Performance Management And Its Alignment With Strategic Goals And Objectives

Continuous Process of Performance Management

Discuss about the Key Concept for Performance Management Concept.

The performance management concept is a continuous process that enables identification, measurement and development of the individual performance and at the same time, aligns their performances with the strategic goals and objectives of the organization. To manage it successfully, it is important to communicate with the employees and make them informed about the individual performance objectives that are needed to be achieved. A continuous process helps in setting up goals and objectives while the alignment with strategic goals allow for improving the level of contribution towards the organization. Aligning with the goals and objectives would facilitate the enhancement in operating margins and increase the level of engagement of employees too, furthermore create better visibility, execute the strategies quickly and decrease the turnover of employees largely (De Waal 2013).

The cost benefits analysis would assess whether the expenditures made on the HRM programs could bring good return on investments or not and whether the investments had brought improvements in the quality of human resources. The cost benefits analysis will determine whether the decision made can bring investments on resources management or not and ensure successful forecasting of the HRM programs too (Shields et al. 2015).

The HR training programs will set specific goals and objectives that are needed to be achieved. By providing proper training, their skills, knowledge and experiences can improve, which is essential for managing the workforce properly. It will also lead to improved business performance, which can represent that the expenses made for the HR training have managed to achieve the goals and objectives set for the employees and managers of the organization.  Positive outcomes for the organization should create positive impact n the cost benefits ratio and this should help in accomplishing the business goals and objectives (Ulrich et al. 2013). These are the approaches by which the value and benefits of performance management system can be obtained.

The employee performance objectives are achieved through higher level of performance management contribution achieved through higher level of motivation among the employees. 360-degree feedback is one such way of communicating the staffs about the performance objectives. This approach enables development of feedbacks provided by colleagues, friends and managers of the organization and it helps in self-assessment. The other sources of feedbacks include customers, stakeholders, etc. The senior managers and line managers do hold the responsibilities of the assessment of performances and provide feedbacks to the employees regarding their areas of weaknesses that need improvements (Buckingham and Goodall 2015).  The major strengths of 360-degree feedback are the leadership development programs, perception of individuals and defining improvements over feedbacks, manage development of teams, create scopes for career development and even reduces the risks of discrimination at workplace. Few weaknesses of this approach could be high expectations that sometimes might not be met, strict rules and regulations to be followed for change management, lack of proper and sufficient information and overload of computer data entry (Hvidman and Andersen 2013).

Cost Benefits Analysis for HR Programs

Another approach is the reward systems managed to keep the staffs motivated and encouraged to perform their best considering the strategic goals and objectives. It could be in the form increase in basic pay, incentives along with additional non-monetary rewards too, which would keep them motivated to work according to plans and deliver the best performance to achieve the corporate strategic goals and objectives with ease. The managers will communicate the employees about the things that they need to do and what benefits they can obtain from the organization. It can create a healthy competition, because when one employee will perform to his potential and gain rewards, others will be motivated to work harder as well (Shields et al. 2015). The weaknesses of this approach could be the resentment of employees and focusing only on getting awards can sometimes make them lose focus on the actual goals and commitment to the organization.

The 360-degree feedback works as a charm, because the feedbacks on employee performances help in identifying the areas that needed improvements. In case an employee fails to provide the desired work for which he has been assigned for, then the feedbacks can make them work on certain areas and rectify themselves to accomplish the business goals and objectives (Nielsen 2013).

The relationship between HR managers and line managers could help in improving the staffing process as well as develop workforce related strategies through training and developmental sessions for improving the skills and knowledge of the employees. The managers communicate with the line managers, who communicate the messages and information to the staffs. The training and development is an effective HR function that improves the line manager’s ability to conduct performance appraisal and provide employees with constructive feedbacks. It can result in higher employee satisfaction, resolve conflicts and ensure collaborative team working too (Khamooshi and Golafshani 2013). Performance planning will be possible by identifying the key performance indicators too by assessing the production output, safety records, organizational productivity and outcomes of employee engagement surveys. It can determine the degree to which the behaviors support the values of the organization and maintain the performance standards with the support of line managers. Leadership plays an important role in performance planning and increasing the level of staff commitment, performance and enhance the capabilities of the organization too (Schoemaker, Krupp and Howland 2013).

