In this assessment, we chose the topic of ‘Managing Underperformance in Amazon’ as this subject provided us with the opportunity to work as a group to analyse the performance management practices of real-world organisations and critique the viability of performance management in future human resource practice. While working for the assessment as a team, we came to know that underperformance is the process of managing the staffs that are not up to the requirements and standards of the organisation. The underperformance of the employees can be managed through two processes; formal process through written warning, disciplinary and dismissal procedures and informal process like mentoring and coaching. Before starting the assessment, we have segregated our parts. Amazon Inc was the chosen organisation and it is the largest internet retailer in the world; it had started as an online bookstore. In this reflective essay, I tried to conclude with newfound knowledge and apply it to the personal experience of working in groups together. I have also tried to draw the relevant and concrete examples from the group work and critique the ways we have managed the group and my own performance. In this essay, I would draw the relevant theories from the subject of performance management and would try to apply my knowledge in the future.
Our group assessment team consisted of five members, Danny Chandra, Elana Nguyen, Evelyn Nguyen, Justin So and Quihe Cheng. First of all, we have never been good friends before we started doing the assignment together. We all read in the same class; however, we hardly talked to each other before we started starting the assignment. After this group was formed, we all met outside the class and we shared our e-mail ids and Whatsapp number so that we could easily contact. During the Whatsapp Group chat, we decided who would do which part in the assignment. We decided our subject of the assignment would be Managing Underperformance of Amazon as all the members of our group is familiar with the name Amazon. We have also found that Amazon has been suffering from underperformance of the employees as we all saw this news article on the internet. As per the discussion, we met inside the library to discuss what to include within the assignment presentation. Justin wanted to do the overview section, strengths of Amazon and the performance management part was done by Evelyn, weakness section was taken care of by Elena. In addition, the recommendation section was critical and it was done by Quihe and me. I tried to put my knowledge to recommend Amazon based on the weaknesses suggested by Elena and we all cited our sources based on Harvard reference style. After 10 days of allocation, we all came up with our parts and we jotted down the overall transcript. We observed that the overall presentation was going to be lengthy and we edited some of the sections. We only put the important section to the presentation and presentation was made by all of us. We all agreed on a certain topic that group assessment improved our communication skills and our interpersonal communication among us. It trained us to talk to the group and share our perspective on the subject. We are now a well-organised group to handle and make further assessment all by ourselves without taking any help of our supervisors.
Outlining the performance of each of the group members
Our chosen topic was Managing Underperformance of Amazon and we had decided to separate our section so that we can smoothly do our part.
Justin did the overview section where we tried to provide the knowledge regarding background information of Amazon and definition of underperformance. Justin did his section pretty well as he included reasons for underperformance within an organisation and Amazon’s employee review process ‘Rank and Yank’ was also discussed in this section. Amazon’s pivot programme was adopted in the year 2017 and Amazon simplified the focus on employees’ strengths. Justin researched on pivot strategies of Amazon and he found that Amazon takes ‘Quit and Receive Severance Day’ and the managers meet the employees after certain months to discuss performance goals of Amazon.
Evelyn Nguyen found out the strengths of managing the underperformance of Amazon as this section consists of Amazon’s current strategies to assist the employees. Amazon’s strengths’ lie on retaining the employees who are committed at work, Amazon also filters out disengaged employees and Amazon also provides choices to the underperforming employees. Evelyn also discussed Goal Setting theory and Justice Theory to underpin the strengths of Amazon.
Elana Nguyen described the weaknesses of using employees’ performance management methods. Elana discussed that employees are resentful of the formal courtroom style of employee performance management. Amazon takes the strategy of ‘popularity context’ which is not appropriate to lead people to behave correctly with others.
Quihe provided recommendations based on weaknesses and I helped him to find out the recommendations. It is recommended improving the recruitment process and improving the role of managers (Kantor and Streitfeld 2015).
Critique the ways the group managed its own performance
At first, we were not familiar with each other and I took the responsibility to make gel up with all the group members. I took the initiative to maintain good communication with all the group members and Evelyn set the deadline and goal for the overall ongoing project. It is also very important to encourage the feedback from the other group members and we were lucky that each of the group members listened and took initiative to finalise their work on time. We made a Whatsapp group where we discussed our topic and solved our queries. We used to visit our supervisor in case we faced any challenge. Whatsapp chat with group members helped to build a positive working relationship and it made them my friends. I remember, we all sat on outside the class and discussed the layout of the presentation. Elana was very jovial and she always acknowledged good work and all the group members were real as we used to feel pressure and we all admitted our mistakes at once. Justin once showed me my mistake and I allowed him to find out my mistake as it helped me to correct my mistake. As stated by Woolley et al. (2015), group members need to acquire a good idea about good performance management to work as a group. Justin and Elana were good in decision-making and I tried to show the leadership quality to assert the role of each of the group members. The group managed it performance by managing the conflict among the group members and we ignored the negative atmosphere. I suggested that the underperformance of the group can be solved by avoiding emotional confrontation and be prepared and be specific.
Our group managed to succeed as we all tried to set the good examples for the team. We showed respect to other group members and we all expected that each of the group members would behave normally to complete the presentation. I took the leap to build trust and goodwill in the group. I introduced to each of the group members to other by breaking the ice and I made the G-chat group and Whatsapp group. We used to perform team building exercise by making a connection through the informal meeting, chatting and through the social networking site. We allowed time for group members to mingle with group members and chat which foster the trust.
Drawing relevant theories from the subject to manage the performance differences in the future
In this assessment, the core topic is managing underperformance of Amazon. We learnt that underperformance of the group members can be dealt with understand external factors and give appropriate training of the employees in Amazon. Amazon needs to understand the motives of the employees so that they can solve the issue. I learnt about Goal-Setting theory where willingness to work depends on attainment of a goal which must be specific and clear. Employees’ participation in objective is not always desirable. Self-efficiency is a person’s self-confidence to perform the tasks. Goal commitment assumes an individual’s commitment not to leave the goal (Locke and Latham 2015). Goal setting theory teaches me to complete the work effectively and quickly. Goal setting of the people increases motivation and it develops the feedback quality.
I have identified my weaknesses during this assessment and presentation. I have found two of my weaknesses; one is time-management skill and the second one is decision-making skill. I observed that I was struggling to finish my assessment on time as I did not make my plan and time initially. I had to stay awake late at nights to make ready my part of the assignment. I also watched that decision-making of mine was quite different from that of other group members. I need to improve my skill in decision-making so that I can understand the employee performance management.
I want to be a manager in a multinational organisation in future where I have to manage employees who would be working as subordinates under me. I want to improve my time management skills and decision-making skills so that I can better control the employees and followers under me. I have developed a leadership style which also reflected on the group assignment making process. I want to make sharp the leadership style so that the employees can take help from me in future. I want to do the crash course on communication and on self-help classes to improve my personality. This assessment would help me to understand the importance of performance management review within the organisation in future career.
Reference List
Chun, J.S. and Choi, J.N., 2014. Members’ needs, intragroup conflict, and group performance. Journal of Applied Psychology, 99(3), p.437.
Kantor, J. and Streitfeld, D., 2015. Inside Amazon: Wrestling big ideas in a bruising workplace. New York Times, 15, pp.74-80.
Locke, E.A. and Latham, G.P., 2015. Breaking the rules: a historical overview of goal-setting theory. In Advances in motivation science (Vol. 2, pp. 99-126). Elsevier.
Woolley, A.W., Aggarwal, I. and Malone, T.W., 2015. Collective intelligence and group performance. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 24(6), pp.420-424.
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