New Directions in Performance Management - Literature review Example

Performance Management Introduction The aspect of managing performance is an attribute that goes on without cessation. The critical part is allowing for the contribution of employees as a way of meeting the common goals of the organisation. In due time, the management must understand that employees always look for the different opportunities that will allow them accomplish their goals while at the same time playing a crucial role in the growth and development of the organisation. Management is essential as it makes it easy to control how to treat employees and respond to their demands. By having a good appraisal system, it is easy to conduct any form of negotiations and come up with a working formula. Discipline at the workplace has to deal with the correcting behavioural deficiencies at the workplace and ensuring that the supervisory personnel ensure the adherence of all rules as established in the organization. Conflict deals with the arising issues that create divisions due to the application of laws and regulations based on performance or employee appraisals. Managers use performance appraisal and management as a way of maintaining discipline and avoiding conflict with their employees since the success of the organisation depends solely on the cooperation of all stakeholders. Performance management and Appraisals The importance of carrying out a performance management drill is to allow everyone within the organisation to understand the importance of having common goals, aligned to the company’s mission and vision. The role of performance management is to understand what the business aims at achieving in the end. Employees understand their roles and the expectations as shown by their leaders, allowing them to align their personal goals towards the achievement of these goals (Bach, 2005). The central role of the management, therefore, is to develop a platform that contributes to the development of the organisation as well as enhance the skills and talents of the employees. It is also a sign of what the employees have achieved over the course of time, enhancing their morale to continue doing their best to achieve their goals. Further, they understand what to do with hiccups that may arise in the work place (Brown and Heywood, 2005). Issues of labour control will be sorted out by dealing with proper management of performance as a way of enhancing good relations within the organization. It also avoids any unilateral control tendencies due to the involvement of all stakeholders in dealing with issues at the organization. Appraisals are also imperative in evaluating the performance of these employees. It allows the proper evaluation of individual employees at their workstations as the managers try to understand the areas that require support and improvement. The goal is to provide the managers with the intended assess of the performance measures and indicators that are essential in the drafting of strategic growth of the society. In maintaining that the managers are the ones responsible for the procedural alignment of organisation’s objectives, resources and opportunities, appraisals allow employees to understand their role and interact with managers for the sake of their personal and organisational growth (Procter, McArdle, Rowlinson, Forrester and Hassard, 1993). It is an essential way of breaking communication barriers that could alternatively block the intended interactions between employees and managers. However, it could also result to legal implications if the manager does not handle it well. The specific code of conduct determining the interactions between managers and employees should be enforced as a way of understanding the impact such appraisals will have on the cultural diversity within the organisation. As such, they determine the relations in the organisation and play a crucial role in the improvement of performance across the divide (Redman, 2009). Essentially, appraisals are part of performance but are not performance management attributes per se. However, performance managers can use it as one the tools to manage performance in the organisation (Williams and Adam-Smith, 2009). This is for the reason that the performance management is a process that holistically looks at the collective contribution of the effective management of individuals and the team as a way of bringing together like minds that will raise the levels of organisational performance. One importance of conducting performance appraisals is to provide structured processes that employees can utilize to clarify their issues and discuss their concerns with the managers (Williams and Adam-Smith, 2009). However, its main limitation is that it can produce a negative experience if it is not done. Another limitation is the time constraints of conducting a successful appraisal. This can be overwhelming to both sides and lead to constraints. Broadly speaking, performance management involves many aspects that will eventually require the individual appraisal of each employee to determine the applicability of the overall aims of the organisation. Control and discipline Control at the workplace entails the proper utility of the available mechanisms to ensure that the there is reasonable risks to the safety and health of anyone at the workplace as a means of ensuring that everything is under control. It involves taking into consideration the working conditions, making consultations with the employees on the way forward as well as maintenance of the facilities and work environment as a whole. Discipline at the workplace has to deal with the correcting behavioural deficiencies at the workplace and ensuring that the supervisory personnel ensure the adherence of all rules as established in the organization. The main aim of discipline is to correct behaviour and set the precedence for any punitive measures as required by the law. One vital goal set in the performance management schedule is the utilisation of targets and goals. The aim is to create a useful means of enhancing motivation and assess of resources to employees as they seek to improve their performance. The manager will have different stipulations after an appraisal based on the results of each dialogue with the employee. The managers know which support to offer, where to get the resources, and how to realise the intended goals within the planned timeframe. The only thing the worker requires is to play the expected role and make sure the work is delivered on time. The main aim, however, is not to over rely on targets that may compromise other areas within the organisation (Walsh, 2005). The goal is to have a chance to meet the required deadlines within the expected timeframe without jeopardising the operations of the organisation. Simply put, the manager must understand the urgency of