Alignment of the Performance Management Framework to the Organizational Business Strategy - Essay Example

Introduction

Hallo Tracy, I am concocting some recommendations founded on your present business and company strategy to enhance performance. In my capacity as a consultant tasked with formulating a performance management plan, I will highlight the various subjects pertinent to this task so as to come up with a performance management plan that will be used by the organization to find areas that can be enhanced and improved as well as exploiting other areas of great expertise. It is my understanding that the organization is engaged in the commercial construction business. It is also my understanding that the company has annual net revenue of $10,000,000 and has plans to expand further in the State of Arizona, as the company feels that they have enough capacity and has conducted a feasibility study that points to great business opportunities in the State of Arizona. It is also my understanding that in the current location in Detroit, Michigan, the company has currently employed about 650 individuals and is planning on adding approximately 130 more employees to work in Arizona. With a turnover rate of about 20% and a revenue growth rate of about 3%, it is important for the organization to formulate a strategy (performance management plan) that will minimize turnover and maximize revenue and performance. The following is an analysis of the listed subjects that define the organizations' overall performance management plan.

Alignment of the Performance Management Framework to the Organizational Business Strategy

If the company desires to succeed in business through aligning business with performance management strategy, it needs to have the right tools. In today's world, performance management solutions offer a wide-ranging suite of competency measuring tools, i.e. a lot more than just appraisals and performance reviews. They need to assist employees to comprehend how they can enhance their talents and skills. Within this context, technology plays a huge enabling role. However, buy-in and commitment from the top down are important for deriving high-performance organizational culture (Moynihan, 2008). If performance management is approached with the seriousness it deserves by the senior management team of the organization and subsequently leading through example, then, there's probability for this to flow down to the rest of the organization.

It is no secret that performance appraisals are equally important and play a significant function in the overall goals of performance management. The appraisals serve as instruments to assist employees to enhance their overall standards by assisting them in realizing their full capacities and additionally avails important information for the organization's decision-makers to effectively apply in their operations. Performance appraisals additionally provide the underlying factors why organizations experience resource flight and high turnover rates. Appraisals additionally assist organizations to spot organizational challenges, provide developmental needs and provide feedback to staff members.

The strategy is to recognize the best top performers within the organization to take part in talent management programs by using objective data rather than subjective data. This process comprises ensuring that pertinent competencies are installed to evaluate employees against the set policies, procedures and criteria and subsequently install an organized career development assessment plan to empirically evaluate potential. As noted earlier, this process needs the organization to execute these programs using the right kind of tools – psychometric assessment tools.

Through the MBO (Management by Objective) strategy, the organization can establish the necessary goals and objectives that staff members require for accomplishing the agreeable set standards by the management and the employees as well. In this regard, my suggestion is to have a framework for receiving client feedback and company self-appraisals through direct supervisors to assess the organizational performance. Direct supervisors are usually the most acquainted with personal performances within the organization and are additionally tasked with punishing and rewarding good performance. Individual-appraisals provide the staff members with the chance to evaluate themselves about their overall job performance. It offers the chance to be engaged in the performance appraisal program. Clientele feedback is significant for effecting internal organizational decisions, for instance, training and transfer needs and demotion /promotion.

Organizational Performance Philosophy

The construction company is committed to creating a performance management system that is inclined towards rewarding employees who exhibit good performance. The organization is also committed to aligning employee’s performance efforts and their superiors, enhancing consistent performance with their reviews, and assists in motivating staff members perform their duties at their highest level. Clients, employees, and supervisors are a partnership that guarantees performance development, reviewing and planning. It is developed to assist people accomplish their organizational targets and always endeavor to succeed.

In this regard, it is, therefore, my recommendation that the organization develops a culture of employee-driven brilliance. In line with this proposal, the company will thus be required to train, hire and recruit the best individuals for every position within the organization, from the Chief Executive Officer to the support staff. The company's higher levels of management need to commit to working towards enhancing performance management programs on a daily basis and not to act when there are matters arising. Given the different complexities to such an undertaking, every individual needs to be prepared to rise to the occasion when called upon.

For this framework to be operational and successful, it needs everybody to understand it in totality so as to engage it in a manner that will utilize it to its maximum capacity. It, therefore, necessitates that all company executives and management staff be trained extensively, particularly in embracing organizational objectives, how to engage the employees in a constructive manner and elicit their response in a non-provocative way and methods of assessing the program's effectiveness. In addition, it requires that managers be trained on how to encourage good behavior and manage bad behavior in an ethical manner and line with the company's good practice policies.

Managers and business executives at times get too busy handling the day-to-day activities and tasks and in the process overlook the performance management tasks, keeping them at bay for extended periods; to act on them only in cases of need. In instances where the company's managers allow this trend to persist, bad performance and undesired conduct start becoming a habit and transitions to become the company culture over time. It becomes too difficult to amend especially if the behavior has not been addressed in good time. It is therefore very important for top managers to pay close attention to their line managers and avoid such a thing from happening.

