Sustainable Organisation Performance, Employee Wellbeing, and Competitive Advantage in Farah - Case Study Example

IMPROVING ORGANIZATIONAL PERFORMANCE Name: Course Instructor’s name Institution Date Table of Contents 1.0COMPONENTS AND CONCEPTS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE WORKING 4 1.1 Brief analysis of the componencts and concepts of High Perofmance working 4 High-Performance Working can be defined as a systematic framework approach which organisation have taken up which aligns the organisation systems, environment and structure with the goal of achieving operation effectiveness. Through embracing High-Performance Working various organisations have been able to achieve their goals on engaged workforce and provision of quality goods and services. A wide range of studies has been conducted on High-Performance Working with the goal of testing its impact on organisations and businesses. 4 1.1.1System alignmnet 4 1.1.2Social- Technical System 5 1.1.3 Job rotation 6 1.2 Link between High-Performance Working, sustainable organisation performance, employee wellbeing and competitive advantage 6 1.2.1Sustainable organisation performance 7 1.2.2Employee wellbeing 8 1.2.3Competitive advantage 8 1.3. Barriers to High Performance Working 9 1.3.1Contrasting business strategies 9 1.3.2Senior managerial decision disagreement 10 2.0. PERFORMANC MANAGEMENT 11 2.1. Stages of performance management cycle 11 Stage 1 – Induction 12 Stage 2 – Job Related Training 12 Stage 3 - Performance Appraisal 12 THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS 13 Stage 5 – Personal Development 14 Stage 4 - Reward 14 2.2. Different ways where line managers are involved in the performance review process 15 2.2.1 Line Managers providing leadership from the top 15 2.2.2 Line managers training employees 15 2.2.3 Line managers taking part in staff recruitment 16 2.2.4 Line managers managing employee organisation attendance 16 2.3. Contributions of the performance management process 16 2.3.1 Understanding of Expectations 17 2.3.2 Opening of Opportunities 17 2.3.3 Performance management process becomes relevant for everyone 18 3.0. CREATING HIGH PERFORMANCE WORKING SUSTAINABLE CULTURE 18 3.1. How to create a High-Performance Working Culture in an organisation 18 4.0 Conclusion 19 References 20 1.0 COMPONENTS AND CONCEPTS OF HIGH PERFORMANCE WORKING 1.1 Brief analysis of the componencts and concepts of High Perofmance working High-Performance Working can be defined as a systematic framework approach which organisation have taken up which aligns the organisation systems, environment and structure with the goal of achieving operation effectiveness. Through embracing High-Performance Working various organisations have been able to achieve their goals on engaged workforce and provision of quality goods and services. A wide range of studies has been conducted on High-Performance Working with the goal of testing its impact on organisations and businesses. There are five commonly recognisable components of High-Performance Working they include team-based structures, top leadership support, knowledge management, performance measures and innovative human resource management. Component and concepts of High Performance Working include; 1.1.1 System alignmnet High-Performance Working is as an entire organisational system alignment which also enforces the internal organisational elements as well as the organisational environment. However, High-Performance Working draws heavily on the organisation quality management (Tregaskis et al., 2012). For instance, High-Performance Working in Farah Experiences is viewed as an integrating element of quality management through innovative human resource management. 1.1.2 Social- Technical System Farah’S High-Performance Working is majorly based on the social- technical system theory which has jointly optimised the technical and social subsystems. This has been achieved through alignment of individual groups and organisation, lean and flat organisation structures, team-based work systems and innovative human resource. On the other hand, to ensure success in the optimisation of these two subsystems, the fit between the organisation and the environment has been maximised. With Farah social- technical system being the key element in the organisation High-Performance Working focuses on ensuring that organisation employees understand how their various works fit into the overall product and how their values, mission and goals match with those of the organisation. High-Performance Working is widely embraced globally, and the organisation using it are referred to as High-Performance Work Organisations (Gojny-Zbierowska 2016).. In this case, Farah deliberately introduced High-Performance Working Practices, which improve the social- technical system. Despite the fact that many people confuse High-Performance Working Practices to modern management practices it is basically ‘common sense good practices’. However, these practices may impact on one sector of an organisation more than in others (Jorgensen & Newton 2013). 1.1.3 Job rotation Organisation that have embraced High-Performance Working thus, Farah Experience, LLC , is forced to practice job rotation in order to ensure that their employees are adequately prepared to increase their level skills and work involvement. Despite High-Performance Working significantly impacting on the organisation leadership it also creates a culture built around High-Performance Working. For example, High-Performance Working in Farah can be conducted under two types of regimes this includes: Setting up its foundation on a registration of a much more conservative voluntaristic nature. High-Performance working is also critical in providing support for the effective implementation of organisation strategies. High-Performance Working in Farah can, therefore, be claimed to be a multi –dimentional model which combines the employee involvement and participation in strategic Human Resource Management. 