Human Resources - What Is Performance Management - Essay Example

? Human Resources Number and Number Number of Words 370 Q What is Performance Management? In general, performance management is “an ongoing communication process, undertaken in partnership, between an employee and his or her immediate supervisor that involves establishing clear expectations and understanding about job expectations and how each employee can contribute to reaching the organizational goal” (Bacal 5). In most cases, organizational performance is being evaluated based on how the corporate managers and the rest of the employees are able to perform their assigned tasks effectively. Given that performance management is all about managing the human resources, Pulakos revealed that performance management is one of the most difficult to implement within a business organization (3). The use of effective performance management could somehow contribute to the overall success of a business organization. Implemented by the line managers, performance management is valuable to corporate managers and employees in the sense that the organizational competencies are aligned with the organizational core values (Armstrong and Baron 20). Through the use of proper coaching and guiding techniques, the line managers are expected to be able to effectively motivate employees to unleash their potentials which are necessary in improving the overall performance of the group as a team (ibid). Considering the advantages of having effective performance management, improving the overall organizational performance of a business group is equally beneficial on the part of the public shareholders and the business owners. Basically, improving the overall business performance of an organization increases its profit earnings. Therefore, the public shareholders are expected to receive higher dividends whereas the business owners are expected to receive more financial gains. Q.2 What is meant by the term Business is Behavior? In the study of performance management, business is behavior means that improving the overall business performance of a company is highly dependent in the ability of the HR managers to create positive behavior among its employees. Because of the continuous changes that is taking place within a business organization, it becomes a challenge on the part of the HR managers to establish organizational culture that promotes organizational behaviors that are more flexible and open to changes (Rahim and Rahim 227). For this reason, positive reinforcement on employees is necessary from time to time. Within a business organization, the unbreakable behavior laws are referring to the act of making accepted behavioral practices a significant part of the organizational culture. By making positive behavior a part of the organizational culture, the practice of positive behavior within the business organization can become a norm. This makes the development of positive behaviors more difficult to break. Organizational behavior is considered the key factor that could effectively improve the quality products and services being delivered by employees. Given that the HR manager is able to reinforce positive behaviors among its employees, the organizational managers will be able to effectively motive the workers into working as a team in order to reach the organizational goal. It is also possible to make employees become more self-sufficient as a worker. By making employees learn to embrace the importance of self learning, employees could contribute more in terms of improving the overall business performance. Q.3 What is pinpointing? As explained by Axson Pinpointing in performance management is pertaining to organizational behavior that indicates relevant business information that can be used by the organizational leaders when making important business decisions (216). By pinpointing parts of the faulty production process or negative human behavior that could hinder the operational success within a business organization, the organizational managers can easily detect human and non-human factors which needs to be improved (Johnson, Redmon and Mawhinney 284; Marr and Roessler 151). By doing so, the organizational managers could effectively develop useful strategies that could enhance the overall business performance of a company. “Right” pinpoint means accurately identifying the main cause of a problem. In general, pinpointing in performance management is significant over the effectiveness of performance management. By allowing the organizational managers to identify human and non-human factors that could impede the progress of overall work performance of a team, the organizational leaders could develop contingency plans in order to minimize the risk of increasing controllable business losses. Based on this point-of-view, pinpointing in performance management is often considered as a cost-effective way of solving internal problems (Johnson, Redmon and Mawhinney 284). Given that organizational leaders are able to solve internal problems within the shortest possible time, organizational leaders are expected to reduce operational cost by increasing employees’ work participation and satisfaction. For example: Given that the HR manager finds out that one of the root causes of having a high employee turnover rate is because of the company’s ineffective pay and remuneration packages, the HR manager should take this information as an opportunity to improve the company’s pay and remuneration packages in order to save the company more money out of spending on hiring and training processes. Q.4 What