. Actually, the company followed a selective exposure considered as one of the biases that affects the effectiveness of the communication plan. This refers to a tendency of exposing the minds to the ideas that a person already agrees(UlmerSellnowand Seeger2013). In this kind of bias, the employee who considers the performance management as a better idea becomes involved in activities of the communication plan.

How to Avoid Discrimination

Avoidance of this kind of discrimination can take place by paying attention to involve everyone as a part of the communication plan. Descriptions of the roles and responsibilitiesmust be on ability and not disability, race or gender characteristics. Moreover, avoidance of discriminations can take place through practice, openness and awareness. Sometimes, many biased statements might seem familiar and natural but the person responsible for communicating the information may not realize the discomfort that they create to others.

Conclusion:

The report ends by throwing a light on what is not good about the communication plan of Al Shuroog Insurance Company and the means of avoiding discrimination. There is also an evaluation done on the present communication plan of the company and suggestions provided on how to implement a comprehensive bias free communication. The report also has a description of the communication plan along with its features and limitations. Recommendations on a comprehensive method for measuring employee behavior based on competencies like customer service, creative thinking, dependability and communication mentioned in the report. There is also a brief summary of what a behavioral approach actually is. The report also provides a literature review of the various approaches for the measurement of performance in modern organizations of the present world based on various competences. There is also mention of the definition of performance management, its importance and the approaches followed for measuring and accessing it.

References:

Biggs, H.C. and Biggs, S.E., 2013. Interlocked projects in safety competency and safety effectiveness indicators in the construction sector. Safety science, 52, pp.37-42.

Estampe, D., Lamouri, S., Paris, J.L. and Brahim-Djelloul, S., 2013. A framework for analysing supply chain performance evaluation models. International Journal of Production Economics, 142(2), pp.247-258.

Greer Jr, M.B. and Ngo, J.W., 2012, June. Personal emergency preparedness plan (pepp) facebook app: Using cloud computing, mobile technology, and social networking services to decompress traditional channels of communication during emergencies and disasters. In Services Computing (SCC), 2012 IEEE Ninth International Conference on (pp. 494-498). IEEE.

Henry, S.G., Holmboe, E.S. and Frankel, R.M., 2013. Evidence-based competencies for improving communication skills in graduate medical education: a review with suggestions for implementation. Medical Teacher, 35(5), pp.395-403.

Hooper, D., Coughlan, J. and R. Mullen, M., 2013. The servicescape as an antecedent to service quality and behavioral intentions. Journal of services marketing, 27(4), pp.271-280.

Judge, T.A. and Zapata, C.P., 2015. The person–situation debate revisited: Effect of situation strength and trait activation on the validity of the Big Five personality traits in predicting job performance. Academy of Management Journal, 58(4), pp.1149-1179.

Luthans, F., Luthans, B.C. and Luthans, K.W., 2015. Organizational behavior: An evidence-based approach. IAP.

Mumford, M.D., Medeiros, K.E. and Partlow, P.J., 2012. Creative thinking: Processes, strategies, and knowledge. The Journal of Creative Behavior, 46(1), pp.30-47.

Oliver, R.L., 2014. Satisfaction: A behavioral perspective on the consumer. Routledge.

Rajagopal, S., Roberts, R.D. and Lim, S.K., 2012. IEEE 802.15. 7 visible light communication: modulation schemes and dimming support. IEEE Communications Magazine, 50(3).

Swank, J.M., Lambie, G.W. and Witta, E.L., 2012. An exploratory investigation of the Counseling Competencies Scale: A measure of counseling skills, dispositions, and behaviors. Counselor Education and Supervision, 51(3), pp.189-206.

Terborgh, J. and Estes, J.A., 2012. Trophic Cascades. Natural Areas Journal, 32, p.2.

Thackeray, R., Neiger, B.L., Smith, A.K. and Van Wagenen, S.B., 2012. Adoption and use of social media among public health departments. BMC public health, 12(1), p.242.

Trivellas, P. and Drimoussis, C., 2013. Investigating leadership styles, behavioural and managerial competency profiles of successful project managers in Greece. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 73, pp.692-700.

Ulmer, R.R., Sellnow, T.L. and Seeger, M.W., 2013. Effective crisis communication: Moving from crisis to opportunity. Sage Publications.

Van Dooren, W., Bouckaert, G. and Halligan, J., 2015. Performance management in the public sector. Routledge.

Wang, A.Y., 2012. Exploring the relationship of creative thinking to reading and writing. Thinking Skills and Creativity, 7(1), pp.38-47.

Wilson, A., Zeithaml, V.A., Bitner, M.J. and Gremler, D.D., 2012. Services marketing: Integrating customer focus across the firm. McGraw Hill.

Zairi, M., 2012. Measuring performance for business results. Springer Science & Business Media.