During the last few weeks, I have gained a lot of skills and experiences regarding the importance of performances management and its alignment with the strategic goals and objectives.  The Personal Development Portfolio can also assist me in understanding the areas where I have been strong and even the areas of weaknesses. I have obtained various skills in managing database programs and worked in Windows environment too and while working as a training manager in Rampar Trading, my HR skills and ability to promote teamwork and coordination have improved. The tasks that I mainly handled include counseling, management of processes of recruitment and selection, training and development programs for the staffs, leave management, setting the key performance indicators and setting targets that were needed to be achieved by the staffs (Allahbakhsh et al. 2013). I believe that the business performance improvement is possible through teamwork and coordination and thus the employees are kept motivated as well. As a manager of the organization, I made sure to provide benefits and rewards to the employees for enhancing their level of motivation and morale for making them achieve the desired business outcomes with ease. I even managed to make sure that the performances of the employees were not criticized; rather they were informed about their mistakes, which helped in making them rectify themselves and perform to the potential. This helped me to achieve career growth and development by improving my level of professionalism in the field of human resource management too (Ulrich et al. 2013).

Approaches to Performance Management

At Relyant, I worked as the assistant manager and my roles and responsibilities were considered as the major activities managed by the line mangers of organizations. I was well acquainted with the management of database programs and computer systems, which favored my skills to manage administrative tasks, budget and expense accounts management, control of stocks, control of delivery and vehicles along with controlled supplier invoices and reconciliation. My previous area of professional experience helped me a lot as I was able to update and maintain the company policies properly, managed CCMA cases and produced training budget along with long service award certificates for the improved performances of the employees (De Waal 2013). I even worked as a regular employee at Electronic Art, because of my ability to manage accounts, systems and stocks. I did the approval, reporting and forecasting of stocks and developed effective systems through which new users could login and furthermore managed the e-learning courses that created ease for the employees and business clients too.

As the HR manager of DODO, I would like to commit myself fully to the organization and ensure proper health and welfare of employee. As I am currently, working here, so my sole focus is on managing the processes of recruitment and selection along with the training programs by identifying the development needs of individuals. I have been performing the business analysis MTN SA and updated the organizational policies that the performances of staffs are managed properly during alignment with the corporate strategic goals and objectives. One area where I need to improve is to improve the sills to provide better customer services. There were situations when the shoes delivered to the clients were found to be faulty and the customer service department did not provide proper services, due to which there were several complaints (Ulrich et al. 2013). I will like to work in this area and make necessary improvements to ensure achieving the organizational standards and deliver extensive customers’ services for increasing their level of satisfaction. This can improve my own skills and assist me in professional growth in the future.

References 

Allahbakhsh, M., Benatallah, B., Ignjatovic, A., Motahari-Nezhad, H.R., Bertino, E. and Dustdar, S., 2013. Quality control in crowdsourcing systems: Issues and directions. IEEE Internet Computing, 17(2), pp.76-81.

Buckingham, M. and Goodall, A., 2015. Reinventing performance management. Harvard Business Review, 93(4), pp.40-50.

De Waal, A., 2013. Strategic Performance Management: A managerial and behavioral approach. Palgrave Macmillan.

Hvidman, U. and Andersen, S.C., 2013. Impact of performance management in public and private organizations. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(1), pp.35-58.

Khamooshi, H. and Golafshani, H., 2014. EDM: Earned Duration Management, a new approach to schedule performance management and measurement. International Journal of Project Management, 32(6), pp.1019-1041.

Nielsen, P.A., 2013. Performance management, managerial authority, and public service performance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory, 24(2), pp.431-458.

Schoemaker, P.J., Krupp, S. and Howland, S., 2013. Strategic leadership: The essential skills. Harvard business review, 91(1), pp.131-134.

Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P., Johns, R., O’Leary, P., Robinson, J. and Plimmer, G., 2015. Managing Employee Performance & Reward: Concepts, Practices, Strategies. Cambridge University Press.

Ulrich, D., Younger, J., Brockbank, W. and Ulrich, M.D., 2013. The state of the HR profession. Human Resource Management, 52(3), pp.457-471.