What is Performance Management - Assignment Example

 Answers to Quiz 1 1. What is performance management? This is described by several authors as activities arranged in a logical manner by which the agency ensures that the goals are consistently being achieved effectively and efficiently. It is a continuous process of appraising the performance of the organization, a department or employees in accomplishing its set goals.(MacFarland, 1974, p441; U.S. Office of Personnel Management) Performance management consists of planning, monitoring, developing, rating and rewarding. Value to individual Its value to individuals is that they get motivated in their work performance, knowing fully well that they are involved in the planning and setting of the goals; therefore employees understand the goals, and the process needs of having it done. By setting a standard process of performance, employees know what is expected of them, and understand the responsibilities in which they are accountable for. Performance of employees needs to be monitored regularly as well to know how well they are doing their job. Regular monitoring is needed so that remedial measures can be acted upon immediately to reduce wastes and costs if work is found unacceptable. Value to management Results of monitoring determine the kind of development and training an employee needs. Training can be given to an employee to prepare his/her for higher responsibilities or just to improve his/her skills in her present work. At the end of the evaluation period that is usually set and agreed by employee and supervisor, a rating is given to the individual employee. A rating becomes an overall comparison between periods of performances to know improvement. Management, at times compares overall performances of employees. A top rating performer is usually rewarded by management with awards and incentives, usually done on a year to year basis. An example is the top achiever award for sales in the company which is awarded with cash incentives. [w.c. 299 words] 2. What is meant by “business is behavior”, what are unbreakable behavior laws; why is behavior considered the key to quality? Business behavior means ethical behavior in the conduct of business usually governed by the principles of right and wrongs of human conduct. In business, it is defined as the moral values governing business behavior and restrains companies from pursuing the interest of the shareholder at the expense of all other considerations”[tutor2u] I have inferred this law as the “Cause and Effect” that covers the “laws of belief, expectations, attraction and correspondence” (Tracy, B. 2002). These, I believe, are unbreakable, because it rationalizes causes why one is successful and an achiever, it gives justification for one’s status of happiness, and why there is prosperity and poverty in life. It is argued that when one believes truly in oneself and with firm resolve, this will become a reality. For instance, in starting a business, one should truly believe that it will succeed, therefore, he puts everything in all honesty, his best inputs, then, the end result is success because one acts always in consistent with what he believes in. The law of expectation is what you expect that is a self-fulfilling prophecy. Believing in oneself leads to expectations of success; therefore when this is related to management and to employees, your expectation to people determines your attitude in dealing with them. For instance, you should expect the best from your employees, and assume from the very beginning that they have the good intention in their work. The law of attraction is the work attitude of the manager that reflects to its subordinates, associates, and consumers because people are attracted to the manager’s behavior and become copious of behavior. To explain, this how the harmony of products and services work together thereby attracting customers, employees, suppliers, financiers and others to achieve the goals of the organization. The law of correspondence is the reflection of the inner world and corresponds with the dominant pattern of thinking. As applied to business, this is how the manager feels about the current situation in the business, both external and internal, and would correspond to his decisions and strategies to attain its goals. 3. What is pinpointing? How does pinpointing apply to performance management. What is meant by right pinpoint? What value does pinpointing have in managing performance. Dictionary meaning of pinpointing is to fix, determine or identify with the precision causes, as in pinpoint the cause of fire, pinpoint target, and pinpoint specific place. As applied to performance management, pinpointing refers to targeting the specific skills training needed by an employee in the performance of her work; while right pinpoint is being specific on the actual need of the employee. For example, requiring an accountant to take graphic courses is not necessary in the performance of her duty and would constitute irrelevant costs to management. Management should pinpoint exactly what training the accountant needs if she is groomed for a supervisory position or a transfer in another management position. The right pinpoint of skills training at the point is training in skills in management supervision, or advanced skills in financial accounting. If on the other hand, upon appraisal, an employee is found lacking of skills in her performance on her work assignment, re-training or skills enhancement is required. An employee found lacking in skills in computer and internet use should be sent for a re-training in computer technology that is the right pinpointing of development. Pinpointing is applied to performance management in a way that the appraisal process pinpoints the issues that affects the enthusiasm of the employee in performance of duties. Such a procedure addresses the symptoms of problems of employee performance within the group, or by him alone. What value does pinpointing have in managing performance Pinpointing has value in managing performance because it is used in monitoring that provides insight of what is happening within the organization. For instance, pinpointing could draw a conclusion on the inefficiencies of people within the organization, or other internal forces such as processes, services, systems, applications and infrastructure. Pinpointing enables management to draw data and isolate the real problem whether it belongs to personnel, business of infrastructure (Ching, D. 2011) 4. 