Managing Employee Performance - Term Paper Example

Managing Employee Performance: Production Supervisor Introduction Man, Material, Machine & Money are concerned to be the 4M’s required for the successful operation of a business. Manpower or the Employees are the most important among the four listed above since the others resources cannot function without the supervision from the manpower. For example, even if an organization has implemented machineries largely in order to reduce manual works, for controlling these machineries manpower is essential. Employees or the manpower are the dynamic side of an organization. In the absence of talented employees an organization cannot function properly. In a production oriented organization or manufacturing organization, the employees function like a chain. If any one link (employee) goes out of order or damaged in a chain (Organization), the strength and cohesion of the chain (Organization) will be lost. For example in a tire manufacturing unit, it is important that all the three divisions (mixing, building and curing) function properly in order to ensure 100% productivity. If the mixing people fail to deliver the processed rubber compound in time, green tire building will be affected whereas if the building people fail to complete their duties in time curing will be affected. Thus all the employees in a manufacturing unit complement each other in order to attain maximum productivity. Management of employees in a manufacturing unit is not an easy task. In fact the job of a production supervisor is a complex one since he should act as the link between the employees and the management. The interests of employees and the management may often contradict each other and the production supervisor is the person who needs to satisfy both the management and the employees. This paper briefly analyses the management of employee performances in a manufacturing unit by a production line supervisor. Employee management in a manufacturing unit In most of the manufacturing units, the production supervisor has the responsibility of finishing the production in time. He should follow the schedules he received from his superiors or planning department in order to ensure maximum production in his shift. At the same time, unforeseen problems may occur at the time of production. For example, some of the employees might be absent, some of the machineries faced breakdowns or some of the other departments linked with the production have not performed well. In all such circumstances, the employees will contact the production supervisor for the advice and instructions. For example, if some of the employees absent in a particular shift, it is difficult for the employees present to finish the jobs in time. Under such circumstances the supervisor might be forced to ask the employees to stay back for another shift more in order to finish the works. At the same time, employees might express displeasure over continuing their duties after the scheduled time even if they are getting the overtime allowances. Under such circumstances the management abilities of the production supervisor will be severely tested. Macky, (2008) has mentioned that in situations where pressures to work longer hours are higher, employees feel overloaded and likely to experience greater dissatisfaction with their jobs which may result in higher stress and fatigue, and greater work—life imbalance (Macky, 2008). It is important for the organization that the employees work with 100% satisfaction in order to perform well. Such satisfaction depends on the management capabilities of the supervisor. Employees under stress or bad health condition may underperform in an organization which will adversely affect an organization especially manufacturing organization. It is important that all the employees perform equally well in order to ensure maximum final output. If one of the employees slows down the works, it can affect the entire production activities of the unit. Employees should feel a deep relationship with the organization in order to guarantee their 100% commitments towards the organization. Only the committed employees avoid unnecessary absenteeism or taking unnecessary leaves. If the employee considers the organization as his own, then he may refrain from activities which negatively affect the organization. But in order to develop such deep relationship with the organization, the production supervisor should treat the employees properly. Employees should never feel that the supervisor or the organization is exploiting them by giving them hard work and low wages. ADEKUNLE et al, (2009) have mentioned that good pay, motivation, incentives, regular promotions, training and development should be provided for the workforce so as to enable them put in their best in order to increase the level of their productivity in the organization (ADEKUNLE et al, 2009). In a production unit the production supervisor is the immediate superior of the employees and hence they can play a vital role in ensuring the employee satisfaction which is important in ensuring maximum productivity from them. The production supervisor should give positive feedbacks about the good performances of the employees to the managers so that the better performing employees may get reward or recognition for their outstanding performances. Workers will respect only those supervisors who recognise their demands and personal matters. An effective supervisor will not forget to acknowledge star employees, and let them know just how much they appreciate the stellar performance being delivered. A supervisor’s job is complex, and in the midst of numerous projects it may be easy to let an employee’s outstanding performance slip by