Development of Knowledge and Skills at Work - Case Study Example

Performance evaluation report Name Tutor 09.05.2011 Performance evaluation report Introduction Ann has been working at Coffeeville as a salesperson for the last two years. This report seeks to put across the performance of Ann within this organization. In the report, various factors will be looked into in order to determine the performance. The report will comprise of a short history of Ann in the workplace, the people who are involved in the consultative processes during work allocation to the individual. There will be a set of performance indicators which have been developed for the purpose of following the performance of various employees in the organization, performance processes and feedbacks which are associated with the stated employee. Introduction Ann has been working in Coffeeville for a period of two years now. She is currently a salesperson a position she has held since her inception into this company. Coffeeville is a family owned business that is involved with sale of coffee and coffee products since the year 2008. The company is quite small as it employs 50 workers within its environs and an extra 20 people who are externally bound. Work Allocation The process of assigning work to the individual employees is the procedure of the management of Coffeeville. The manager in charge of human resources consults with the human resources panel and the person in charge of the affected department in order to discuss the work allocation process. The person in charge of the department is fully aware if the needs of that department and thus plays an important role in pointing out the necessary areas which need replacements or fortifications. After this, he consults with the management through the human resources department to determine who is to be allocated which area. Work performance One of the chief purposes of this report is to provide information concerning the important indicators in the behavior of Ann in terms of performance. After this step, it will be possible for any individual to picture her potential for growth in a clear and concise manner (Eraut et al., 2004). This will correspond to her development within this organization and how possibly that her potential can be maximized (Obert, 2005). In this report the following will be the aspects that will be used to measure her performance indicators. 1. The performance in the following components which are related to the job and are critical as well as suggestions which can be used to improve performance in the areas below; Productivity Work quality Teamwork Personal initiatives Problem solving skills Change adaption 2. The response that Ann shows in terms of stress related to the job, frustrations and conflicts 3. Motivations to sally 4. Ann’s motivational intensity Summary of the performance indicators In this chapter, the paper will look at some of the performance indicators for Ann in relation to the job components aforementioned. Productivity Ann takes her time in planning and also in organizing her work She takes the job responsible and is of the decision that people should be aware of their duties and expectations, She likes to work in situations where the goals of production are well defined She likes working in places where the people are cooperative Suggestion for Ann’s improvement in effectiveness Improve in time management, Avoid too many details which might be disruptive and make her lose sight of critical decisions, Identify her most loved skills so as to prioritize them, Attend to lower priority tasks only after finishing the higher priority tasks first Examine all the tasks for the modes which would allow her to accomplish all the tasks effectively and in a quick way. Quality of work She has a preference to specificity and details in instructions She demonstrates attentiveness to standards in particular to situations where those standards are supportive of the leadership qualities, She has shown to portray some frustrations when blamed for quality in results in particular at moments where she has little control of the factors that led to the poor quality results She is accurate and effective in her job and has proven to be someone who can be relied upon in a given job situation Improvement of effectiveness Set modes or means in which she can regularly check her projects for quality Always be aware of the whole picture of the various projects and also be aware of the deadlines to the projects Act in a way that portrays her as less guarded to avoid losing touch with creativity Be more realistic of the practical limits and also of the limitations that other people have Initiative When supposed or in the process of taking actions, she gets to be well informed In carrying out various pertinent tasks in the course of her duty, she consults from others who are more knowledgeable. She tries to seek out support though she portrays a lot of confidence in the knowledge that she already has When working out the details of a certain project, she is very systematic and closely oriented to the details of that project She considers herself of quite high expectations and standards and has shown frustrations at moments where other people are not portraying the same Improving effectiveness Consider taking more risks in work related strategies, approaches and also techniques Provide additional approaches to the way of doing things other than the ones which are comfortable to her Try becoming more independent in her duties and not just take any directives but ask the reason as to why Avoid becoming nervous of situations and instead be of high opinions Accept that making of mistakes is common and one becomes a success by learning from the mistakes Teamwork She has an appreciation to a place where it expected that all people attend to details in their respective vocations She does not welcome situations which she has little or less control and in