4. What is performance feedback? What is its value for an individual? What is its value for an organization Performance feedback is a concept used in communication that gathers information about how employees are doing, then feed the information into the system to guide, direct and control (MacFarland, 1974, p.81).Specifically, it is a process going on between employee and manager wherein information is exchanged related to the expected performance and the exhibited performance. It is important for an individual because feedbacks can lead to rewards and praises because of good performance, or to correct poor performance. More often, this kind of feedback is called constructive feedback and is always tied with the performance standards set previously by the manager and the employee. Performance feedback is valued process in the organization because learning theories proved that performance of employees improve if they learn it form reliable source and it is relayed in an unthreatening manner (MacFarland, p.445). Employee responses on the appraisal or feedback given vary on the degree of his commitment to the goals of the organization. His reception of the feedback will also depend on his needs, attitudes and feelings that eventually affect his perception and interpretations on the appraisal received. So, it is important that management’s effort should be directed in compliance from the subordinate rather than ushering compliance from disciplinary measures because it will lead to resentment. 5 . What is a coaching manager? What do successful coaching managers do? What is meant by coaching mindset? What is a coaching dialog. How does coaching apply to performance management? What value does coaching have in managing performance? The coaching manager is a term used for managers who are dedicated in helping others achieve their goals, improve aspects of themselves or move forwards from where they are today (Tough, M. ) Coaching managers is slowly phasing away the old school of managers of command and control style management wherein the manager has the do-it-all behavior. Successful coaching managers want to achieve results and excellence through other people and develop his employees in order to attain expected business results rather than following their every move. A coaching manager helps other people opens opportunities for enhancing their own performance and he does this by supporting his people rather than telling them what to do. Coaching mindset is the environment created by the managers who insists on learning, independent thinking and opportunities to contribute. They are seen as a facilitator and the one who is taking the way for his employees to achieve the needed result. A manager-coach resists to be known as a solution provider. In doing this, he becomes a role model for others, as he has the ability to listen, communicate, and provide the proper perspective and encouragement while setting the high standards and expectations. Coaching dialogues are questions created to maintain open conversations with employees. These questions should be expressed to gain clarity, encourage acceptance of multiple solutions and points of view and to redirect negativity (Rose, J. 2008). It is often convenient to ask exploratory questions and let the employee do most of the talking. Very often, exploratory questions allow employees provide their own solutions to the perceived problem. For instance, questions like “what else”, what will you do next” allows them to think of the situations, the point of view and solutions to the problems at hand. It provides value in managing performance because coaching will help the employee see for herself the best options that came from her own admonitions. References Ching, David. 2011. How to measure the business value of you SOA implementation. Spotlight: Mainframe, SOA. Viewed 04 April 2011 http://www.mainframezone.com/mainframe-soa-spotlight/how-to-measure-the-business-value-of-your-soa-implemen MacFarland, Dalton E. Uses of Appraisal Results.Management Principles and Practices, 4th Edition, MacMillan Publishisng, New York. 1974, p441; . . . Systems Theory, Management Principles and Practices, p. 81 Rose, J. 2008. Performance coaching questions. Suite 101.com. viewed 04 april 2011 http://www.suite101.com/content/performance-coaching-questions-a71149 suite 101.com. Tracy, Brian.09 January 2002.The 100 Absolutely Unbreakable Laws of Business Success. Viewed 04 April 2011http://www.leadershipnow.com/leadershop/5107-4excerpt.html Tutor2u. Introduction to business ethics. Viewed 04 April 2011, http://tutor2u.net/business/strategy/business-ethics-introduction.html Tough, M. Coaching Employees. Silicon.com. Viewed 04 April 2011 http://www.siliconfareast.com/coaching.htm U.S. Office of Personnel Management. Performance Management, Overview. Viewed 04 April 2011 http://www.opm.gov/perform/overview.asp. Read More