Performance Management and High Performance Working - Essay Example

? of the Performance management and high performance working Introduction Accordingto Piskurich (2002) performance management is the process of initiating a shared workforce about what is to be achieved at an organization level. Performance management also involves aligning the objectives of the organization with the employees’ acceptable skills, competency needs, measures, learning and development plans and the deliverance of results. It emphasizes on progress, learning and development to meet the entire business strategy and to create a high performance work force. Therefore, performance is the process which adds to the effective management of individuals and teams so as to attain levels of organization performance. In addition, performance management initiates a shared understanding about what is to be attained and a vital approach to leading and improving peoples’ skills that will ensure achievement of company’ objectives (Foster, 2008). Therefore, performance management is a strategy which is related to every activity of the organization set up in the perspective of its human resources culture, policies, style and communication systems. The character of the strategy majorly relies on the organizational context and is dynamic from one organization to another. Consequently, the way in which employees are managed at work place tends to make a big difference in organizational performance (Jesuthasan, 2011). In today’s organizations, there is considerable evidence that a coherent style to manage people provides the foundation for significant gains in performance. Recently, a modern approach to manage organizations has cropped up that places employees and their skills at centre stage. This approach is referred to as high performance working. The major components of high performance working are decentralized leadership and that which enhances people’s capabilities through learning all stages with particular emphasis on self management, team capabilities to enhance support and performance. High performance working also comprises of support systems and culture that entails operational, management of people and performance in line with the company’s objectives (Piskurich, 2002). In addition, there should be fair treatment for individuals who leave the company as it changes and engages in the demands of the external community thus showing trust and commitment based on relationships within and outside the organization. A high performance working entails embracing greater employee involvement in order to achieve high levels of performance. The correct dimension this takes varies, however it entails activities in human personnel management for example, appraisal, workforce development, pay and incentives (Jesuthasan, 2011). It also involves work organization such as job design and team working, employment relations, management and leadership activities encompassing strategic management and business advancement as well as line management and organizational development. In high performance work places, all of these practices and policies are underpinned by a philosophy of individuals’ management that emphasizes on learning participation and autonomy. Many organizations have already initiated a high performance working approach and are harvesting the fruits of doing so, otherwise for those who have not; it can sometimes seem an expensive and discouraging possibility (Foster, 2008). In spite of the proven gains, the perceived difficulty of enhancing such comprehensive transformation can be a real obstacle. Skill utilization involves maximizing the contribution that individuals can make in the work place and the level of which people’s abilities have been deployed, developed and harnessed optimizes organization output capacity. Whatever takes place at work place is thus considered crucial to utilization of the available skills and this justifies why various organizations should run to achieve a high performance working (Foster, 2008). In addition, high performance working also involves combining together and implementing of a number practices in a holistic manner to manage organizations effectively. Basically, a high performance working must provide an important means to stimulate businesses in terms of evaluating their business strategies, advancing their value chain and raising their demand for high skill and knowledge as reorganized in their work. All these will see individuals through skill utilization improvement and utilization in the work place resulting into excellent firm performance. In accordance to performance management, employees’ duties and outcomes should be congruent with organization’s goals and involves narrowing down the activities and outcomes that will emerge the organization successfully implementing the strategy. An effective performance management process initiates the ground work for excellence through focusing on established performance goals and expectations based on the use of actions, results and behaviors. It also does this by identifying clear progress plans as part of the process, linking employee objectives with the firms’ mission and strategic plans (Jesuthasan, 2011). In this case the employee has a vivid concept on how they add value to the achievement of the overall business objective. Finally, it entails conducting frequent discussions in the entire performance cycle which include mentoring, assessment and coaching. In the process of judging past performance, employers are likely to use performance appraisal and not evaluating the performance against clear and agreed objective (Foster, 2008). This implies that performance management