Performance Management System for Retail Sales Associates - Coursework Example

Performance Management Performance Management Introduction The basic task of the human resource function ofa business organization is to recruit, train and retain the organizations workforce. The workforce is the driver of the organization; they implement the decisions of the management of the organization in addition to executing the day-to-day operations of the organization. However, it is insufficient just to retain staff; they must be retained only if they perform according to the standards determined by the management(Grffin & Moorhead, 2010). The performance management system is a tool that the human resource manager can use to measure the performance of employees. This paper presents a performance management system for retail sales associates of a clothing and fashion accessories retail store. The ultimate goal of the system is to help improve revenue and customer satisfaction. Job Description for a Retail Sales Associate By virtue of you role, you will be the first contact the customer makes when they enter the store. As such, you will be required to possess adequate knowledge of the companys products. Your role will include, but not be limited to, the following: Welcoming the customer and determining their needs Discussing the variety of merchandise available at the store Recommending merchandise according to the customer’s requirements rendering advice the customer on the use and care of the products Advising the customer on specific products and services available at the store Explaining to the buyer the benefits of the merchandise based on the features of the merchandise Addressing the concerns of the customer and answering their questions Quoting prices and explaining to the customer the terms of payment available at the store Assisting in the display of merchandise Maintaining records of sales for purposes of inventory control In addition to these duties, you will be expected to perform any other duty the sales manager may assign to you from time to time. Compensation For a start, you will be remunerated at the rate of $8.00 per hour. However, based on your performance, this rate could be increased in the future. In addition, you’ll receive a bonus every time you exceed your weekly sales target by at least fifty percent. Organizational Behavior Modification (OBM) Plan Several key behaviors are necessary first for successful job performance of sales associates then for the realization of the goal of the performance management system(Haines III & St-Onge, 2012). Three of them are discussed here. The first is the habit of the sales associate updating their knowledge of the company’s products. Clients are impressed by sales associates who demonstrate deep knowledge of the products they seek to sell. This impression goes a long way toward influencing the customer’s decision to buy. By contrast, sales associates who exhibit ignorance of their company’s products are a put-off. Given that that the company carries new brands of merchandise from time to time, it will be necessary that every sales associate acquaints themselves with these brands. The second desirable behavior is the habit of going the extra mile(Grffin & Moorhead, 2010). Most sales associates will be happy and satisfied with simply helping the client locate the product they ask for when they enter the shop. It is a well-recognized fact that with a little calculated “guidance” of the sales associate, the client is likely to end up buying more items than they had intended. For instance, rather than selling a dress and stopping there, the associate could suggest to the customer a new brand of handbag. Even then, suggesting alone is not adequate. The sales associate could walk the client to where the handbag is located, pick it up and let the customer hold it as they explain its benefits. In the end, the customer is likely to buy the handbag even though they had not planned to. The third desirable behavior is teamwork among the sales associates(Haines III & St-Onge, 2012). Teamwork will enable them to share their experiences on customer behavior, tastes, and preferences. Moreover, by sharing ideas among themselves, the sales associates will learn ways dealing with common challenges they encounter their work. These shared experiences, when shared with the sales manager, are more meaningful than if individual sales associates reported their experiences piecemeal. The sales manager can then use the information to devise ways of enhancing the experience of the customer. This plan will benefit the organization by ultimately increasing sales revenue and profitability. If the sales associates can adopt these behaviors, they will be able to give the customer a better shopping experience at all our stores(Harrison, 2000). A happy customer is likely to be loyal to the organization and its products. That way, the money the customer would have spent at our rivals ends up being spent at our stores. In addition, the satisfied customer is likely to talk favorably about our company to their friends, family, and workmates and refer them to us. In this regard, it a well-recognized fact that is much easier and cost-effective to sell to a repeat customer than to a new one. Hence, besides improving revenue and profits, this plan will also reduce the costs of selling. Measuring Job Performance Behavior Given that the ultimate goal of modifying the behavior of sales associates is to improve revenue and customer satisfaction, these two parameters are the surest way to measure the extent to which the sales associates are embracing the desired behavior. With respect to customer satisfaction, the sales department should encourage shoppers to give feedback on their shopping experience at the companys store. Emphasis should be placed on how customers perceive the sales associates. However, the sales management should take care to assure the customers that their feedback will be taken seriously and acted upon. Otherwise, the customers could develop apathy toward the feedback system(De Waal, Hafizi, Rahbar, & Rowshan, 2010). A positive rating for the sales associates would indicate improved behavior and vice versa. On improved sales revenue, it is expected that at the end of every week, every sales associate gives their sales report to the sales manager. All that the sales manager will need to do is to compare sales before and after the introduction of the OBM plan. An increase in sales would be indicative of the adoption of positive behavior that encourages customers to spend more at the stores than they used to. On the converse, if sales remained the same, this could an indicator that the OBM plan is ineffective. If, on the other hand, sales declined, this would indicate the OBM plan is grossly ineffective, hence the need for speedy remedial measures(Haines III & St-Onge, 2012). In order to communicate the new standards of behavior, the sales manager could resort to two methods. The first one would be through meetings regularly held between the sales manager and the sales associates. Meetings are especially effective because they allow immediate feedback(Harrison, 2000). For instance, where the expected behavior is not well understood by a sales associate, they can ask for clarification right away. In addition, because the meeting will bring together all the sales associates and the sales manager, they can make it clear that the new standards apply to all sales associates at the store. Otherwise, holding separate meetings would breed suspicion and mistrust among the staff as some would think that the new standards are being applied