1.2 Link between High-Performance Working, sustainable organisation performance, employee wellbeing and competitive advantage 1.2.1 Sustainable organisation performance Sustainable organisation performance means organisations are creating efficiencies and driving productivity while maintaining low-cost bases. There are some key drivers of sustainable organisation performance they include; Organisation alignment, distributed leadership, balanced short and long-term horizons, shared purpose, engagement and asset evaluation. Farah is yet to achieve its goal of sustainable organisation performance; therefore, it can be claimed that it is also yet to meet some of these six key insights of sustainable organisation performance ("Employee Performance Measurement and Performance Appraisal Policy in an Organisation", 2014). In this case, organisation alignment and distributed leadership are two of these stigmas which seem to affect Farah Experience. Organisation alignment is ideal since it ensures that difference sectors in the organisations are coordinated and multi-functional in order to achieve the organisation set goals. In this case, Farah Experience’s Ferrari-branded Theme Park and the water park appear disjointed with both entertainment ventures appearing to be run differently. Hence, in order to achieve sustainable organisation performance Farah experience should embrace High-Performance Working. The other area within the organisation that needs aligning is the objectives set at different levels of the organisation. For instance, the Ferrari-branded Theme Park and the water park appear to have an individual objective. This might led to Farah Experience, not achieving its ultimate goal due to the different goal directions taken up by these sectors within the organisation. Thus, performance working should be taken up to instigate organisation alignment. 1.2.2 Employee wellbeing Employee wellbeing has a close relation with High-Performance Working since it is an instigator of employee productivity and commitment at the workplace. Employee wellbeing also relates to the employee psychological conduct at the workplace. It is therefore, a statutory requirement under the corporate law for an organisation to ensure the wellbeing of its employees. In Farah Experience, LLC employee’s engagement and health are intertwined this is also similar in employee wellbeing; Through creation of flexible working conditions and better job design. Employee well-being spells this out by claiming that commitment and productivity in the organisation are boosted by better employee’s health (Canaviri 2016). The link between employee’s well-being in Farah Experience and High-Performance working is revealed through the organisation efforts in ensuring employees well-being. Through adequate Human Resource Management Farah Experience focuses on the well-being of its employees. The organisation, in this case, has taken up efforts of improving the working environment for its employees in order to ensure that in the course of their work their health is not constantly at risk. This has helped the organisation in curbing workplace absenteeism due to health complications by 10%. 1.2.3 Competitive advantage In the entertainment industry like that of Farah competition is the cornerstone. This has led to the organisations such as Farah Experience to adopt High-Performance Working due to; The dynamic and rapid changing environments which are instigated by the quest for quality, technology and global competition. Adoption of High Performance Working Practices by Farah has therefore given the organisation a competitive edge. In line with this Farah has also adopted human resource strategies which are identified with high performing work practices (Ferdinand n.d.). These strategies include; team working and team‐based decision making. The company has also adopted a congenial corporate culture and supportive organisational culture also its High Performance Working, which has given the organisation a competitive advantage in the entertainment industry both locally and globally. 1.3. Barriers to High Performance Working 1.3.1 Contrasting business strategies Despite High-Performance Working positively impacting on the organisation Human Resource Management through promoting more efficient employee commitment and involvement, there are also some barriers that prevent the successful adoption of High-Performance Working in organisations like Farah. One significant barrier for High-Performance Working is contrasting business strategies. Business a strategy, in this case, is the implementation of the business objectives and long-run goals in order to achieve these goals. Therefore if these objectives and goals are not aligned towards one-course barriers for High-Performance Working can, therefore, prevent this goal from being achieved. Farah in this case should adopt “strategic fit “or internal fit” High-Performance Working goals and objectives which are easy to adopt and which guarantee positive impact in the organisation. The entertainment industry, thus, is also quite sensitive. Therefore, the adoption of these objectives and goals should be reviewed, tested and proven in order to avoid any repercussion for the organisation. Evidently before 2014 Farah focused on being a low- cost service provider in the market. The company’s strategies were therefore aligned in minimising the cost of employee training, recruitment process and information disclosure. The company, in this case, adopted “Numerical Flexibility” strategies to reduce the organisations service demand fluctuation which in the long end reduces the labour cost. 1.3.2 Senior managerial decision disagreement The other High-Performance Working obstacle is senior managerial decision disagreement. Most of the organisation decisions and policies are set by the senior managers within the organisation. In this case, these individuals may not agree on some issue which is likely to affect the High-Performance Working in the organisation due to its strictness on the alignment of both the internal and external issues in the organisation. Dissension on adoption of High-Performance Working can be attributed to two issues resistance to change and the unawareness of HPWs’ effectiveness (Ray, Eliaz, & Razin n.d.). For Farah Experiences during the early stages when the company was considering taking up High-Performance Working some of the company senior management thought that it was inadequately ineffective for the entertainment industry. This resulted to a tussle among the company management on whether to adopt High-Performance Working in the organisation or not. This led to the slowing of the organisation operation and destabilisation f the organisation in the UAE entertainment industry. 