unnoticed. This, however, is a dangerous mistake. It is absolutely crucial that supervisors acknowledge employees when they succeed, if a performance management plan is to have any impact on a business. Just because an employee is forging ahead in his or her field does not mean that a supervisor should simply pile more work on the already burdened shoulders (Performance Management, 2007) A supervisor who fails to motivate the workers cannot ensure 100% productivity from them. The needs of different employees or production workers might be different. Some of them may be more interested in financial rewards whereas some others may satisfy with even the good words of the supervisor. It is impossible for a supervisor to reward all the better performances of employees. If the supervisor feels that the outstanding performance needed to be complemented, he can either opt for financial reward or for other means or recognition. Even a praising word sometimes brings dividends in employee performances. Another important factor which ensures better performances from the employees is the working environment and the work culture. The work culture should be developed in such a way that both the supervisor and the workers function in a healthy environment where no prejudices or biases control any of them. A better supervisor always listen the personal and professional needs of the workers and if possible he will take actions in favour of the workers without sacrificing the needs and interests of the organization. Employee clashes and the conflicts can often damage the production activities. It is not necessary that all the workers in a production unit may have similar or equal skills in performing their functions. The better performing or skilled workers always try to dominate others. If the supervisor is not efficient, such workers may try to dominate even the supervisor. In order to silence such dominating or aggressive workers, it is better for the supervisor to devise new strategies of management. Sometimes an employee’s performance will not be consistent with the requirements of the position. If this happens, and normal coaching, counseling and/or training do not bring performance to an acceptable level, a supervisor may use the corrective action process to help constructively bring an employee’s performance to an acceptable level (Employee Performance, 2007) I have a friend who is working as a production supervisor in a printing unit. He has told me a story in which how he silenced a dominating printer with the help of an unskilled helper. This printer was of the view that no complicated jobs can be possible in the printing unit without his services. So whenever complicated works come, he tried to dominate the supervisor and other co-workers. My supervisor friend was fed up and he decided to teach the printer a lesson. Once when a complicated job comes to the production unit, my friend as usual approached the printer and explained everything about the work. The printer has cited some silly excuses, demands and problems in performing that work in order to gain upper hand. This time friend was not ready for a compromise. He called one unskilled helper and asked him to complete that complicated printing job. My friend, isolated the printer completely from that job and completed that with the help of the helper and some other co-workers. He has proved that even complicated jobs can be possible in that printing unit without the services of the printer. Thereafter the printer never tried to dominate the supervisor and the production activities were continued more smoothly. In short, the management strategies need to be devised based on the requirements of the situations in order to manage the workers of a production unit. It is not necessary that the theories studied in the academics may always help a supervisor while dealing with workers. Most of the big production units now have diverse workforce from different cultures. The customs and traits of this diverse workforce might be different. The supervisor should take extreme care while managing the diverse workforce. For example, Fridays are sacred for Muslims whereas Sundays are sacred for the Christians. The supervisor should consider such religious beliefs of the diverse workforce while scheduling the jobs. A work scheduled on Friday noon time will be difficult for the Muslims to whereas the work scheduled on Sundays may not be suited to the Christians because they need to attend the prayers at that time. The supervisor should never compel a worker to do woks if he needs break for executing his rituals or religious prayers. The production supervisor may always face problems from the employees and other work environments. Problem solving skills are essential for the supervisor. The success of the supervisor remains on his ability to tackle or attack the problem from all the possible corners to find amicable solutions. It is impossible for a supervisor to stay away from problems or to keep a blind eye towards problems which may arise time to time. Small problems can become big if not tackled properly at the right time. “To be a good problem-solver, the supervisor must make sure that all issues pertinent to the problem have been considered. Then, through a comparison of alternatives, he should choose the best solution” (WHAT MAKES A GOOD POTENTIAL MANAGER? n. d, p. 1). Most of the normal production supervisors are the ones promoted from the workers. It is essential for a production supervisor to have better technical skills along with the management skills. It is difficult for a supervisor to manage a team of workers without the work knowledge. For example, it is difficult for a printing supervisor to manage the workers of tire manufacturing unit because