alters the attention away from just a yearly event to a continuous process, however, for an effective performance management in an organization there exist a performance appraisal. Therefore, performance management distinct itself form performance appraisal as shown below; Review Work effort Start of year End of year Appraisal Direct planning Set objectives Set development plan interim review final review Regular review Beginning of the year performance dairy notes End of year Performance management Performance management is a cyclical process designed for improving performance in light of achieving business objectives. It therefore involves, measurement which entails establishment of performance measures for example sales turn over, establishing attainable behavioral objectives that will enhance performance such as logging actual phone calls (Piskurich, 2002). Secondly, it has the principle of appraisal, which entails comparing the present behaviors with the behavioral objectives and determining the major differences for example, an average 30 phone calls are actually made giving a shortfall of 15 phone calls. Thirdly, action prevails in a manner that it brings out actual behavior in line with the objectives so as to improve the performance. For example, introducing a revised phone script that matches the prospect more rapidly, shortening each phone call and ensuring more calls to be made within the available time. This principle of performance management also entails implementation of a plan. This implies that performance management is undertaken by monitoring whereby new plans are designed and fully implemented. However, at the right time it is necessary to check the impact of changes on both behavioral and performances which is normally done by returning back the appraisal stage (Jesuthasan, 2011). Eventually, the term performance management is usually used in two perspectives; it can be a way of maximizing performance of a particular employee, team or company and it can also be a process of handling underperforming employees or teams. While the underlying principles are always similar, the manner in which they are implemented varies between the two perspectives as illustrated below: Escalating performance Under performers Always collaborative between staff and management More confrontation is involved Can be informal, with written documentations only recording revised goals Formal process with each step being noted down This is a process of constant advancement hence cyclical It is considered a process that accelerates into disciplinary proceedings and possibly finishing up with employee termination Frequently entails analysis of the process Always involves evaluation of one individual’s attitudes or behaviors Finally, performance management can be used to enhance team performance, mainly based on the principles of appraisal, measurement, and action and monitoring. This shows that it can be manifested in very different kinds, depending on whether the objective is to further improve good performers or deal with underperformance (Piskurich, 2002). In addition, performance management can also apply to individuals, groups, teams or companies. Comparison and Contrast of Performance Management between Coca Cola and Pepsi Performance management and high performance working are part and parcel of an organization success (Foster, 2008). This is mostly seen in big companies such as Coca cola and Pepsi companies that have major obligations in delivering quality beverage products globally. Coca Cola Company is one of the leading beverage producing companies in the world whose main objective is to manufacture beverage products such as soft drinks like coke and allow for the distribution of such for sales. The performance of Coca Cola Company majorly depends on the employee performance management and high performance working. Coca cola experiences high performance due to the fact that there is a high level of performance management and high performance working where by employees are involved entirely on what the company terms as relevant skills that leads to greater output. In coca cola Company, employees are given the priority to better treatment that helps them develop and have a rewarding working life (Jesuthasan, 2011). In this case the company creates an environment where the employees are able to excel in their performance, develop skills for advancement and move towards their career goals. Coca Company embraces the importance of training and development programs, coaching, learning and feedback systems that makes sure every employee has the best resources he or she needs to learn and develop in their careers (Piskurich, 2002). This finally, helps in motivating and inspiring the employees at work places and eventually results into high performance working and also gives the performance management teams a positive feedback. According to Foster (2008), high performance working is embraced by this company especially by measuring their level of engagement with the business and satisfaction as they work. This can be done through constructive dialogue with the employee representative groups and conducting employee surveys at the work place. All these activities conducted by the coca cola company ensure that the employees are subjected to high performance working environment resulting into high performance output by employees. As much as these employees are expected to perform, it is significant for the company to ensure that they enjoy their working life and feel work satisfaction. According to Foster (2008) when employees work in a comfortable environment, for example where there is on site company gym, free coca cola drinks