FMC Corporation - Job Design and Goal-Setting - Essay Example

FMC Corp (Cont'd) In the event of initiating a major revamp of existing organizational culture at FMC, as discussed earlier, close attention must be paid to addressing those employee concerns that are directly and visibly affected by any transformation put in place. Here, we examine a significant few metrics that are likely to crop up on the course of management-level discussions about new policies: Job design and goal-setting In the existing spectrum, the fundamental difference between FMC's two facilities as regards to method of working lies in their degrees of freedom. While Aberdeen has the mindset of a modern, intelligent organization seeking to enhance continuous learning opportunities for its employees so that they too grow flexibly with the ever-changing needs of the market, Green River persists in a strictly role-based model offering little room for career enhancement, and instead, plenty of room for employee discontent. In such a scenario, redesigning job descriptions can go a long way in boosting employee motivation. Each employee has areas of strength and weakness; it is apparent that Green River's hierarchical structure doesn't encourage constructive dialogue so needed to enable people to break away from hesitations, and talk freely about their favorite interests concerning the job. An organization's woes begin when a person is stuck at the wrong role, and can't facilitate enough interaction to undergo a change. E.g. an employee endowed with a flair for marketing will find a technical role nothing short of drudgery, and vice versa. It is very important for Green River to recognize these symptoms before it is too late. The only way it can replicate the success of its role model, Aberdeen, is by carrying out an unbiased feedback among all employees concerning their career interests. The more number of employees it can place in the right role, the more it has secured an environment in which "change" is possible. Performance appraisal Aberdeen scores high on performance because of its structure, which incorporates a cross-functional team to multiply creativity, innovation and overall efficiency. In an apparently transparent environment, performance indices are easier to measure. In a nutshell, people feel motivated to work harder when they are assured that they would be rewarded for their endeavors through an easy-to-follow, responsive mechanism. This doesn't seem to be the case with the Wyoming unit, which clings to a bureaucratic system that chokes enterprise and funnels individual aspiration. Archer North & Associates describe performance appraisal as an ancient art, as the "only process available to achieve fair, decent and consistent outcomes (homepage)." The website goes on to elucidate the two contrasting schools of thought regarding rewards and incentives; while rewarding a good employee for decent output seems fair at first glance, often reviewers can be judgmental and opinionated, and the experience can be "punitive" and "harrowing" for the employee in case of negative appraisal. Another area of concern is the fact that it is often the case that the appraiser and appraisee know each other well because of frequent social interactions; so any negative feedback can cause "resentment and morale damage, leading to soured relationships and productivity decline" (Archer&North homepage). The bottomline is; any appraisal system put in place must be unbiased, acceptable to all, and highly sensitive in character. Pay Aberdeen being the more profitable enterprise, it is natural to assume that employees' efforts and contribution to organizational profitability is commensurate with their pay scale. In the absence of clear metrics to measure individual performance, Green River faces difficulty in fulfilling the financial expectations of its manpower; the disillusionment is reflected by poor overall performance figures. A generous attitude toward pay scale can turn to be a double-edged sword. It is no secret that the management of any company has a tendency to underpay its staff, because profit is the ultimate motive. But, there is a limit to which one can fail the genuine expectations of a people from whom one has to extract an equivalent amount of work year after year. It is often the case that more than the money involved, it is the attitude of management regarding pay hikes that matters to an optimism-driven workforce. It is important that all calculations related to salary matters be clearly laid out on the surface, so that everyone bears cognizance of the checks and balances of the increment and incentive process; the process itself has to be fairly quantified as in for a given rise in company profits, an employee X is eligible for _% pay hike. Green River has to make transition from a bureaucratic setup to Aberdeen's scientific system. In order to implement the pilot scheme, some time must be spared to evaluate and map existing processes within the organization, e.g. business, production, inventory, marketing, sales, legal, etc. Once the performance criteria is laid out in the open, the techniques become fair and simplistic, even for the most skeptical