Employee Relations
- As the vice president of the human resource function in my organization I will put in place strategies to integrate job performance and training to ensure the organization surpasses its performance targets each year. The first step that I will take is to ensure that there is an established job measurement criterion that enables supervisors to judge the performance of employees they are in charge of in semi-annual intervals (Kirkpatrick, 2006). I will ensure the performance appraisal system implemented records employees’ weaknesses and strengths both in results and in behavior (Kirkpatrick, 2006). The weaknesses are identified the supervisors in consultation with the affected employees should convert these weaknesses into training needs. A performance improvement plan should then be prepared and forwarded to my office for accountability purposes. The manager will then be required to prepare a coaching plan to ensure the training needs of each individual employee are realized (Kirkpatrick, 2006).
To further integrate job performance with training I will ensure that new employees are conducted through an orientation training to familiarize themselves with the organization and the type of business it undertakes (Spears & Parker, 2002). During orientation I will ensure new employees are able to get a grip of the organization’s policies, procedures, products, services and facilities. Middle managers will be required to provide mentoring and coaching and also communicate work expectations to the new employees (Spears & Parker, 2002). I will also institute in-house training that will be undertaken by experienced supervisors and trainers. The in-house training will be on one-on-one basis, hands on demonstration and practice and will be based on each specific situation identified in the performance appraisal exercise (Spears & Parker, 2002). This training however will not be carried out in customer relation functions as it can cause costly errors that can damage the reputation of the company (Spears & Parker, 2002).As the vice president I would also institute continuing education as one of the steps to improve employee performance. This will be aimed at boosting employee job satisfaction to reduce turnover. It will also enable employees to take up higher challenges and positions that may become available in the organization from time to time (Spears & Parker, 2002).
- The most significant performance management challenge that the organization I researched on faced was micromanagement. Micromanagement is a situation where supervisors exercise direct and meddlesome control on employees in a way that leads to discouragement and apathy towards work and which may lead to costly errors and damage to property (Kim, 2005).Due to the high pressure exerted by stakeholders on management to meet key performance indicators (KPIs), managers developed a web of rules, regulations and various reporting requirements to ensure both financial and non- financial goals were met (Kim, 2005). Employees and managers started getting suspicious of each other leading to poor working relationship which affected job performance. This problem led to poor morale which led to high employee turnover. Employees felt that the rules were too many and they led to bureaucratic red tape which hindered them from meeting their performance targets.
Micromanagement also led to yet another problem of general organizational fear among employees (Mucha, 2011). Employees became apprehensive about filling appraisal forms out of fear that unfavorable results could have negative consequences on their jobs. Most employees’ felt that the performance management system did not fully take into account all the duties that they performed and was therefore biased (Mucha, 2011). Many of the employees interviewed felt that performance management was a complex task that was time consuming and took a lot of time which could be used to undertake more productive work activities (Mucha, 2011). Performance management was viewed as a task that required tremendous effort and consumed resources that could be utilized to undertake value adding activities.
- According to HR Focus (2003) for shareholders to attain the greatest possible productivity level from employees they need to implement a good performance management system. A good performance management system tracks and measures the right factors that determine productivity and ensure the measurement parameters are unanimously accepted and embraced by all employees in the organization (HR Focus, 2003). The first step to make performance management impact positively on a business’s out comes is by making it part of the business of the company and not a onetime event done annually or semi annually (HR Focus, 2003).
The first basic feature of a good performance management system is that it has strong top leadership support and managers execute it effectively. A good performance management system includes setting goals, coaching for improvement and evaluating the performance at the end of the year or semiannually using an appraisal method that is understandable to both the employees and the managers. A good performance management system has a clear linkage with rewards and sanctions. In such a system rewards and sanctions are determined at the end of the year using clear performance ratings (Kochanski, 2007). These rating scales are first discussed and agreed upon by the staff and the supervisors (Kochanski, 2007). This makes supervisors and employees to take performance management seriously. A good performance management system clearly links performance to compensation and sanctions and ensures that employees clearly understand performance rating that qualifies for rewards and which results in sanctions (Kochanski, 2007).
