Performance Management

Performance Management

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Performance Management

Introduction

KS Cleaners is a small company that provided dry cleaning. Laundry, ironing, and cloth repair work. The work done by the company requires little training. Therefore, it can be undertaken by high school students. The pay offered by the company ranges from minimum wage for general duty workers to $20 per hour for dry cleaners. Seamstresses are paid on a negotiated piecework depending on the complexity of the work. To improve the productivity and efficiency of the employees KSC should develop a performance management strategy. This would require Kevin, the owner and manager of the company, to develop formal job descriptions, performance plans, and performance standards.

Availability of Any Prerequisites to Implementing a Performance Management Process

Some of the prerequisites to implementing a performance management process are integration with other HR systems, fit with the corporate culture, alignment with the organization’s strategic objectives, presence of qualified and motivated assessors, commitment of the top management, result-oriented job descriptions, and clear reporting lines and relationships.

Before implementing a performance management process, it is vital to determine whether the organization has the right HR management practices to support the performance management process. The performance management process should align with other HR systems of the organization. From the case study, it is evident that KSC does not have any HR systems.

The performance management process should also fit with the corporate culture of the company. It should integrate with the core value, which would act as a framework on which the performance management system would be built on. KSC does not have a strong corporate culture. This would pose a challenge to the implementation of the performance management process.

Defining and clarifying the corporate strategic objectives is vital in determining the performance management process. This is because the performance management process should align with the corporate strategic objectives. KSC does not have clearly defined corporate strategic objectives.

There should be qualified and motivated assessors for the performance management process to be effective. Kevin, the company owner and manager, is not qualified assessor. However, as the owner of the company, he is highly motivated to ensure the performance management process is successful.

The performance management process should also have the support of the top management of the organization. Kevin is highly committed to ensure the performance management process is successful.

There should be result oriented job descriptions. The job descriptions should also be updated periodically. The employees of KSC do not have clearly defined job descriptions. This would pose a challenge to the effective implementation of the performance management process.

The reporting structure determines how power and control is spread in the organization. The employees of KSC report to Kevin, the manager. Having clear reporting lines would ensure the performance management process is effective (Fletcher & Williams, 2013).

Plans for Developing Formal Job Descriptions for the Employees at the Second Shop

A job description details the tasks, duties, functions, and responsibilities of a certain position. It details the employee that would perform specific work, how the work should be completed, and the frequency and importance of the work in meeting the goals and missions of the organization. Job descriptions provide employees with clear and concise information on the performance of a certain job. It also provides the supervisors with a means of determining whether the employee meets the job expectations.

The first in the creation of a job description is performing a job analysis. This involves gathering, examining, and interpreting data on the tasks of a certain job. This will provide accurate information on how the job should be performed efficiently. This would require one to interview employees to determine the tasks they perform, observing how the tasks are performed, and collecting data on the job from other external resources such as salary surveys.

The second step is establishing the essential functions of a position. This involves ensuring the tasks as part of the jib function are a necessary requirement in perfuming job, determining the frequency of performing the task or the time spent in performing the task, determining the consequences of failure to perform the task, determining whether the tasks can be redesigned or performed in another way, and determining whether the tasks can be reassigned to another employee (Aguinis, 2019).

The third step is organizing data concisely. The structure of the job description usually varies from one company to another. However, some of the information that should be included in the job description include job title, classification, salary grade, reports to, summary and objective of the job, essential functions, competency, position type, physical demands, required educational experience, and additional eligibility qualifications (Fletcher & Williams, 2013).

The fourth step in the development of a job description is adding a disclaimer. This is a statement that indicates that the job description is not developed to comprehensively cover the activities, duties, or responsibilities that are needed for a certain position.

The fifth step is the addition of signature lines. The signature would help in validating the job description. It would also indicate that the job description has been approved and the employee understands its content. The signatures that should be appended are those of the supervisor and employee.

The last step is the finalization of the job description. This would involve the addition or subtraction of any detail before the final approval of the job description. The job description would be kept in a secure place and updated from time to time.

Key Features of Developing Performance Plans for the Employees with Examples of Factors to Consider in Developing Such Plans for the Dry Cleaner

KSC should determine whether it can use web-based performance management systems. Use of web-based systems would facilitate the collection of data. It would also provide a common framework for employees and managers, which would increase consistency in the application of the performance management system. Use of web-based systems would make it easy for the management of the second shop to compare the performance of its employees with those of the first shop.

KSC should also consider the rating scales that it should use in measuring the performance of its employees. The company should ensure the managers have a common understanding of each rating point and how to apply the scale in differentiating the performance of employees. KSC should use clearly defined five-point scales, which would include numbers and labels, as they are the easiest to understand.

KSC should also consider the time that would be taken to review the performance of the employees. Periodic reviews may be undertaken monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually, or annually. Use of monthly reviews would be suitable to KSC since it would employee high school students. Therefore, there would be high employee turnover as the high school students move to college and find other jobs.

KSC should also consider how it would monitor the performance of the employees. This would be a time-consuming task. The company should make frequent changes to improve the credibility of the performance management plan (Aguinis, 2019).

Conclusion

Development of a performance management plan would help in improving the efficiency of KSC. It would ensure the employees are highly motivated as the company would provide them with rewards based on their performance. This would ultimately help in improving the competitiveness of the company.

References

Aguinis, H. (2019). Performance management (4th ed.). Chicago, IL: Chicago Business Press.

Fletcher, C., & Williams, R. (2013). Appraisal, feedback and development: Making performance review work. New York, NY: Routledge.