and fruit, summer off hours and flexible working periods, learning allowances, then an incident of high performance is realized. This is because, most of the times employees may feel exhausted as a result of job involvement thus lowering their performance rate. In this company employees are encouraged to live a sustainable life whereby there is a green team that coordinates matters relating to environment, such as encouraging employees to undertake a cleanup at Thames River. Coca Cola Company always attract and retain the best employees, this is because they recognize that they need to invest in their development (Jesuthasan, 2011). In the performance management process program of the company, training and development are taken seriously. This culture has been embraced continuously invested over many years with the objective of strengthening the area of business performance thus placing advancement plans, internal management of various talents, leadership development for mangers and performance management relevant for the successes of the company. Piskurich (2002) explains that in performance management process of Coca cola Company, appraisal is a very important process in enhancing high performance working among the employees. This has consequently made this company to offer competitive package and motivating benefits so as to basically attract and retain the most talented employees that can drive the company forward in terms of performance. In this case, performance appraisal varies from a number of different elements like healthcare, additional holiday and pension. This forms a total compensation and benefits package for the employees of the organization. On the other hand, Pepsi Company has also been a good competitor of coca cola in distributing the Pepsi drink since they both offers the same products in the market. Similarly, Pepsi has to embrace the important theme of performance management and high performance working to ensure that they are also at par with their performance and avoid being beaten up (How Pepsi popped its top, 2010). With respect to training and development, Pepsi Company is committed to providing opportunities and strong experiences that strengthen their skills and capabilities. In their approach of training, a driver approach is set on career development in an environment of work force requirements thus boosting and encouraging high performance working in the company. Like coca cola, Pepsi Company continues its target on sustainable growth, hiring, retaining and developing competent personnel. This is also accompanied with highly skilled and a diverse work force. This company embraces the important of performance management whereby employee training is conducted to ensure that they are equipped with knowledge and skills needed to attain performance goals of the organization. In addition, like Coca Company employee engagement and performance is greatly attained by subjecting the entire performance to a scorecard (Jesuthasan, 2011). In this case, every employee is expected to deliver and achieve various targets for the company so as to maintain high levels of performance working. Unlike Coca Cola Company which applies the use of performance indicators to measure its employee performance both internally and externally, Pepsi Company embraces the importance of employee performance as termed as ‘people results’. In this company ‘people results’ rating is included in the company’s performance management process hence showing the great importance Pepsi company places on people management, self-development and team work so as to achieve high performance working from their employees(How Pepsi popped its top,2010). In addition, employee performance management in this company is also enhanced by a 360 degree feedback and processes of organizational health which goes ahead to provide the company with an insight to identify the rate of its progress in terms of performance management. In addition, Pepsi company’s dual performance ratings evaluate manager’s progress at establishing workforce strength through formulation and evaluation of both peoples’ and business goals. Therefore, to compel accountability, the organization relates the performance of each individual rating to merit increases and variable reimbursement thus ensuring people’s management remains the central focus of the managers’ activities (Piskurich, 2002). Practical Difficulties and Challenges Facing High Performance in Both Companies As much as Pepsi and coca cola are experiencing high performances and high performance working they still face practical difficulties and challenges regarding the same in their organizations. In the olden times around six decades ago, performance management was initiated as a source of income validation and was widely used to determine an employees’ wage based on performance. In this case, organizations apply performance to compel behaviors from the workers to obtain particular outcomes (Jesuthasan, 2011). Practically, this worked well for a group of employees who were exclusively compelled by financial rewards; however this could not work out in the present especially for those employees who are compelled by learning and development of their skills and knowledge. It is therefore noted that the gap between payment justification and skill development is a major challenge facing the two organizations. Pepsi Company encounters challenges such as lack of management support and role modeling. This challenge is mainly realized in energy and utilities department, whereby the mangers in charge of employee training cannot dedicate their time in performance coaching and development (Piskurich, 2002). This vice affects the