Performance Management Systems - Case Study Example

Case Study 12 Q1) Performance appraisal meeting wasn't the perfect place to begin with the termination process. Every bad news when being presented should include a preparation that leads up to the bad news. This preparation is called a buffer or a leeway period where the employee should be prepared in advance about what is to be expected in the near future. Termination of the employee is not a blindfolded decision where the employer just fires the employee deciding on the brink. Termination, as the case study shows, is a thought out process where the employer appraises the employee and then takes a decision. As the case study tells us, Samantha's performance was not satisfactory either due to a shortage in quantity or a lack of quality. The situation for strongly against Samantha and seizing the opportunity, Peter fired her. However this wasn't the best possible process to terminate an employee. Peter should have prepared Samantha ahead of the termination that her performance wasn't up to the mark and she should increase her efficiency to maintain her place in the company. This negative reinforcement would have motivated Samantha to work harder and would have warned her about what could happen. This way if her performance would not have increased, her termination would set in as an automatic process rather than a shock. Q2) Appraisal of an employee is not based solely on the output produced by that employee. Other factors such as experience of the employee, number of years served in the company, future value of the employee to the company all should come into consideration when an employee is being appraised. Peter is committing a mistake by only judging the quantity and the quality of the output. There could be a variety of reasons why Samantha's output is not up to the standard. It could be because of the type of work that is male oriented or maybe Samantha is troubled by external sources which affects her performance at work. So therefore Peter should consider factors and analyze how those factors might be affecting Samantha's performance rather than just looking at the result. Another mistake that Peter is committing here is that the decision taken is too abrupt. He should think out the termination process with more detail and information. Another thing that Peter should look into when appraising is to consult other fellow members about the person being appraised. This would help identify the problem areas and also give a better idea of the employee's situation. Q3) As mentioned earlier, Peter has not analyzed the situation clearly. He should have had prepared a full progress report on Samantha's work since she's been working with the company. Doing this would have given Peter a clearer picture about Samantha's situation and the reason for her low performance. Peter also should have given a heads-up to Samantha about her possible termination in order to prepare her for her firing. The meeting could have been held in a different manner like a personal meeting rather than just being a performance appraisal to give it a more caring look for Samantha. Not setting up a warning for Samantha, Peter has now got himself in a tangle. He wants to fire Samantha but is held back by her tears. The situation calls for a postponement for the immediate termination. Samantha should be given a time of 2 months to perform better than the standard in order to regain losses Peter had to incur because of her inefficiency. During this period Samantha must perform better or she will be fired from her current job at the company. Giving a grace period to Samantha will enable her to perform better to save her much needed job and it would also act as a warning and preparatory lesson. Case Study 12.2 Q1) Employee evaluation is an assessment of employees based on their personal characteristics and their performance at work. This evaluation needs to be friendly in order for the employees to feel at ease. Chan made quite a few mistakes in his employee evaluation. First of all Chan is too haughty in his explanation. The problem lies here with Chan himself. Since Chan is an autocrat type of a leader and he is the 'uncontested chief', he is arrogant and thinks whatever he says is right. This kind of style is not conducive for the working environment. Secondly Chan was too blunt when asking Roger to shave his beard. An unfriendly ordering tone is not usually respected by the employees. Thirdly Chan did not care what his employees think of him. He wants them to behave and work in a particular way which cannot be always implemented because of diversity at the work place. The most important mistake that Chan committed was that he didn't let Roger give an explanation for the image that he portrays. Another mistake that Chan made was that he could not convince his employee to bring a change since Chan did not give any proof that Roger's current appearance had a negative affect on the customers. Q2) Image and perceptions to be shown are a part of the organizational behavior and more specifically it is related to the organizational culture. These perceptions that the management wants to create in the minds of the customers are based on the outlook of the company and the employees. Therefore it's the employees who make up a better part of these perceptions and hence, Chan wants to propagate these messages regarding the employee's appearance. The best way to implement a particular image in the company is by describing that particular image to the employees when they are hired. They should be taught of the company norms and what is expected from them as a part of their jobs. The job description should hold the job they are supposed to perform and also how they will perform it. The company's mission and vision statement should also complement that particular image so that when either the customers or the employees see it, that message is further reinforced in their minds. Chan, as a good leader, keeps up that image and wants his employees to get into that same