2.0. PERFORMANC MANAGEMENT 2.1. Stages of performance management cycle Performance management cycle in the entertainment industry is more than just assigning ratings, performance management cycle, in this case, is a continuous cycle that entails; planning, managing, reviewing rewarding and renewing (Su, Baird, & Schoch 2015). In the entertainment industry where Farah falls into, performance management cycle takes place on a yearly basis. Stage 1 – Induction This is the first stage in the performance management cycle it involves planning where the company’s senior managers and all employees, in general, come together to clarify the set expectations, requirements and behaviours for a particular set time. Through this activity the company’s employee’s roles within the organisation will also be clarified. In this case these employees will be allocated specific targets and areas to improve on. This stage also involves the establishment of positive relationship between the organisation and the new recruit. In this case this stage ensures that the new recruits start-off their engagement with the organisation perfectly. Stage 2 – Job Related Training This is the stage that follows once performance objectives are set. The organisation in this stage meets the employees and discusses with them about the objectives. This stage is also known as check ins gives the organisation and the employees a chance to review the objectives to design them in a way we can be changed to fit the employees potential. Coaching is the main area of focus in this stage since it helps in changing the performance and increases the employee's results. Stage 3 - Performance Appraisal This is the stage where the valuations or appraisals are carried out. Through the appraisal carried out in this stage accountability is generated with respect of achieving the set goals. This entails process planning of the goals set in the induction stage. This stage also covers discussions on the measures to take up in case some of the set goals are not achieved. Through this appraisal stage the achievement met by the organisation employees are documented over the employee’s performance period. The performance appraisal stage has evolved over the years with many organisations moving from the traditional evaluation to focus on form filling which gives more of the quantitative information rather than qualitative information. This particular performance appraisal method is similar to that taken up by Farah. On the other hand this choice of performance appraisal also is a management tool which impacts on the organization Human Resource. (Frenkel& Lee 2010). THE PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS Stage 5 – Personal Development . In this stage, all the other stages are analysed with the focus of looking for ways in which they can be improved. The objectives set are also reviewed and cross-checked to the objective met in each of these stages. In this stage, the reward systems vary from the bonus schemes to the optional share schemes. Stage 4 - Reward This is the stage where the performances of the employees are reviewed. In this stage, the organisation management evaluates whether the set goals have been met. In case all the set objectives have been met the employees are rewarded in this stage. Importance of Performance review Performance review is crucial in evaluating the work carried out by the organisation employee’s cross-checking it against the set individual goals and objectives. This is mainly carried out by the line managers who commonly outline individual goals and objectives to the employees as they assess the recent employee’s performance with the focus on future objectives and opportunities (Md. Auzair 2010). Performance review and appraisal is important in an organisation since it is an important tool used in performance management. Performance review is also essential since it is a holistic process which contributes towards effective individual management in an organisation (Su, & Schoch 2015). Performance review is also strategic since is focuses on broader and long-term issues which integrate various sectors in an organisation. 2.2. Different ways where line managers are involved in the performance review process Line managers play a crucial role in the implementation of the Human Resource policies. In this case, they also play a huge role in the performance review process; line managers therefore can be involved in various ways in the performance review process. 2.2.1 Line Managers providing leadership from the top Just as they are referred to as; “front line managers “line managers are strategically placed on the frontline to communicate with the organisation employees and listen to their concerns. On the other hand, the line managers are also tasked with setting goals for the company employees and ensuring that they have met these goals through conducting performance reviews (Zwickn.d.). On the other hand line managers also reduces the difficulty in the performance review process by making this process continuous rather than an annual review which is time-consuming and less accurate. 2.2.2 Line managers training employees Line managers are also tasked with training the organisation employees with the goal of improving their performance. Line managers, in this case, are in charge of driving successful performance results from the organisation employees (Fairhead 2007). In this case the line manager will adhere by the Farah Experience, LLC probation period policy where it is stipulate that the probation period for the front line colleagues is 6 months while that of the management colleagues is 3 months and 3 months extenstion. 