company’s employee’s performance thus resulting into low returns. Secondly, Pepsi also faces the challenge of ease of use; where by the human resource in the media department tends to create barriers to effective performance management by making extensive changes. Nevertheless, the goals of this company should be clearly defined so as to allow managers to know how to evaluate employees thus there should be corporate wide goal alignment. Finally the challenge of evolving in a high growth environment is vastly experienced by the manufacturing department of the company. On the other hand Coca Cola Company also experiences practical difficulties in enhancing a 360 degree appraisal implementation. This is a major challenge to this company and hence, pulling them back in terms of high performance management. This company encounters inflated self assessment which is not the true picture hence recognizing the incompetency of the individual employees becomes a challenge too (Foster, 2008). Other challenges facing coca cola company in terms of employee’s performance management is the racial disparities in performance evaluation. This is a serious practical difficulty whereby African American employees are automatically given lower results of evaluation even if they excel in their performance. This shows that African American employees can not advance in their performance yet they are talented. Balanced Proposals on How These Challenges Can Be Effectively Managed Consequently, every organization must encounter difficulties however much they perform but this should not deter them from continuous performance and competing with the rest (Foster, 2008). The major challenges facing Pepsi Company can be managed and their impacts reduced to a certain level so as to enhance high performance in the company. The company’s human resource department should enhance management support and role modeling in a manner that performance mangers who are responsible for coaching and development dedicate their time to enable the employees to achieve high performance working in the company. With b serious time dedication to the employees training and coaching then the performance of the company cannot be in good progress (Piskurich, 2002). At Pepsi goals are ill defined at minimum, thus when there are clearly defined objectives, managers would find it easy and convenient to know how to evaluate various employees in the company thus encouraging high performance levels. Nevertheless, the human resource depart should not create barriers to effective performance management by over engineering or rather making prolonged changes but instead the department should embrace the act of embracing effective performance through open involvement with the employees at stake(How Pepsi popped its top,2010). Finally, there should be flexibility in the formulation of strategies that should enhance high performances so as to encourage good performance management. Foster, (2008) explains that some of the challenges concerning coca cola Company is lack of a proper criterion in applying appraisal in the entire organization and this makes most of the employees feel unsatisfied. The company should formulate a better appraisal system that incorporates every individual who contributes much better by dedicating his or her time in the involvement of the available responsibilities at the work place. In addition; the company should also come up with a proper and a thorough system of conducting self-assessment to its employees so as to enhance proper performance management. Piskurich (2002) suggests that when organizational employees are not well evaluated in terms of their performance they would not be subjected to the right standards that the organization requires them to match up with. This will therefore, result into what is termed as underperformance which is very sensitive for such a world class company. Finally, the company should be able to practice fair evaluation especially the performance mangers who tend to under evaluate African American employees thus showing a bad habit at the same time discouraging a talented employee who can perform well in such an organization. On the other note this practice creates a bad image to company. Strict measures should be put in place from individuals who subject their fellow human being s to a lot of racism at the work place. Inasmuch as the above proposal regarding performance management might be confining to change in some instances they are subject to discussion and implementation so as to ensure that the suggested ideas can eventually work out in line with organization cultures. Many of the old methods have been absorbed into the concept of performance management, which seeks to more extensive and comprehensive process of management (Jesuthasan, 2008). Some of these advancements like talent management, objective management, constant monitoring and review eventually need commitment to enhance performance hence these ideas should be practiced frequently. Apart from practicing these concepts, organization should also be able to determine strategies that can work within their environment of work rather than taking suggestions theoretically. References Foster, R. J., 2008, Coca-globalization: following soft drinks from New York to New Guinea. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. How Pepsi popped its top, 2010, Upper Saddle River, N.J: FT Press. Jesuthasan, R., 2011, Transformative HR How Great Companies Use Evidence-Based Change for Sustainable Advantage. London: Oxford University Press. Piskurich, G. M., 2002, HPI essentials: a just-the-facts, bottom-line primer on human performance improvement. Alexandria, VA: ASTD. Read More