A good performance management system empowers managers to be champions of the system. A good performance management system is transparent and can easily be understood (Kochanski, 2007). A corporate dash board is a key feature of a good performance management system due to the fact that it shows the firms performance at a glance at any given point in time which enables comparison with the budgeted performance targets. A good performance system also ensures employee satisfaction is kept at the highest level at all times. Orientation, in house training and continuous learning are some of the tools organizations use to enhance employee satisfaction and reduce the high labor turnover.
- 4. The best practices to ensure improved relations and reduce employee turnover are that that the labor union and the management team of a firm, must be willing to make concessions when confronted with a difficult labor dispute. The two opposing sides must never take hard-line stands when negotiating with each other for the good of the institution (Strauss, 2008). Management must be willing to produce financial data when they decline requests for higher pay from employees; that is management must be willing to divulge information on the financial health of the company whenever requested by the employees to do so (Strauss, 2008).
The other best practice principle is that each worker must be treated well and made to feel that his or her work is important to the organization. Managers should also treat each worker as an individual but be careful not be seen as having favorites. Employees must be allowed to join groups and clubs of their choice since this enhances happiness which serves to improve employee performance. Management should therefore not try to stop employees from joining such groups unless the groups are threatening the business of the company (Nation’s Business pre-1986) In hospitals it is important to adopt strategies that will improve efficiency and integrate improvement of processes and also instill he culture of learning (Tubbs, Husby & Jensen, 2009).Managers should also mix with employees to make them feel part of the team and also to listen to complaints and seek ways to address them (Nation’s Business pre-1986).
Management should also ensure that they have training programs that enable employees to perform their duties well. Orientation for new employees to familiarize them with the company policies, procedures, products, and facilities will ensure new employees do not leave due to their perceived inability to perform in the roles they are employed to play (Spears & Parker, 2002).In-house training and continuous learning are very important in ensuring employees are satisfied with their jobs and are loyal to the company (Spears & Parker, 2002). In house training is where employees who are found during appraisal to have some skill deficiencies are attached to more experienced supervisors to coach and mentor them in a bid to improve their skill levels. Continuous learning on the other hand offers employees an opportunity to acquire skills needed to take up more responsibilities if they are promoted (Spears & Parker, 2002).
Managers should also put in place adequate controls to ensure employees are motivated. Such controls include budgetary controls, operational controls, etc (Kim, 2005). These controls guide behavior and are performance based. Employees therefore strive hard to meet performance standards set by the controls and also comply with the controls. This reduces turnover as the employees tend to work hard to meet the targets (Kim, 2005).Change management is another area that employers are required to pay close attention to. Change that is not carefully implemented can cause more harm than good (Nation’s Business pre-1986). Employers must bring on board consultants or use in house experts to implement change and overcome any resistance to the change in a way that will enhance employee satisfaction and result in loyalty to the company (Nation’s Business pre-1986).
References
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Kim, S. (2005). Three management challenges in performance improvement in human services
agencies: A case study. International Review of Public Administration, 10(1) Retrieved
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Kirkpatrick, D. L. (2006). Training and performance appraisal-are they related? T + D, 60(9),
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Kochanski, J. (2007). Sibson reveals secrets of successful performance management: Key findings from the state of performance management study. Employee Benefit News, , 1. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214869528?accountid=45049
Mucha, M. J. (2011). Overcoming challenges to implementing performance management. Government Finance Review, 27(2), 65-67. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/867687929?accountid=45049
Spears, M. C., & Parker, D. F. (2002). A probit analysis of the impact of training on performance appraisal satisfaction. American Business Review, 20(2), 12-16. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/216296069?accountid=45049
Strauss, G. (2008). Suppose australia copied US employee relations practices. The Economic and Labour Relations Review : ELRR, 18(2), 123-130. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/214831136?accountid=45049
Tubbs, S. L., PhD., Husby, B., & Jensen, L. (2009).Integrating leadership development and continuous improvement practices in healthcare organizations. Journal of American Academy of Business, Cambridge, 15(1), 279-286. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/222865281?accountid=45049