of his lack of knowledge in the tire industry. He might be an excellent supervisor in a printing unit because of his superior knowledge in printing activities. But he may not suit for a tire manufacturing unit because of his lack of knowledge in tire industry. On the other hand, if smart worker promoted from the workers of the tire unit he may have the required technical knowledge and can convince the workers quiet easily. Technical knowledge of the supervisor is important in determining his success in a manufacturing unit. Workers will respect only those supervisors who have technical knowledge as well as management skills. Theory of X and theory of Y is commonly used in the management of workers in a production unit. Theory X management thinking is that the average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if possible. Because of this inherent dislike of work, most people must be coerced, controlled, directed, or threatened so as to induce them to put forth enough effort so as to meet their goals and get their work done. This leads to the conclusion that the average human prefers to be directed, wants to avoid responsibility, has relatively little ambition, and wants security above all. Theory Y, is based on the following assumptions: The physical and mental effort humans exert at work is as natural as play or rest. External control and the threat of sanctions are not the only means by which to get employees to work toward organizational goals. Individuals will strive to achieve goals to which they are committed (Furst, 2009) Theory X demands the force in management. It believes that the workers normally may have dislike for professions. They forced to work because of the non-availability of other means to survive in this world. It is impossible for a person to survive in this world without money and in order to make money some kind of profession is required. Such people will always work not for the organization, but for something else. It is difficult for a supervisor to manage such workers without force. On the other hand, theory Y says that force alone may not bring out the bests out of a worker. Apart from force, other motivating factors such as reward, recognition, promotion etc can also encourage the workers to improve their performance and productivity. A production supervisor should know and use both the theory A and theory B to motivate the workers properly to derive maximum out of them. Another important factor which influences the employee performances is the scope for future growth. Employees and their performance will become mechanical if the career prospects are dull. On the other hand, if the employees feel that their performances will bring rewards in the forms of promotion or career development, they will definitely try to improve their performance. Supervisor has an important role in motivating employees for their career development. Conclusions Production worker management in a manufacturing unit is normally performed by a production supervisor who is promoted from the workers category. Production supervisor should have both the technical knowledge and the management skills in order to manage the worker performances effectively. Production workers always have different personal and professional needs. Moreover, they will always respect somebody who knows their problems and try to solve it. A production supervisor has the complex task of satisfying the contradictory needs of the workers and the management. Production supervisor is the bridge between the management and the workers and if this bridge collapses or losses its strength, severe problems can occur. Diverse workforce with different personal and professional needs is common in the modern globalized manufacturing units. The production supervisor should not exhibit any biases or prejudices while managing such diverse workforce in order to ensure that all the workers are equally satisfied and delivering the goods. Some employees may need force (punishments) in order to motivate them for the work whereas some others need rewards such as complements, praising words, promotions, etc for delivering the goods. In short, employee performance management is a complicated task in a production unit and the production supervisor needs both technical skills along with management skills in order to conserve the interests of both the employees and the organization effectively. References 1. ADEKUNLE OWOJORI, A., ACTI & POPOOLA (2009), EFFECT OF HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT ON PRODUCTIVITY OF WORKFORCE IN THE BANKING INDUSTRY IN NIGERIA, Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.thefreelibrary.com/EFFECT+OF+HUMAN+RESOURCE+MANAGEMENT+ON+PRODUCTIVITY+OF+WORKFORCE+IN...-a01073959643 2. Employee Performance (2007), Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.washington.edu/admin/hr/roles/ee/jobperformance/index.html 3. Furst Peter G (2009), Supervisor’s role in employee performances Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.irmi.com/expert/articles/2009/furst11-construction-risk-management.aspx 4. Macky Keith, (2008), High-involvement work processes, work intensification and employee well-being: A study of New Zealand worker experiences, Retrieved 12 May 2010 from http://apj.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/46/1 5. Performance Management, (2007), Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.hrvillage.com/eureka/training_development/performance_management.htm 6. WHAT MAKES A GOOD POTENTIAL MANAGER? (n. d) WASHINGTON STATE UNIVERSITY & U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE COOPERATING, Retrieved on 12 May 2010 from http://www.agribusiness-mgmt.wsu.edu/ExtensionNewsletters/mgmt/PotentialMgr.pdf Read More