groove. However Chan's personality is haughty and it lacks charisma, which is important for a leader to have if the leader wants the employees to act like the leader wants them to. Q3) The evaluation conference as it name suggest is a dialogue between two or more people where all the people involved speak and explain their point of views and give their reasons for a certain act. The evaluation conference between Chan and Rogers was merely a one-sided dialogue where Chan spoke for the most part and arrogantly ordered Roger to act upon his wishes. This conference was very poor done in my perspective. Chan didn't give Roger a chance to speak out and cut him out when he tried to. Throughout the conference Chan was criticizing Roger for one thing or the other making Roger uncomfortable. Being in Chan's shoes, I would have dealt with the situation much better. The basic purpose of the evaluation was to update Roger about his performance and discuss issues about his decisions. I would have given this higher priority rather than criticizing Roger about his appearance. Secondly I also would have asked Roger to get a neat and clean appearance but I would have given Roger a chance to explain his reasons and show proof if his current appearance has a favorable impact on the customers. Case Study 3 If Fabulously Fit desires to become the leading fitness chain in Australia, it needs to have a better remuneration plan for its employees to motivate them to perform better. Here is the new remuneration plan that needs to be enforced so that the company can achieve its target. Sales Staff -Basic Wage should be increased by one-half -Piece Rate pay should be maintained for each membership sold -$20 for each membership up to 3 months sold -$45 for each membership up to 6 months sold -$110 for each membership up to 12 months sold -$400 for each membership up to 2 years sold -Double rates for memberships sold over 2 years -Renewal membership pay should be equal to the original pay the employee got for the membership -Awards for achieving the monthly target -Employee on the Month Award -Additional $50 for every 'extras package' sold -15% discount on all Center shop items on completion of the month's target -Free $5000 shopping for the employee who sells twice the target memberships Reception and Admin Staff Basic Wage should be increased by one-half Employee on the Month Award 15% discount on all Center shop items on completion of the month's target Rotating roaster for early shifts Bonuses if no complains are received from the customers about the reception and admin staff Early promotion of customer friendly and result oriented employees Cleaners Basic Wage for the full time hired cleaners Casual employment for temporary cleaners paid at different award rates Flexi timing Bonuses for cleaners if the customers are happy with the neatness of the place Cleaner on the Month Award The remuneration plan given above will provide the employees with monetary as well as non-monetary rewards. Most of the rewards are performance based which is a necessity for an organization such as this. Motivation is the key is here and simple tactics as described above will help the company achieve its targets very quickly. Case Study 4 Q1) The new reward system looks as an averaging out remuneration method. It will distribute the rewards according to the performance of the employees however some of the employees would not be happy with the new reward plan. Since the merit pay would be based on the individual factor combined with the organizational factors, some employees who perform their tasks better than others would get lesser than they deserve if the organization is not performing as well as they do. This averaging out of the merit pay would be disliked by hard working employees. Also the tip money and the employer's contribution would be added together to give a lump-sum to the employees, the actual employees who received more tips than others would now get lesser tips because of the averaging effect. Q2) The new reward system is highly performance based and any work done is rewarded for the effort made by the employee. Since an employee's individual performance and the performance of the company as a whole is being measured to give rewards to the employees, this creates a sense of bonding with company. The employees will look to work as a team to accomplish a common goal as their rewards are connected with the company's performance. The employees would be looking to work harder to attain a common objective and hence improving the status of the company. others who don't work as hard will be encouraged by the hard working staff to perform better. However the new reward system will also be looked with a raised eye-brow by some of the employees. As discussed in the last question, some employees who work harder than the rest will get lesser compensation than they deserve because of the averaging affect. This will make these employees not to work as hard since they won't receive equity rewards. As a result they will lower their efficiency. Some might even leave the company which can be a big issue for the hotel as discussed in the case study. Fighting with the management or the employees to work harder may also occur which will disrupt the organizational environment. Q3) Rita could have used a variety of reward systems to motivate her staff. Some of them could have been giving bonuses, stock options, competency-based pay, group incentives, skill-based pay, team-based pay or giving project completion bonus. These options could have been used in a combination with performance based payments to give a better package to the customers. [1] However Rita's plan looks to be the most complete from every angle. Although it has some shortcomings as described in the last question, it still seems a very competitive and performance based reward system since it integrates most of the available options into one package. Work Cited 1) "Alternative Pay Strategies" [Internet], Stern & Associates, Accessed on May 30, 2007, Available From Read More