particular to areas where she force to accept unwarranted risks In doing most of her work, she is I regular consultation with those whop are more experienced in the field She likes teamwork and takes it to be an important part of the course of work and not an advantageous position for her work. Improving effectiveness Be more assertive in particular while dealing with people and being in charge of situations when it is deemed appropriate Be in commitment to her decision and also in clear communication to the team of the way that she is reasoning Be in acknowledgement of her accomplishments while working with other people Appreciate that emotions are necessary in a work unit. Of most importance in such a case is avoid ignorance or suppression but be in recognition to the performance of the team in various ways Problem solving She is more subjected towards quality to such an extent that she would rather miss a deadline in order to maintain quality She appreciates a well organized plan and is always of the idea of a cooperative environment who can take in her need to call for all the details She has a stable style of solving problems and has consistence and emphasis on being correct She is consistent and determined to produce quality in her work situations Improving effectiveness Be on the lookout for extra innovations to the problems and focus for newer solutions In the lookout for solutions, focus on those with less showoff. She should focus on effective solutions instead. Take some risks in finding solutions to the problems Do not try to be over focused on your own solutions and ignore the ideas of others She should try not to be so much focused on the problems to an extent that she fails to think of the bigger picture to the problem Adapting to change She is very good in maintenance of the status quo and also the formalization of the change procedures She appreciates the opinions and the traditions which are common to various groups. In case there is a consensus that calls for change and change that is well managed and organized well too, then she advocates for the same She has a practical approach to change. She believes in specific and conservative approaches Sudden and haste instances of change may at times arouse her concerns and also her doubts Improving effectiveness Discuss how she feels about change and the way that change affects how she executes her routine vocations While in the process of undergoing change, she might show more stress than on normal occasions. She should be calm and composed during such instances in the same manner as she usually is during normal routines Give her an allowance to get back her energy as the stressful periods may be quite draining for her She is very challenged by productivity and focus during change as she is reliant on familiar routines to maintain her place of work Process adopted for assessing performance in the workplace The process used to evaluate Ann’s work performance is that of trait rating. This process allows for an individual’s work performance to be measured in terms of a given sets of traits (Viswesvaran & Ones, 1996). The process involved identifying a list of qualities and abilities and later measuring the employee’s performance in relation to each of the identified qualities. Each of the measure taken was given on a scale of 10. The chosen trait or qualities in this case were productivity, team work, quality of done work, ability to adapt to change, personal initiative, problem solving skills, communication skills, time management, attitude and overall performance. A rating of 1 to 10 was given to each of this trait depending on which rating I found best fitting for each of the employee’s traits. 10 was the highest scale of measure while 1 was the lowest. The main reason for selecting this process as my rating method of choice is its ability to give standardized ratings which can be contrasted and compared with ease. The method is also structured, easy to understand and use. Other than this trait rating is a popular and widely accepted measure of work performance. Feedback The following is a list on the probable feedbacks that are probable on the performance appraisal. 1. You have learnt the job very well and has also learnt the tricks of the job early too, 2. You have acquired the necessary skills relevant for the job in terms of the professional realm and the technical realm. It can be seen that you are using the skills towards the best performance of the job, 3. You have a steady performance; you have also indicated steady growth for the time you have been here. This is very positive 4. You have shown that you can use the best of your ability in terms of strength and has evidently shown that you can overcome obstacles 5. Your overall attitude and behavior with the other employees has a lot of professionalism in it. We are glad that you are part of our team, 6. You have quality communication skills and need to add some specialty in it so as to have excellent communication with the customers. 7. We feel obliged to admit that your time management skills are excellent. You have been able to portray timely delivery of your requirements without stress, 8. You have shown good performance in your work 9. You need to have an open mind in order to learn from other employees in the field so that they can give you advice that will be pertinent for your growth in the job. 10. You need to improve your relationship with the other workers well so as to fit well in the team. Trait 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Productivity Quality of work Team work Personal Initiative Problem solving Adapting to change Communication skills Time management Attitude Overall Performance The above summary of the feedback which has been accorded to Ann shows her strong points and also her weak points in the fulfillment of her duties in the organization. This can be used to help her in improving her performance in future in order