each goal before allocating resources to avoid misdirection of resources that could hinder the proper allocation of resources. Further, some of the targets could be hard to attain and end up de-motivating the employees from achieving their goals. The important thing, therefore, is to place great emphasis on doing performance appraisals right and managing performance based on the ideals of the organisation as a whole (Rankin, 2005). By placing such ideal goals and objectives and tasking different individuals and teams with their achievement, some managers could take that as a leeway towards the disciplining and control of employees. First off, the ideals of the workplace require the manager to be at the helm of any decision-making process as well as the utilisation and emphasis of the appraisal methods in place (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2008). Most organisations do not have laid out plans that will assist in the mitigation of issues as they arise amongst their employees. It is essential that the targets set have a definite means estimating the desirable behaviours that will lead towards the achievement of their goals. Ethical conduct should be taken seriously since the stakeholders need to see the results in advance (Dunn and Wilkinson, 2002). As noted earlier, the employers can create good rapports with the employees or instil fear and intimidation. Employers have an opportunity to mitigate the negative impacts that employees fear when seeking to attain the set targets. Most appraisals examine behaviours and that could lay a heavy emphasis on evaluations (Redman, 2009). If employees feel neglected or subjected to unnecessary tests, they could feel demoralised and deem the management as unfair to their cause. The targets set could also be aimed at discrediting an employee with an aim of having them dismissed. Therefore, the management has to work on establishing the right way of interacting with the employees, as well as determine the best way of measuring success in the organisation (Williams and Adam-Smith, 2009). Of importance is the mitigating the rise of any undesirable behaviours that will create some precedence to allow the employees understand the desirable behaviours. The aim of having managing performance is to limit project overruns that are less likely to occur when business objectives are lacking. The main goal is to create an environment that determines the work plan based on objectives of the organisation. The sales will grow exponentially as individuals already understand the measure of performance that will engage and manage reduction in the costs of operations within the organisation (Earnshaw, Margington and Goodman, 2000). This implies having to meet the inherent company goals that will push employees to work harder for timely results. The main aim of the manager in this case is to create a cap that will see employees yearn to reach and determine the amount of resources to be provided for its achievement (Fenley, 1998). The manager in this case is controlling employee performance by limiting outside interference and subjecting them to the agreed goals and objectives that see them obey the standards of operation. It also controls the projects to be undertaken in a certain period, meaning that money used has to meet the overall needs of the organisation. Another importance of conducting performance management and appraisals is to improve productivity. As noted, improving the productivity of any organisation rests on the accomplishment of goals and objectives within the set timeframe. Many organisations come up with strategic plans that range from short-term to long-term. This creates an urgency that employers must capitalise on to motivate employees. This could open room for some incentive plans that could work as motivators to achieve the inherent goals (Taylor, 2008). Importantly, the growth of the organisation allows the employees to benefit from increased revenue and compensation packages, which act as a way of appreciating their services. In most companies, employees receive special incentives, and this makes it easier to control their mindset. Psychologists understand the impact that motivation has, and managers use this as a way of control employees’ mindset into achieving the set goals despite the shortcomings within the organisation (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2012). Sometimes, employees have to spend longer working hours just to attain certain goals, while others have to use personal resources with the promise of greater returns. Even Ponzi schemers understand that the motivation they offer their employees will see them succeed. Thus, if applied well, motivation is a tool enough to control the way employees perform their work. It should also not threaten employee interests since it could only aim at rewarding certain employees and locking out the rest based on the department and objectives met (Fenley, 1998). The process of managing performance is cyclical and can deter employees from using different skills and competencies to achieve the same results. The processes range from performance planning to ongoing feedback, then the employee feedback, followed by performance evaluation and performance review. This then returns to performance planning which allows the employer to review employee expectations and determine their viability relative to the objectives in question (Brown and Nolan, 1988). The cycle limits the employees to what the managers will deem as the perfect mix towards the realisation of the intended group activities. The important note is to understand the impact these behaviours have on the employees and their effect in rating the teams in relation to the goals and objectives. Noticeably, the employees will only have to use the available skills to achieve the critical results (Coyle-Shapiro, and Kessler, 2002). Performance planning alone elicits different emotions amongst employees. It is the platform managers use to communicate their expectations and outline the needed behaviours in the organisation. The expected behaviours may be contrary to the beliefs of the employees, making it difficult to take into consideration the career advancement of the employees. If managers are autocratic in their style of leadership, employees will have to follow the stipulated rules without questioning their practicality. However, most employees will only prefer to remain in such organisations if they benefit as much as they expect from any activity (Cullinane and Dundon, 2006). In transformational leadership scenarios, employees are included in determining and setting the standards of operation that will ultimately provide them with the ideal development of organisational goals. Sometimes, the goals set are realistic but the lack of resources could delay the project. If the management does not deliver