Performance Management and Contingency Planning - Essay Example

Performance management Table of Contents Flow chart reflecting communication process in the department 3 2.Contingency Planning 3 3.Performance measurement 4 4.Consulting and coaching plan for non-performing employees 4 5.Method of informal and formal feedback 5 6.Legal and organizational requirements for termination 5 7.Appendix 1: HR consultation 7 8.Appendix 2: Counseling session 8 1. Flow chart reflecting communication process in the department In the above flowchart, the creator is the employee that has been hired by the pizzeria to manage its western outlets, where performance and sales have declined and staff turnover has increased. The creator, by using his skills, knowledge and abilities, structures the message associated to current problem in the pizzeria. The message is communicated to all employees through verbal communication channels such as, discussions, meetings and personal conversation. The current employees, who are receivers, decode the message, understand it and provide appropriate feedback to the creator regarding causes of high attrition and decline in sales. 2. Contingency Planning Plan 1- Employee turnover has a negative impact on business in context of reputation and profit. The company should undertake internal survey and feedback to understand causes of employee dissatisfaction. It is possible that the employees are not provided with sufficient training regarding the work or there is insufficient staff to carry out all activities; so, they are facing difficulty in this regard. Hence, after assessing the problem, requisite measures can be arranged. The company can also rotate employees in different outlets so that they have better experience of work. Plan 2- The second contingency plan of the organization can be motivating employees. The company can hire external consultant who can speak to employees for understanding any problem arising related to motivation. Employee morale and motivation can be improved through informal discussions, training, recreational activities and incentives. The company can switch employees from other successful outlets and help in reviving these outlets. 3. Performance measurement To measure performance in an organization, it is important to develop KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), which comply with organizational goals, integrate every department and are quantifiable. In Sunny Side pizzeria, indicators should be non-financial in nature as the company is trying to deal with human resource crisis. The performance indicators can be based on quality of service, social performance, innovation, behavior and customer satisfaction. In Sunny Side pizzeria, individual plans can be developed so as to assess performance of employees. The target should be determined and management ought to monitor the extent to which it is achieved. Further, profit of the pizzeria can be quantified as revenue per employee, profit per employee and delivery time per employee. The consumer can be asked to fill feedback forms regarding the employee serving them, which can be later analyzed by the management. Moreover, the management can monitor quality standard maintained by the employees. 4. Consulting and coaching plan for non-performing employees When a non-performing team member is reported, it is important to develop a holistic plan to deal with the problem. The foremost step is to assess the problem, which is cause of non-performance. Generally, such problems are situational, instead of being intentional. The management must obtain a clear notion of the areas of non-performance along with specific reasons. After identifying the problem, it is important to assess it on different grounds so that depth of the issue is understood. Generally, organization performs gap analysis to determine the time span for which the problem has persisted and its magnitude. The employee should be informed in advance about the problem and must be invited for open discussion where the employee can be accompanied by others having similar problem and otherwise. The management must speak to the trainer or team leader of the employee and discuss the requirement of coaching. Coaching involves clear explanation of the problem in management and organizational context. The employee should be convinced that commitment is very necessary for improving performance. The coach can outline ways to address the problem and develop suitable course of action for the employee. There should be absolute confidentiality maintained between employee and the mentor, so that trust is developed. The next step is to incorporate a monitoring system for monitoring performance of the employee. It is mainly the task of team leader and mentor to guide and track the employee through the new performance plan. 5. Method of informal and formal feedback Informal feedback is conveyed on a regular basis through verbal and non-verbal interactions. It is mainly provided through social sources such as, peer group, mentor, team leader and superiors. Such feedback is usually unplanned and unsolicited. Informal feedback is important as it often result in better performance of employees. This enhances the employee morale. The possible ways of informal feedback are regular performance report, short reports, periodical evaluation of employee outputs, informal peer assessment and quality spot checking. Formal feedback is pre-planned and is provided through formal mechanism. This kind of feedback is time bound, specific, owned by giver, delivered in a supportive environment and is followed by action plan. The methods of formal feedback are quarterly assessment and yearly appraisal, where the manager discusses performance of the employees with them and develop plans for further improvement. 6. Legal and organizational requirements for termination The termination of employment is the process of ending work relationship by the management with an employee under certain circumstances and is possible through resignation, mutual agreement, dismissal due to misconduct, death of employee, law operation (permanent disability to work or expiry of work permit) and court judgment. Different organizations and nations have separate rules regarding termination, but there are certain rules that are common. The company need to provide employees with details regarding probation period, retirement, provision for lay-off and short term services, flexibility and confidentiality clauses, disciplinary and grievance clauses and changes pertaining to employment along with employment contract. This ensures that the employee is well-aware of organizational code of conduct. The various reasons for forced termination can be under-performance, violation of confidentiality clauses, unacceptable behavior and violation of company’s code of conduct. For each of these, the legal implication is different and managers need to be updated with the same. The management must have sufficient evidence against employees that are planned to be terminated so that there is no scope for unfair dismissal and unlawful termination. 7. Appendix 1: HR consultation Feedback Response Situation 1: Poor performance According to the external HR consultancy, the company needs access to individual performance and undertake one-to-one conversation with under-performing members of the team. The employees can be either recommended training or given warning to improve their performance. According to HR manager of the company, waning can be too harsh on an employee and one-to-one conversation may corner the person among his peers and team members. Hence, open discussion should be done regarding the prevailing problem with the employee and corrective measures should be taken. Situation 2: Employee turnover The external consultancy suggested that turnover can be reduced by applying legal framework related to high turnover in the same outlet such as, deduction of collective payment, namely bonus, pension and so on and so forth. Additionally, the company should seek fresh hiring for filling the vacancies created. The HR department of the company believes that giving up employment is not a deliberate choice and hence, individuals should be treated with empathy. The company should have exit interview policy where employees can explain their reason for quitting their job. This will help in reducing future turnover as the company can understand problems prevailing in the system. Situation 3: poor customer feedback According to the external consultancy, if customer feedback is negative, then strict action should be taken by the management. The responsible sales team should be warned, incentives should be lowered and worst performers should be terminated. The HR team of the company disagrees with external review and feels that such a step will have negative impact on employee morale and productivity may worsen further. In such a situation, steps should be taken to have a clear understanding of problems faced by the consumers and explain to employees the ways to solve these problems. 8. Appendix 2: Counseling session Scheduling a confidential meeting with an employee The team member has to be informed well in advance about the meeting and confirmation should be obtained so that his/her other activities do not get hindered. Set and maintain positive attitude The employee should be appreciated for his performance while explaining him that the organization expects better from him, keeping in view employee’s growth potentials. Under-performed areas should be identified and clearly explained to the employee. Be cooperative, professional and focused The counselor should adopt calm posture and briefly explain problems to the employee without mixing personal opinion in his statement. The employee should be allowed to express his opinion regarding the problem. The two-way communication will better explain the problem and help in determining solution. Seek clarification The counselor must ask relevant questions to the employee and based on their conformation, understand the situation better. End on a positive note The discussion should be ended with positive impact on the employee. The employee should feel valued and consider the session as an opportunity for improvement. Summary preparation The counselor should prepare a summary of the discussion and keep a copy for official record, but as a confidential one. He should give the other copy to the employee. Follow-up The counselor may set-up monthly or quarterly follow-up sessions with the employee so as to monitor the employee’s progress. Read More