Performance Management - Financial Rewards, Positive Reinforcement, Recognition, and Promotion - Essay Example

Performance Management Job The organization is looking for suitable candi s to fill in the role of a sales person; generally, they will be required to ensure maximum sales profitability that will be achieved through effectively selling the company’s products. Their job description will involve the following; they will be charged with meeting and making connections with current and potential customers, ask them questions and give them advice on the products if so required. They will be expected to inspire customer to buy the product and create a lasting impression of the organization and purchase. While on the floor, they should ensure the fitting rooms and any other amenities are clear so that customers can access them quickly and with ease. They are responsible for strategic arrangement of goods on the shelves and shopping areas to ensure easy and convenient access. A sales person must be well versed with all the products in their department and they are encouraged to know about those in other departments. This way, anytime a customer needs assistance, it can be rendered expeditiously and on the spot. Within or without the shopping area, they are expected to maintain a professional attitude embodied in courtesy and enthusiasm for the firms products. When they interact with the customers who are the most important resource according to the organisations, they must create a good impression since they are selling “themselves”. They also must adhere to the code of ethics, which among other things states that they should be honest with the customer and managers at all time and should stick to organisational policy in terms of quality of goods service and interaction. They should also be accountable for all the items in the areas they are directly assigned and in this connection adhere to the loss prevention and inventory control procedures in place. Finally, they must be willing to perform all other duties as assigned, be highly reliable and always punctual. Organizational Behavior Plan Managers and leaders in organisations to bring about positive change in the behavior of their employees use an organisational behavior plan; this can be done by reinforcing good Behaviour through rewards or punishment found to be contingent on the performance (Robbins & Judge, 2012). In this context, the organisational plan will focus on strengthening three key behaviors for sales people; these are; Punctuality, which means people, should report to the work place and their assigned work positions on time. Honesty where employees are expected to be forthright with their managers about the scope of their work and how much they have sold without exaggerating or fabricating. Innovativeness; where employees are encouraged to come up with new ideas and strategies for convincing employees to buy products (Cassiman & Veugelers, 2006). The plan will set a standard where all employees are expected to be honest, punctual and have a degree of innovativeness. To foster honesty, the management should first determine the frequency with which exaggerated sales figures occur; for example, and after they are identified each will be examined based on how often it occurs or does not occur. In case an employee has been found to exaggerate their sales numbers or the number of clients they have spoken with on a given day, this can be used to determine their level of honesty. Such information can be acquired by comparing actual records with the statements of individual staff. To weaken the behavior management should reduce the percentage of commission one gets for products per week based on the level of inaccuracy in their reports. This way the propensity to be dishonest will be weakened and the Behaviour of honesty strengthened. On the other hand, punctuality can be strengthened by offering the earliest arrivals the best or the most popular points of sale where there are likely to be more clients and increased chance of earning high commissions. When employees know coming to work on time will increase their possibility of making extra money, they will be more willing to do so and this behavior will be strengthened. Finally, innovativeness can be measured based on how often an employee comes up with new ways of doing things. Innovativeness in the sale industry will likely lead to increased sales for the company and it is therefore very important that it is reinforced. This can be done by encouraging staff to come forward with any new ideas they may have and ensuring that all of the viable ones are explored and supported. Furthermore, should they result in increased sales for the store; the originator should be sufficiently rewarded to encourage them and other employees to be innovative. Measurements To determine if employee exhibit required job behavior, I would use qualitative or quantitative methods. Using qualitative, I will talk to them and ask them what they feel about the key behaviors and I if they believe they are living up to them. On the other hand, using quantitative method, I would collect data on the sales records to see if the numbers reflect improved adherence to the attributes of effective sales persons. Communication with employees Employees can be informed of new standards through direct communication in a meeting or else I could provide the information through billboards and personal emails addressed to each of them as well as departmental memos. Positive Reinforcement Financial Rewards Through positive reinforcement, managers can encourage their staff to maintain a certain behavior or strengthen it, positive behavior can be reinforced by giving the person in question a reward based on the impact of the action on the Organisation (Uduji, 2013). For example; the employee that make the biggest number of sales in a day, week or month depending on the company’s policy can be given a fraction of the profits from their sales. This will not only encourage them to be dedicated but also the rest of the staff who will desire similar rewards. Recognition and Promotion Positive reinforcement can also be achieved through offering praise or other non-financial recognition. Managers achieve this through a variety of methods, for example, they could have employees of the week badge or even T-shirt for the best performing individual in a given role. Furthermore, they could also give promotions and career progression opportunities to those that exhibit recommended behavior. This way, employees get to feel that if they adhere to they continue with positive actions such as honesty, punctuality, the result is positive, and therefore the action is reinforced. Ethical and Legal Issues When an Organisation has implemented change or new strategies, it is often with the intention of increasing profitability and productivity by the organization. However, this does not always work in the best interest of the employees and sometimes customer, which is why it is important for the managers in the Organisation to factor in ethical considerations. The disruption resulting from change can result in legal and ethical issues, which may by extension cause outcomes for the organization, had not planned. Considering a situation where an organization has instituted new standards where every employee is required to increase their sales volume by say 5% at the end of the first quarter. To ensure they comply, management proposes that all those who fail to meet this requirement will be laid off. This can result in a legal issue, as the firm will expose itself to the risk or litigation on grounds of wrongful dismissal and possibly breaching the terms of contract. While admitting that punctuality as aforementioned is a critical factor, management should also factor in the needs for various staff members so that they are not discriminated in the attempt to bring about uniformity in arrival time. For example, if in the company there were parents that need to drop their children off to school and these clashes with their arrival program it would be unethical to victimize them based on lateness. The best option would be to make local arrangements such that they can arrive at work after they have taken their children to school and perhaps compensate by working and extra shift on weekends. Otherwise penalizing them for doing their duty as parents would be both unfair and highly unethical showing the firm has little concern for employee welfare. Finally, the other legal issue that could affect performance management is the presence and content of performance contracts, as long as the employee has a contract; the management cannot implement a change that steps out of the bounds of the same. In addition, given most employees are union members; it is difficult to revise the terms without risking opposition and possible litigation. Therefore, if new management techniques and organisational strategies require employees to act outside the scope of their contract, they will have to be convinced to voluntarily agree to a new contract. Such arrangements come with legal requirements and the employee does not necessarily have to agree until the contract has expired. For example, if a sales person’s contract says they are entitle to a commission on condition they sell goods worth no less than 50% of their salary, management cannot implement new strategies that may increase this threshold unless the employee is willing to do so out of their own free will. References Cassiman, B., & Veugelers, R. (2006). In search of complementarity in innovation strategy: internal R&D and external knowledge acquisition.Management science, 52(1), 68-82. Robbins, S. P., & Judge, T. A. (2012). Organizational Behavior 15th Edition. New Jersey: Prentice Hall. Uduji, J. I. (2013). Positive Reinforcement: A Conditional Link to a Functional Salesforce Behaviour. Developing Country Studies, 3(8), 139-149. Read More