to be an excellent worker. The main areas in which she should notable improve have been sequentially noted down in the performance indicators. Documentation Documentation is an important part of the process performance appraisal. Though it requires a lot of effort and time, the process of documenting is more beneficial than harmful. The process is important as it presents an accurate basis for which overall assessments and performance ratings can be given. If done effectively and properly documentation is an important way through which the employee will be able to understand her rating, both positive and negative. By giving the specific results, the documentation process will ensure that the decision made is on the basis of reasonable judgment and facts (Casio, 1998). Record keeping is also important as the ratings obtained for the employee can be compared to others that will be done in the future hence this makes it easier for one to assess of provided feedback for the employee to improve performance has been put into practice and if any positive changes are evident (Westerfield & Burt, 1996). Though feedback relating to a person’s performance at work is best given during the actual observation, there is need for a formal document to be written as a report for the appraisal feedback. This helps in reinforcing, summarizing and documenting all the informal observations obtained during the appraisal. Documentation for the feedback of this appraisal was done through an appraisal form. The process was done in such a way that it was very specific, precise and accurate. The appraisal form presents documentation for all the events, circumstances and facts relating to the employee’s process of appraisal. The process in this case entails identifying the various expectations for the performance and in turn assessing the employee on the basis of the expectations. The form is also inclusive of the outcome of the appraisal as well as the feedback given by the appraiser to help in raising or improving an employee’s performance in the various areas the employee has been found to be ineffective (Cleveland, et al., 1998). Other documentation examples include notes detailing held discussions between the employee and I, copies of the work product of the employee, copies of held communications and the observations. It is through this documentation that an assessment can be done to find out if set standards of performance have been met. From the information given, it is evident that documentation will not only be beneficial for the company but also for Ann who will be able to analyze the documented report, identify her weak and strong points, understand the feedback given and in turn be able to make improvements on her various weaknesses using the feedback given. Follow up on the feedback There are various ways in which a follow up was done on the stated feedback to the performance appraisal stated in the preceding chapters. Amongst the ways in which a follow up was done on the employee above was through asking of the colleagues. Some of her colleagues were engaged in questions which were directed at telling how Ann was doing in the job, this was done indirectly though as it would not augur well with the employee to know that her behavior was being followed up and. This would have triggered negative reactions from her which would be detrimental to the company (Willis, 2009). Another way in which a follow up was done was through conduction of another performance appraisal. In this case, a mini performance appraisal was conducted with more orientation towards the weak-points portrayed by Ann and also on the areas that was stated that she needed improvement. In the performance appraisal, it was possible to understand the places in which she had improved and it was also simple to tell the areas that needed more polishing up (Eraut, et al., 2000). Setting up of performance goals is another workable method which has been tried out in the following up of the feedback from performance appraisal. This is also possibly included with setting of personal development goals. Such goals focus on the abilities, skills, and the expertise of the employees. Conclusion This report has given out the performance of Ann, a salesperson at Coffeeville through a performance check by use of various processes. The report has been organized coherently starting with a small introduction of the history of the employee in the organization, followed by a description of the work allocation process and the performance indicators used in the organization which have been used as a guide to the performance of the employee within this organization. The paper has also looked into the possible feedbacks and a follow up on the feedback processes. References Casio, W. (1998) Applied psychology in human resource management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Cleveland, J., Murphy, K. & Williams, E. (1998) "Multiple uses of performance appraisals: Prevalence and correlates," Journal of Applied Psychology, 74(1), 130- 135. Eraut, M. et al. (2000) “Development of Knowledge and Skills at Work” in Coffield, F. (Ed) Differing visions of a Learning Society Vol 1. Bristol: The Policy Press. Eraut, M., et al. (2004) Learning in the Professional Workplace: Relationships between Learning Factors and Contextual Factors. AERA 2004 Conference, San Diego. Obert, O. (2005) Organizational Behavior and Industrial Psychology. New York: Oxford University Press. Swan, S. (1991) How to Do a Superior Performance Appraisal. NJ: John Wiley & Sons Viswesvaran, C. & Ones, D. (1996) "Comparative analysis of the reliability of job performance ratings," Journal of Applied Psychology 81(5), 557-574. Westerfield, K. & Burt, M, (1996) Assessing Workplace Performance Problems: A Checklist. NY: Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Willis, J. (2009) Report on Work placements 2007/08. University of Surrey, internal publication. Read More