Performance Management in the Context of United Arab Emirates - Case Study Example

Performance Management in the Context of United Arab Emirates Introduction Performance management includes activities that ensure goals and objective of an organization are met. The activities should show the most effective and efficient way of achieving this objective. Performance management will focus on employees, management or the organization as a whole. The process is mainly concerned development and individual performance (Bacal 16). The phrase performance management was coined by Dr.Aubrey Daniels in 1970s. It describes methods of managing results and behavior of an organization. Performance management is used in places where people interact and especially the workplace. Any environment where people interact to produce desired results, performance management will be needed. Performance management in the United Arab Emirates is the same as in the other country. The only difference is the influence of Islamic culture in some practices. Performance management will be used by organization to reconcile the employee goals to those of the organization. It can be applied to a section in an organization, a department or on the whole organization. Self-propelled performance process is the most appropriate term for performance management. In performing this management, the first step is drawing a job mission. This defines the job in terms of product, customer and scope. The aim of this is to determine continuous standard performance of each job position. After job analysis, work analysis is done. Here the analysis focuses on reporting the structure and description of the job. The aim of the analysis is determination of continuous critical objectives. Performance management requires the management to act like partners with the employees to achieve similar goals. The results of this performance management will give an insight regarding the effectiveness of a HR department (Shamali &John 105). Performance management should be conducted by people who have good interpersonal and interviewing skills. Benefits of Performance Management to Employees It assists in employee career advancement. During the execution of performance management the information gathered will be used by management in career panning for employees. Employee aspirations are clarified and sometimes integrated in the organization process. Most of the United Arab Emirates organizations are concerned with career advancement for employment. The company’s potential is highly affected by the employee qualifications (Bacal 63). Advancement will be by training and sponsorship for further studies. UAE organizations should advance the career of both genders regardless of the Islamic teachings and limitations. This calls for maintaining a balance. It is a way to motivate employees to perform. Managers will use performance appraisal to motivate workers to work even more efficiently. Job satisfaction, which is the feeling an employee has about their functions in the organization is a component of this kind of performance management (Armstrong 239). Motivated employee will have a positive attitude towards their responsibilities in the organization. UAE organizations are very concerned with motivation of employees and retaining their employees. Motivation will be tangible (monetary motivation) and intangible. It improves self-confidence and increased participation. When performance management has good results on performance of employee will boost their self-confidence. One of the main aims of performance management is evaluating the efficiency of the organization in the achievement of goals. The UAE public sector ensures all the employees in their workforce are evenly involved as this will motivate employees (Shamali &John 67). Motivation and increased teamwork also translates to good outcome of the companies. Performance management strives to ensure that all employees get fair treatment. It highlights the need of treating all employees fairly and equally. UAE, being an Arab country, must ensure that female employees in an organization are treated equally as other employees of the organization.it requires equal chances in promotion, remuneration and other opportunities. Performance management ensures there is better working environment. It obliges the management to provide a safe working environment for all the employees. UAE organizations, both in the private sector and public sector should provide a safer working environment. Benefits of performance management to managers It promotes better communication channels with the employees. Communication between the employees will facilitate achievement of organizational goals. Communication is very crucial and performance management will enhance efficiency in communicating. Managers in United Arab Emirates need to have policies that allow free flow of communication between employees and the management. Performance management enables the management to have better knowledge of employees. The managers obtain details about employees. This information helps the management in dealing with individual employees. UAE managers should use the information on employees in motivating them individually. Most of the companies in UAE are already embracing this approach. It promotes better conflict management. Conflicts in the organization are solved within the firm by the managers. Employees are expected to channel their grievances to management through the improved channels of communication. Organizations in UAE have at their disposal Islamic teachings together with performance management solutions in managing conflict. It is also evident that performance management improves individual/departmental performance. The managers gain from improved performance as it will result in increased output. Benefits of Performance Management to a Company According to Armstrong, performance management helps in alignment of objectives and goals. The main purpose of performance management is to consolidate the organizational goals and get employees to work towards them. Managers must ensure that their employees’ personal goals directly contribute to achieving the goals of the organization. Managers in the United Arab Emirates should have in mind the goals of employees while making decisions to avoid conflicts of interest. Alignment of goals ensures that employees are working towards the realization of organizational goals. Employee goals give the managers base of evaluating them against the goals of the organization. Most of the UAE firms ought to encourage individual goals to employees as long as they are in line with the organization (Singh 34). It provides a benchmark for performance measurement. The focus