Managing Performance Improvement

Managing Performance Improvement

[Name of the Writer]

[Name of the Institution]

Managing Performance Improvement

Performance management has to play key role in the development of an organization. It is a process that is used by the company to set goals, define standards, assign and assess work and reward the employees on the basis of their performance (Buckingham & Goodall, 2015). An individual performance has a strong influence on the organizational performance. Therefore, the management cannot ignore the performance of a single employee at work place. The management tea of the company along with human resources department designs activities to achieve the goals of improved performance and also monitor the practices of the employees.

Likewise, the performance improvement plan directs the employers to assess and develop the people at work. A performance improvement plan is develop when an employer feels that employees are not working up to the expectations of the company. It is very essential for the organizations to compete in highly competitive work environment. Organizations need to get the best out of their workforce in order to survive and prosper (O’Neill, 2016). Moreover, a proper plan helps to develop a method that offers a systematic improvement program. Otherwise, the company will fail to address the performance related issues and it will affect the position of the company in a market. Therefore, this performance improvement plan based on a scenario suggests some helpful and influential strategies that will help in improving the performance of the employees.

HR Scenario

From few weeks it is observed by the HR specialist of the ABC Company that employees are not showing proper interest in work in few teams. The company has hired the employees from diverse backgrounds. The employee’s level of dedication towards their job has decreased and they are not putting efforts at work. In that department some changes were made recently. The HR manager had shuffled the group members within the teams and new teams were formed. At the same time, the previous supervisors were also replaced. A chance was given to new members to play their role as supervisor in the team. However, the HR specialist has to dig more in order to find out the issues related to the poor performance of the employees. As a result the HR team has identified few indicators that indicate the poor performance of employees.

Firstly, it is found that the team members are facing collaboration problems and approval seeking problems are making it difficult for the employees to perform efficiently. Secondly, the senior employees are not accepting their juniors as their supervisors now. At the same time, the new supervisors hesitate to direct and order their seniors. There is miscommunication between the supervisors and their team members. There are conflicts between the team members and they are not cooperating with the team. The company is shocked by unintended results. It was the higher management’s decision that the newly recruited employees are more competent and more innovative compared to the old employees. Therefore, they can develop new ideas for the progress of the company. However, it could not give the intended results instead it negatively influenced the performance of the employees. The senior employees have started assuming that they can get away with anything and they have grown lazy due to low level of monitoring. However, all the new supervisors were promoted on the basis of their potential and competence at work. As a result, HR team feels that it is now their turn to intervene in the matter. They are required to synthesize a proper strategy in order to overcome the performance related issues of the operations department. Otherwise, it will influence the overall performance of the company.

Goals and outcomes of the proposed Plan

After identifying the issue, the HR specialist has discussed the matter with the higher management. After a meeting with the management, HR specialist decides to intervene in the matter in an effective way. The aim of new strategic plan is to avoid such consequences in future. It is crucial that human resource department address the issue in an effective way that the performance of the employees can be improved (Hyland, Lee & Mills, 2015). This plan tailors to address the lack of collaboration of the team members with each other and with their respective supervisors. Secondly, the HR team also seeks to remove the miscommunication among the team members and supervisors. Thirdly, the HR team feels that due to the new change the senior employees have started feeling devalued. Therefore, HR specialist wants to develop a plan that helps to improve the performance of the senior employees.

The information from the scenario helps the HR specialist to refine the situation and the performance of team members. With the help of a suitable plan the performance deficiencies of the employees are converted into an opportunity to succeed. Moreover, the plan will also address the collaboration problems by converting them into a team strength. At the same time, the HR team also introducing an acknowledgement strategy that will appreciate the services of senior employees of the company.

Assumptions for HR Scenario

After assessing the matter through an observation, HR is able to identify the matter. The HR department assumes that the issue is arose as a result of new alterations made in that department. Shuffling of the team members has influenced their teamwork. Now, it is taking time for the employees to interact with the new teammates and they are also reluctant to interact with each other. At the same time, the senior employees are unable to accept their juniors as supervisors. They have felt demotivated and it has developed miscommunication among the employees. The HR team understands the matter that it has somehow effected the motivation of the senior employees of the company. At the same time, juniors as a supervisor are unable to show authority to their seniors.

As a HR Specialist, I would develop a proper performance improvement plan that focuses the existing issues in Company. The plan will help to develop activities that provides a chance for the team members to interact with each other. Such activities give a chance for the members to perform a task by interacting. Moreover, different reward based programs and events are organized to encourage the senior employees. At the same time, new supervisors also need proper trainings in order to perform efficiently.

Best Practices for delivering Performance Feedback

The first practice aims to address the issue related to the senior employees. It specifically focuses the performance of these employees. The first thing it will remind the employees is that their performance has decreased but it will be an actionable feedback. This feedback will remind them that where they lacked. In addition, company will revise their salaries on the basis of their seniority level so that they get the motivation back. At the same time, they will be informed that the pay raise is not related to their performance at all.

Furthermore, the second feedback will be based on building strong relationships at work and benefits of working in a diversified setting. Demonstrating on building stronger relationships with the team members will help the employees to work more efficiently (Azmat & Iriberri, 2016). This practice will help to improve the interaction and communication between the employees.

Thirdly, the HR team will regularly talk about the performance of the employees with their supervisors. On the basis of weekly evaluation of the performance of the team members will help in improving the performance of each employee. At the same time, it will also make the supervisors accountable for the performance of their team members. As a result, they will focus on their team more efficiently.

Legal Compliance and awareness of legal risk

Equal Employment opportunities laws protect employees from legal discrimination, this may occur when employees are discriminated on the base of certain characteristics from other Employees (Sargeant, 2016). The characteristic may include experience, certain skill sets, age, race or gender. In the given scenario old employees are feeling discriminated on the basis of their experience or age. As company have hired new employees on supervising position due their fresh skills that can benefit the company in the current competitive market. The employees were considered to be more innovative and creative regardless of their job experience. The issue arises here is that old employees who have more job experience and knowledge about company were demotivated. It led to miscommunication, lack of coordination and poor performance problem. It is the duty of HR to participate in removing bias and giving equal opportunities.

As the current scenario somehow reflects the risks of violating Equal employment opportunity Act in the United States. HR needs to play its role in an ethical way. HR assesses the issue in order to avoid any violence against the employment laws. Therefore, it intervenes in the matter by defining the new policies and the same time, it introduces a reward for senior employees on the basis of their seniority.

Conclusion

In conclusion, performance management plays a crucial role in the development of an organization. Likewise, the performance improvement plan is created when an employer feels that employees are not working up to the expectations of the company. Therefore, this performance improvement plan based on a scenario in organizations aims to eliminate the issues.

References

Azmat, G., & Iriberri, N. (2016). The provision of relative performance feedback: An analysis of performance and satisfaction. Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, 25(1), 77-110.

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

Hyland, P. K., Lee, R. A., & Mills, M. J. (2015). Mindfulness at work: A new approach to improving individual and organizational performance. Industrial and Organizational Psychology, 8(4), 576-602.

O'Neill, M. J. (2016). Measuring workplace performance. CRC Press.

Sargeant, M. (2016). Age discrimination in employment. Routledge.