employee. Career development Aberdeen is a "continuously learning" organization. Individuals are strongly encouraged to acquire skills in areas other than concerning their present positions. There are several other advantages to this decentralized approach; lateral communications offer deeper insights into the crux of impending problems and solicit innovative solutions. This pragmatic outlook results in employee career interests often being in tune with that of the organization, rather than the other way around. In any attempt to make the Wyoming facility a nurturing environment for the futuristic needs of its employees, training with an introspective touch is mandatory. Tough questions have to be asked; what went wrong before, what did we miss out on, what else could we have done It all begins with a career survey taken out. Like a successful marketer, management must understand that the employees' have certain "hot buttons" that can be triggered on to further the evolving needs of the organization The survey must give way to multiple-level brainstorming sessions to work out a roadmap to institute a framework within which the career interests of the employees becomes a subset of the larger mission at work, that of long-term growth and success of Green River, following in the footsteps of its more brilliant role model, Aberdeen. Summary With an unflinching commitment toward raising employee motivation levels, and at the same time, directing growth for the organization, Green River's management must adopt a combination of dos and don'ts in order to break free of its present rut, and become more robust, dynamic and forward-looking. Here is a synopsis of what has been covered so far in the notes mentioned earlier: Regarding job design, it's been suggested that roles and responsibility be realigned and reoriented as far as possible, in the direction of employee interests so that no employee is ever stuck at the wrong role, whatsoever. For performance appraisals, a symmetric, quantifiable and sensitive methodology has been recommended, a self-sustaining mechanism free from reviewers' opinions, biases and prejudices, for the overall interest of instilling employee faith in the system. Similarly, a scientific system to monitor pay hike initiatives is been envisaged. Again, the metrics should be easily quantified in the relation of scoring _% increment in lieu of _% profitability brought to the company by any X employee. Same goes for career development initiatives. Critical evaluation Any case study solution brings to the fore a logical query to the manager who utilizes this as a reference for their own organizational problems: will this work at my organization A thought-provoking article "Managing Middelescence" written by Robert Morrison and others in the recently-published Harvard Business Review confirms the efficacy of the prescribed techniques in this analysis. For example, it's been categorically mentioned that "skills obsolescence", "disillusionment with employer", "burnout" and "career disappointment" are among the most cruel "sources of frustration" for an employee (p.81). A closer scrutiny would reveal that by the very definition, itself, these signs of discontent bear semblance to the key metrics for problematic symptoms mentioned in the case study analysis as any company, FMC Green River or otherwise, would want to get over with speedily. Under skills obsolescence, it's been pointed out that employees struggle to adjust to "new ways of working and managing", thereby living in the hope that "time or diligence" would better their luck, whereas all they need is "upgraded skills", a perfect case for job redesign. "Disillusionment with employers" due to insecurity leading from downsizing is the reason mentioned for "employee resentment". "Burnout" means that people who have been "career driven for 20 years or more", are entering into a phase where they find their work "unexciting or repetitive". Bearing sensitivity to these two concerns, should an organization consider performance appraisal or pay initiatives. Finally, regarding "career disappointment", roles played by employees are out of sync with their "youthful" ideals and ambitions, it is with this approach that career development programs must be launched. s References Corporate overview. (2004). Retrieved January 27, 2005, from http://www.fmc.com/Corporate/V2/GeneralDetail/0,1577,6,00.html. FMC Corp. eradicates telecommunications billing pests. (Feb. 2004). Retrieved January 27, 2005, from http://www.teoco.com/TEOCO_Aberdeen%20Case%20Study.pdf. Introduction Performance appraisal (2006). Retrieved 4 May, 2006, from Archer North & Associates homepage, http://www.performance-appraisal.com/intro.htm Morrison, R., Erickson, T., Dychtwald, K. (2006, March). Managing Middelescence. Harvard Business Review, p.81 Partheymuller, P. (2005a). Competitive Landscape - FMC Corporation. Hoover's Online. Retrieved January 27, 2005, from Hoover's online database. (2005b). History - FMC Corporation. Hoover's Online. Retrieved January 27, 2005, from Hoover's online database. (2005c). Overview - FMC Corporation. Hoover's Online. Retrieved January 27, 2005, from Hoover's online database. Read More