within the required timeframe, the employee may be blamed and in most cases de-motivated from engaging in such-like projects. Coming up with the ideal working space is quite difficult, though it implies streamlining communication across the company, both top-to-bottom and bottom-to-top (Guest and Conway, 2002). The highest-level managers will come up with division goals, the mid-level managers will develop unit goals, managers will develop group goals, and the employee has to make sure all the details are clear before looking for ways of implementing them. Line managers will assign duties to each employee meaning the top most goals will have to be reflected in the results attained at the bottom. This cascading of goals in the organisation determines the level of control of each individual, and determines the rate of achievement. This could be time consuming, delaying the start of certain projects as the employees have to wait for confirmation and release of resources from the top-most level (Guest and Conway, 2002). If feuds exist, the employees will suffer since they will always be late and have to work harder and around the clock to achieve the results within the stipulated deadlines. Some managers will take advantage of these appraisals to discipline employees for their laxity. Employees deserve to gain as much assistance and support from their employers as possible. Most of the time, the same employees will be responsible for the provision of the required results when deadlines hit. To avoid pressuring them and getting unfinished results, it is always important to offer them a chance to meet their daily goals and understand their plight (Atkinson, 1984). Disciplining employees may be a chance to cut communications as every employee will be worried when making any appearance during an appraisal meeting. The employers need to show the employee that everything is all right, and that the meeting is ideally a means of getting to know the employee better (Marchington and Wilkinson, 2008). Looking for shortcomings and pitfalls will only make it difficult to determine the real problems that affect the employee. Sometimes times, the employee is unable to meet deadlines since of a lack of resources. The managers are supposed to authorise the release and utilisation of these resources, yet castigate the employees when the work is unfinished. As such, employers should give the employees some time to express themselves and accord them the general assistance required to boost their morale. Given the importance of appraisals in the organisation, using it as a means of disciplining the employees will not necessarily meet the intended targets. This means that the facilitation of communication will be best improved by allowing employees to do away with uncertainty, hence a chance to understand the best way of achieving the intended goals of the organisation. Any orthodox or radical conflicts resolution methods in place must be used to enhance proper communication within the workplace. In essence, the performance improvement strategies ought to be communicated well to employees to avoid any misunderstanding that could derail their functionality (Rollinson, Handley, Hook and Foot, 1997). Appraisals should also play a huge role in determining the training needs of the organisation rather than diminish the ability of the employee to trust the employer for job security. At all times, the most vital attribute is the creation of strategic initiatives that ought to establish supervision attributes for the sake of employee career and goals effectively. If an employee is to benefit from the appraisal, it is essential to define the results and assure the employees of nothing but an ability to link the organisation to the employees’ goals and ambitions. The appraisal will serve as a chance to learn what employees’ ambitions are and push for the inclusion of the most common in the organisation’s objectives (Fenley, 1998). This way, the employee will feel part of the organisation rather than feel punished for having different ambitions. Promoting a spirit of communication across the divide will provide the employees with an opportunity to achieve and maintain performance without having to share their attention with other obstructions that could impede success. Recommendations and Conclusion In most cases, discipline is a result of the formalised procedures that influence the activities of these employees in an organisation. In most cases, discipline is based on productivity, and appraisals are seen as the main sources of the requisite data. However, as a leader, managing performance calls for a proper understanding of the employee, the workload, and the timeframes offered to assist in the achievement of the stipulated goals. Most of these employees are only ready to work under pressure if the incentives are acceptable. As such, dismissing an employee should be based on unwillingness to change rather than one-time appraisals that could lose the intended meaning (Hislop, 2003). The disciplining and controlling of employees should not be done unnecessarily as it deters them using their competencies and skills to assist in the development of the organisation. The employees will only adhere to the rules if they are aware of the managers’ intent to keep their communication channels open for ay correspondence. Leaders have deal with many issues, and most of them will ignore the formal and informal rules that dictate the way things take place in the organisation. Cultural tendencies inherent in the organisation should not be ignored at all, and any perceived threat to employee interests may render performance management an expensive activity. As Hislop (2003) notes, managing employees allows for the proper utilisation of available knowledge. I conclusion, employees have an opportunity to improve in their daily activities only if the employers are willing to give them a chance to excel. If the employers do not agree to such attributes, it becomes difficult to deal with the uncertainty of the workplace. However, as analytical thinkers and problem-solvers, leaders have to make good use of their inherent skills to deal with performance issues. This implies continuous management of performance as a way of maintaining high standards at the workplace. Employees are the key towards the growth of the company. Therefore, performance management and appraisals should not only be a means of controlling and disciplining employees but an opportunity to maximise on their potential. References Atkinson, J., 1984. ‘Manpower strategies for flexible organisations’, Personal management, 16(8): 28-31. Bach, S., 2005. ‘New Directions in Performance Management’ in S. Bach (ed. Managing human resources: personnel management in transition, 4th edition. Oxford: Blackwell: 289-316. 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