is performance feedback? Performance feedback is referring to feedback concerning employees’ performance. In most cases, performance feedback can either be given to organizational leaders in the form of verbal or non-verbal cues. A good example of performance feedback is the use of 360-degree feedback. As defined by Ward, 360-degree feedback is “the systematic collection and feedback of performance data on an individual or group derived from a number of the stakeholders in their performance” (4). In general, human resources strategies includes: self-development and individual counseling, training and development program, team-building, performance management, strategic development, validation of training and other employee improvement initiatives, remuneration, leadership development, career planning and development (Rao and Rao 93; Ward 12 – 13). In line with this, HR managers can make use of 360 degree feedback as an effective tool in determining whether or not the HR strategies used within the business organization is effective or ineffective. In case the HR manager realizes that one of the HR strategies is ineffective, the HR manager can easily act upon the necessary improvements on these strategies in order to ensure that each employee remains satisfied and motivated at work. In terms of improving the overall business performance, the use of performance feedback is not only beneficial on the part of the managers but also the rest of the employees. As compared to other performance feedback tools, Garman et al. revealed that the use of 360-degree feedback is more effective since this tool allows each employee to rate the performance assessment of other employees. Given that each employee will be given the opportunity to judge the work and career potential of other employees, bias judgment caused by intimate relationship between the HR manager and the rest of the corporate employees will be avoided (ibid). Q.5 What is the “coaching Manager”? Coaching manager is an individual who uses coaching method as a way to develop employees’ existing skills and talents within the business organization (Hunt and Weintraub 2). A successful coaching manager acts as a role model to the rest of employees. Likewise, effective coaching managers are expected to be an effective communicator and listener to employees’ work-related concerns. By developing a strong working relationship with a group of employees, coaching managers can effectively provide them with a more promising work perspective and motivation which could effectively increase employees’ work performance and work satisfaction. Effective coaching managers often examine and identify the strengths and weaknesses of each employee. Rather than focusing on identifying or pointing out errors made by each employee, coaching managers are expected to develop strategic ways on how to further improve employees’ acquired skills and talents. Often times, the use of this strategy is highly dependent on the acquired knowledge and skills of each employee. By doing so, coaching manager is able to create a more lucrative work environment in which each of the employees would enjoy working. Coaching mindset is referring to how effective coaching managers should think. In line with this, Emerson and Loehr revealed that effective coaching managers should have the following mindset: “believe in employees’ potential, be unattached, don’t know and don’t fix it, keep it light and fun, stay curious, trust your gut, and build awareness before action” (88). It means that effective coaching managers are open to personal learning, accepting feedback and being coached by other people (Poell 79). Coaching dialogue is referring to the way effective coaching managers should communicate with employees (Hunt and Weintraub 123). Since coaching managers promote personal learning, coaching dialogue should include friendly and inspiring context that can trigger employees’ curiosity. *** End *** References Armstrong, Michael and Angela Baron. Managing performance: performance management in action. 1st Edition. CIPD House, 2005. Axson, David A.J. Best Practices in Planning and Performance Management: Radically Rethinking Management for a Volatile World. 3rd Edition. John Wiley & Sons, 2010. Bacal, Robert. Performance management. McGraw-Hill, 1999. Emerson, Brian and Ann Loehr. A manager's guide to coaching: simple and effective ways to get the best out of your employees. AMACOM, 1967. Garman, Andrew N., et al. "Development and Validation of a 360-degree Feedback Instrument for Healthcare Administrators." Journal of Healthcare Management (2004): 49(5):307-322. Hunt, James M. and Joseph R. Weintraub. The Coaching Manager: Developing Top Talent in Business. Sage Publications Inc., 2011. Johnson, Merle C., William K. Redmon and Thomas C. Mawhinney. Handbook of organizational performance: behavior analysis and management. Haworth Press, 2001. Marr, John N. and Richard Roessler. Supervision & management: a guide to modifying work behavior. CIP, 1994. Poell, Rob F. Supporting Workplace Learning: Towards Evidence Based Practice. Springer Science, 2011. Pulakos, Elaine D. Performance Management: A New Approach for Driving Business Results. Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Rahim, Afzal and M. Afzalur Rahim. Organizational Behavior, Performance and Effectiveness: Current Topics in. Transaction Publishers, 2010. Rao, T. Venkateswara and Raju Rao. The power of 360 degree feedback: maximizing managerial and leadership effectiveness. Response Book, 2005. Ward, Peter. 360-degree Feedback. CIPD House, 2003. Read More