Case Analysis of Omega - Essay Example

Case Analysis of Omega Background The Omega corporation is a small scale manufacturing company whose bottom line profits are the result of a multitude of subsidiaries. As this business model was at one point structured, the subsidiaries were widely removed from direct performance management or evaluation from the Omega corporation as the subsidiaries existence as separate entities made it challenging to institute accurate performance measurements and incentives for the sales professionals that were ultimately responsible for the sale of the corporations products.

Furthermore, there was significant disparity in the levels of training and skill among these sales professionals. As a result the bottom line corporate profits suffered in relation to a more efficiently structured performance management system. The measures that follow constitute an in-depth analysis of the steps that were taken to develop a more efficient performance management system, as well as a recommendation on the means by which Omega, Inc. can continue to move towards a more efficient model.

Performance Management: Omega, Inc The performance management system at the Omega corporation began with a training program designed to coach the sales professionals to a level of proficiency The individual subsidiaries then agreed and collaborated on the development of a performance management and evaluation system. The first step in the initiation of this system was to develop a thorough job description of the sale’s position and distribute it to the sale’s professionals at all the subsidiary branches.

Furthermore, a mission statement was developed about the corporate aims and the intended goals of the sales professionals and distributed in the same manner as the job descriptions. The mission statement was also included prominently among the sale’s offices and meetings were held were subsidiary managers informed the sales professionals about the mission statement and company goals. In addition to these measures, formal performance management steps were taken to institute a performance evaluation program.

Specific performance goals were set for each employee. The sales professionals were also required to attend thorough training sessions. During the training course the sales professionals received feedback about their performance. Feedback mechanisms were also instituted on the job as managers continued to inform the sales professionals of their performance. While these methods were a step ahead of the past method, they ultimately were unsuccessful as the sales professionals had no means of keeping track of their own performance and making amendments to it in the process.

There was also no set form for employee evaluations, so the sales professionals’ performances were never recorded. Improvements It’s clear that the feedback mechanisms within the performance management system need to be modified. As Senge (1990) indicates, feedback allows individuals and business entities to gain a self-reflexive understanding of their personal performance and business practices. In this instance the lack of adequate documentation of sales performances (outside of quotas) has made next to impossible for the sales professionals to adequately monitor their progress or for managers to supply well informed evaluations or feedback; Morecroft (2007) indicates this is a core error of such systems.

Instead, it is necessary to institute more detailed appraisals of employee progress and formalize a system of feedback and communication between managers and sales professionals based on these more detailed evaluation standards. ReferencesAguinis, H. (2009). Performance management (2nd ed.). City, NJ: Pearson Education.Morecroft, John. (2007) Strategic Modelling and Business Dynamics: A Feedback Systems Approach. Wiley. Peter M. Senge (1990). The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization.

New York: Doubleday.