selectively. The presentation of the new standards of behavior at the meeting should be followed by a letter addressed to each sales associate. The latter adds weight to what was discussed at the meeting. At the same time, the letter should explain why the company is introducing the new standards of behavior. It should also outline the desired goal of the new standards. In addition, the letter should explain to the sales associate how they stand to benefit from the new standards(Haines III & St-Onge, 2012). For instance, if a sales associate is able to increase sales as a result of adopting the new mode of behaviour, they increase their chances of exceeding their sales targets such that they are entitled to their bonus. Feedback Plan There are several ways through which the sales manager can give feedback to sales associate on how they are embracing the new standard of behavior. Two of these are proposed here. The first one is feedback through coaching based on strengths(McShane & von Glinow, 2007). This method allows employees to focus on their strengths as opposed to requiring them to develop new abilities. Managers are more effective when they dwell on the strengths, not weaknesses, of their employees. Thus, while helping each sales associate work toward the realization of the three desired behaviors, the sales manager will do due diligence to identify each sales associate is good at then dwell on that. The second way the sales manager will give feedback is through what is called multisource feedback(McShane & von Glinow, 2007). This is a social way of providing feedback that is increasingly becoming popular in organizations. The method collects and delivers feedback from the entire circle of people that includes customers, subordinates, peers, and supervisors. This method tends to provide more comprehensive feedback than if the feedback came from the supervisor alone. The method is especially useful where the supervisor is unable to monitor the behavior of a sales associate throughout the year. The method also affords junior employees a greater sense of impartiality when they can give feedback on their seniors. There are many ways the organization can use to encourage positive employee behavior. They all fall in either of two broad categories: positive reinforcement and negative reinforcement. As the latter has been proven to be ineffective, the two methods proposed here fall in the category of positive reinforcement(McShane & von Glinow, 2007). The first is monetary reward in the form of a bonus every time a sales associate exceeds their weekly sales target by at least fifty percent.It is believed that this incentive will motivate most of the sales associates to work toward the realization of the desired organizational behavior. The bonus awarded should increase with the salesperson’s increase in sales above the minimum required of them. The second method is to recognize, at the end of the year, those sales associates that consistently exceed their sales targets(McShane & von Glinow, 2007). The sales associate who emerges tops will be given the title “The Sales Champion of the Year”. They will hold that title until the end of the next financial year. This strategy should motivate other sales associates to work harder. Having said, it must be quickly added that different people are inspired by different types of rewards; not everyone is motivated by monetary rewards. Thus, the sales manager should go beyond what is recommended here and establish exactly what motivates each associate. The employee who gets rewarded according to their motivation feels more valued than if a reward was imposed on them. Legal and Ethical Issues that could Impact the Performance Management System Laws enacted by national and state governments play a major role in defining the external environment within which a business operates(McShane & von Glinow, 2007). The process of complying with laws can be very tedious and time-consuming. Failure to comply with them, on the other hand, can result in statutory fines and legal suits by individuals and corporations. Compliance with laws can be particularly difficult in a country where every state or region has its labor laws. Under these circumstances, a company will be required to comply with the law that govern employment in all the states or regions where the company operates. In the United States, for instance, differentstates have different laws that govern employment. These laws include those that define the minimum wage an employer can pay their employee. These laws will have a bearing on the way this system is deployed. The second legal issue relates to taxation(McShane & von Glinow, 2007)(De Waal, Hafizi, Rahbar, & Rowshan, 2010). Taxes constitute a major expense to a business organization. Where taxation rates are too high, they may impact negatively on this system. For instance, in order to maintain its margins and still comply with hefty taxes, the company may decide to slash the hourly rate and bonus it pays sales associates. The company will have to do this while keeping an eye on minimum wage requirements. Besides legal issues, there are also ethical issues that may impact this system. For example, the desired behavior that requires sales associates to go the extra mile to get the customer to spend the extra dollar at the store could amount to pressure selling if not well executed(McShane & von Glinow, 2007). Pressure selling refers to a situation where the sales associate applies undue pressure on the client such that they influence their purchase decision and behavior. Pressure selling often results in the customer buying more merchandise than they actually need. In the example that was given earlier involving a handbag, it may be the case that the client has so many handbags that they do need one more. However, because the sales associate prevails on them, they decide to buy one. Hence, there is need to train sales associates, so they do not overstep their mandate with respect to this matter. Conclusion Time and again, it becomes necessary for a company to modify the behavior of their employees so that they are compatible with the goals of the company. Even as economies and firms recover from the adverse effects of the global economic downturn, it is necessary for the company to take measures to expedite the recovery and restore earnings and profits to what they used to be. It is against this backdrop that an organizational behavior modification plan has been prepared. The plan especially targets the sales associates. The plan suggests the adoption of behaviors that if implemented could lead to increased customer satisfaction and revenues. In implementing the plan, however, the company will have to bear in mind legal and ethical constraints. References De Waal, A., Hafizi, R., Rahbar, A. H., & Rowshan, S. (2010). Studying Performance Management in Iran Using an Adapted Performance Management Analysis. Journal of Transnational Management, 15(3)246-264. Grffin, R., & Moorhead, G. (2010). An Overview of Organizational Behavior. In R. Griffin, & G. Moorhead, Organizational Behavior: Managing People and Organizations (pp. 1-28). Mason: Cengage Learning. Haines III, V., & St-Onge, S. (2012). Performance management effectiveness: practices or context? The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 23(6) 1158-1175. Harrison, R. (2000). Learner managed learning: managing to learn or learning to manage? International Journal of Lifelong Education, 19(4) 312-321. McShane, S., & von Glinow, M. A. (2007). Organizational Behavior: Emerging Knowledge, Global Reality (6th Ed). New York: McGraw Hill. Read More