of performance management is gauging the individual abilities and talents. Managers use the information in decision making and actions to undertake to an individual. Performance management increases performance by department or an individual. The aim of performance management is to grow the output of person and consequently that of the organization. A good performance management application identifies development areas and individuals strengths and weaknesses. Utilizing the results of performance management involves identification of developmental programs for employees by the management. Problems will be identified and corrected before having major obstacles to the attainment of organizational goals. Majority of the United Arab Emirates organization uses Quran teaching to guide employees in performances and performance management systems. Improved communication is an aspect synonymous with performance management. Performance management improves communication between management and subordinates. Planning interviews and feedback provide channels for communication. Communication offers managers with a channel to communicate the goals, strategies and policies to subordinates. This facilitates the alignment of their output with that of the organization. Subordinates express their views and suggestions to management through communication. It also provides subordinates with a chance to discuss their goals with the management. It is a performance indicator. Performance management indicates specific outputs which must be met by the organization before expiry of a period. An employee will have a clear understanding of the output he or she should provide. If applied correctly, valuable information will be provided regarding developmental areas of employees. After performance management, managers use the information to plan for further training of an individual (Singh 77). Performance also acts as a benchmark regarding past performance and the effect on the subordinate output performance. Performance management information is used in career planning and during a succession. It aids in clarification of the management’s objectives and roles in an organization. The information also helps management in making developmental plans for subordinates (Bacal 102). The most recent requirements and specification of a job are provided by the performance management systems. These systems can also be used to select the most suitable candidate for a job. Performance management has so many benefits. The system has some limitation in its implementation. The negative effects can be seen in the UAE context. There have been cases of decreased performance in UAE companies. These negative effects are transferred to the employees and indirectly to the organization. It mostly causes decreased performance in employees. This decrease of performance is attributable to the following; Lack of adequate training to managers and subordinates. Lack of change management systems Lack of proper addressing the change in culture of the organization. The managers in some companies are not well aware of the business or organization cultures in UAE, especially foreign managers. High levels of subjectivity during the process. Using performance output reviews to get back at employees. Inadequacy in addressing the whole process and the advantages to the employees. Inadequate conformity in regards to performance management systems. Inadequate management commitment. When the management uses performance reviews as on way disciplinary interview, it impacts negatively to employees. When subordinates feel that the review is just a way by the management to reminding them of the wrongs done then subordinate will be opposed it. Performance management should give both negative and positive feedback. Negative feedback will be used to focus on the improvement of the employee’s performance. Many UAE organizations are faced with this problem. They ought to recognize and act appropriately otherwise the benefits may be short lived. The intensity of management dedication in performance management system determines its success. Adequate support of top and line managers ensures success of the system. The subordinates must feel the committeemen of management for them to improve on performance. Subjectivity in the performance management process can be fatal to the process. Management should refrain from subjecting a particular individual. Subjectivity decreases the performance of an individual instead of increasing it (Armstrong 134). The issue of subjectivity is very rampant in UAE especially to female workers. Performance management is likely to have no effect if there is no reward. Employees must see the actual benefits of the process. The reward system in some UAE firms is not very fair to all the genders. When managers have a wrong attitude towards performance management, the following effects are likely to emerge; Conflicting objectives in regard to performance evaluation. Inadequate knowledge in making the objective performance standards. Incorrect distinction between which responsibilities of the subordinate which they can control and which they can’t. Subjectivity in communicating the performance results to employees. De-motivating employees. Use of performance evaluation to reprimand employee’s bad performance. Negative attitude of the employee will be due to; Inadequate understanding of why performance is being evaluated. The process having no objectivity and fairness. Subjective measures implemented during the evaluation. Evaluation focusing an individual instead of the output. Lack of implementation after performance management process. Conclusion A good and effective performance management will have the following benefits to the organization. Strategy of the organization is better communicated and understood. Increase of bonuses and pay is on a fairer basis which consequently motivates other employees. The appraisals will help in management in manpower planning. Formulation of an effective training plans to subordinate. Generally UAE employees will show high levels of commitment to the organization if proper management. There is a need to change human resource management to ensure employee satisfaction in many of the UAE organizations. Works Cited Armstrong, Michael. Strategic human resource management a guide to action. 2nd ed. London: Kogan Page, 2000. Bacal, Robert. Performance management. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1999. Print. Shamali, Ali, and John Denton. Arab business: the globalisation imperative. London: Kogan page, 2000. Print. Singh, Satyendra. Business practices in emerging and re-emerging markets. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008. Print. Read More