2.2.3 Line managers taking part in staff recruitment Line managers also take part in the organisation staff recruitment process. In this case, the line managers are part of the organisation recruitment panel that recruits and induces the potential organisation staffs. A line manager also ensures that the recruited staffs are inducted into the organisation by conducting an orientation (Zwickn.d.). . Similarly, this is also evident in Farah Experience Company, which carries out an orientation after the annual employee recruitment. 2.2.4 Line managers managing employee organisation attendance Line managers are also in charge of the employee attendance in an organisation. The lie managers, in this case, spell out the organisation’s employee’s attendance expectation and ways in which the unplanned absences are to be reported. Line managers are also tasked with approving the employee’s annual leave. 2.3. Contributions of the performance management process Performance management is commonly neglected and disregarded despite it being a factor that fosters the direction and values of an organisation. However, the main problem regarding performance management process lies in how it is addressed by most companies. 2.3.1 Understanding of Expectations This is the main contribution of the performance management process. Due to the availability of the rule of the performance management process, the organisation’s employees will get an informative understanding of the expected outcome. This also gives the organisation employees enough confidence to approach the organisation managers concerning challenges which they are facing. This, therefore, provided the opportunity for discussion of the employee’s remuneration, promotion opportunities and challenges facing the employees (Glykas 2011). For instance, in Farah Experience Company the organisation’s performance management process is keen to listen to the employee’s feedbacks and addressing the raised issues challenging the employees. The company has created multiple channelled in which the employees can forward their challenges, opinions and suggestion to the organisation managers. 2.3.2 Opening of Opportunities As agreed in the employment contract the performance management process features the active development plan or the competency assessment. This is often keen in ensuring that the employee’s capabilities and talents are put to use. Evidently lack of personal development prospect causes employees to be disillusioned and eventually leave an organisation due to lack of personal development. Farah Experience Company has taken up different strategies in tackling this issue of personal development prospect. This includes encouraging employees to come up with both short-term and long-term goals which the company frequently reviews and promoting and rewarding employees who have hit their goals through job promotions, salary increment and bonuses. 2.3.3 Performance management process becomes relevant for everyone Through conducting more frequent performance management reviews the set objectives can be optimised and modified in order to fit the changing conditions within the organisation. This also helps the employees to see the visibility of their potential therefore boosting their confidence in their ability. This also ensures that the organisation’s employee’s talent are put to better use. In this case, through Farah Expectation-Performance management process the organisation embraces job rotation in order to ensure that the employee’s talent are used effectively(Navarro & Moya 2005). Therefore the company’s Performance management process focuses on evaluating the organisation employees potential and talent, therefore, aligning them in areas where their talent can be used effectively. 3.0. CREATING HIGH PERFORMANCE WORKING SUSTAINABLE CULTURE 3.1. How to create a High-Performance Working Culture in an organisation Organisation culture is the typical way in which an organisation does things. In order to build High Performance Working culture in an organisation, some attributes should be adopted this entails goal-focus, collaborative and innovative skills, the quest for performance excellence and open communication within the organisation. In this case majority of these attributes will be fostered is trust is embraced in the organisation. Trust in this case will bring unity and strength in the organisation as it helps the organisation stick to the High-Performance Working culture this will also lead to the embracing of transparency by the organisation since it will also foster the culture. Enthusiasm is another attribute to adopt while instilling the High-Performance Working culture in the organisation. Enthusiasm, in this case, will build confidence in the organisation employees as it also fosters the organisation embrace of the High-Performance Working culture. On the other hand, commitment is the other attribute that will likely foster the High-Performance Working culture in the organisation (Danford, Richardson, Stewart, Tailby, & Upchurch 2008). Commitment, in this case, will ensure that the organisation employees carry out their tasks and roles to their level best in order to ensure that they transition of the company to the High-Performance Working culture is smooth and effective. 4.0 Conclusion Improving the organization operations performance as evidently seen requires various issues to be addressed. In this case the organization performance management should be addressed where the company ensures that their performances are in line with those of its employees and the company general vision and goals. On the other hand High performance Working is a crucial aspect that is constantly disregarded by organizations. High Performance working in this case fosters the organization economic and competitive growth in the industry. In order for an organization to adopt High Performance Working it has to take up the High Performance culture. 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