Job Analysis Process

A job analysis process is one of the most fundamental aspects of a performance management plan. The job analysis process comes only second to the goal/objective setting process within an organization. It is in this respect that the job performance appraisal process comes into play. A company's performance management framework needs to be monitored and implemented keenly; therefore, managers and company executives do not just stop at the development process. When an organization commits to implementing the monitoring systems, it has to put the right mechanisms in place to assess the performance; a process that begins with the formulation of performance standards.

Scholars have argued that performance appraisal standards translate job needs into levels of unacceptable or acceptable employee conduct. In their capacity, they play a vital function in the evaluation job performance appraisal link. Every position in the company from bottom to top needs to have a well-thought JD (Job Description) that needs to highlight the tasks involved, the qualifications needed for the job, why the job exists, the modes and the manner through which the job will be done and physical and mental tasks are involved. A well-formulated JD includes the job objectives and explains how they are related to the other positions within the organization.

So as to perform a proper job analysis, the organization needs to put into consideration the required skills for each staff member in each job title. People can comprehend what the most important tasks of the process are by assessing the job. The job analysis process needs to incorporate the descriptions of all duties of the individual performing the job, the required qualification for the position and the nature of the task. This process of defining the main tasks and duties of every position assists in benchmarking all the jobs and one can classify them (Armstrong & Baron, 2000).

The determination of various job qualifications for every post will assist in assuring that the right candidates have been selected. Having a full understanding of what to expect and the nature of the job outlines the performance threshold. A job analysis needs to incorporate the evaluation of the various kinds of tasks required if taken. Within the construction realm, the nature of the various tasks would require the expertise of structural engineers, architects, designers and many other individuals involved in the construction business. This would require the people hired to have a background in construction knowledge and expertise. Developing a job description would specify various standards for a specific position. It would additionally entail the identification of main skills required and also rating them appropriately. It would also assist in the determination of the suitability and the level of certain skills; i.e. if the skills are needed at the beginning or the end of a certain task.

Methods used for Measuring Employee's Skills

There are many methods of measuring the level of skills with staff members when it comes to matters regarding performance appraisals. In the US, the commonly used method is the MBO (Management by Objective). It is dependent on setting for establishing organizational objectives in a comprehensive manner, for all departments and every leader within each section and every staff member. The management as well as staff members need to convene to deliberate on the objectives and come to an agreement on the most appropriate one in a certain given period as to when to finish the job.

Being exact concerning the task allows the organizational goals and objectives to be assessed in a manner that is attainable. After deliberating on them and coming to a sensible agreement, assessors need to formulate a timeframe for reviewing them. When discussing the objectives, the organization's officials should agree on how and when the objectives will be executed. A good example is the application of the graphical rating scale, which uses less time in measuring objectives. This method rates organizational objectives on a point basis, which is quantifiable. Then the organization can evaluate where an individual surpasses expectations and where there is need to make improvements (Rummler & Brache, 1995). Together with the MBO, BARS (Behaviorally Anchored Rating Scales) may additionally be applied in analyzing critical events. This method makes assessments of the specific occurrences and makes comparisons between these events and the average.

Process for Addressing Skill Gaps

Carrying out the skills gap analysis will assist in the identification of definite skills requirements for the completion of various tasks and then make comparisons between the skills needed and the current level of requirements. The organization should start by conducting skills assessment for determining the skill-set required for a certain job group. The skills evaluation should be used as a framework for benchmarking the job skills. The organization should additionally create a framework for training staff members the specific skills and competencies required. The organization should develop an inventory list for listing all the knowledge and skills required for performing every role.

After conducting a skills gap analysis, the management team assessing will evaluate all the assessed skills and will subsequently determine if some areas need a training program. The management should evaluate the skills that are in dire need of some improvements which can be deliberated during the appraisal review process. Should the organization identify the need to have more training done, it should engage training professionals to develop a plan and work with personnel to improve the situation.

Approach for Delivering Effective Performance Feedback

To deliver an effectual performance feedback, it is my suggestion that the company uses the 360-degrees or the multi-layer feedback method. This method involves the use of different observations from various points of views of the individual in diverse roles. Having a direct supervising staff, clients and even colleagues rate an employee can underpin feedback from their performance. The method assists with the identification of discrepancies with feedback from other individuals as well as self-evaluations. The 360-degree feedback method enables every person to appreciate and recognizes how his input as a staff member, coworker or employee is perceived by others. The method avails knowledge to competencies required in a company and gives an individual input from various sources. Through the use of this method, individuals will be capable of identifying weaknesses as well as strengths and thereby become more effective in their assigned tasks in their workstations.

Conclusion

This performance management system summarizes the various elements required in the evaluation of actual performance with the set standards. The construction industry is characterized by big conglomerate firms competing for the minimal available space in the market. Therefore, it is important for the organization to develop a performance management plan for ensuring it remains competitive in the market while at the same time reducing turnover rates and increasing revenue significantly. This performance model will additionally increase productivity through increased employee performance. Developing a performance management plan is essential for the improvement of business processes, as well as the maximization of the employee capacity. By engaging the proposals as laid out above, the business will surely succeed in the new market in Arizona.