The Role of Effective Performance Management in the Future Success of Colbran Medical Institute - Case Study Example

The Role of Effective Performance Management In The Future Success of Colbran Medical Institute Name Institution Date Performance Management Performance management is a process through which an organization incorporates its employees, as members of a group and as individuals, in the improvement of effectiveness of an organization in order to accomplish the goals and mission of the organization. According to Grote (2002) performance management comprises of setting expectations and planning work, continuous performance monitoring, rating performance periodically in a summarry manner, and giving rewards to those employees who have exemplified good performance. Performance management involves appraisal, training and development and renumeration. In the case of Colbran medical institute the whole process of management performance has no system that is credible enough to give the clear picture of the real situation on the ground as far as management performance is concerned. According to Gomez-Mejia et al. (2004), The various components of performance management are not clearely defined. The assessment of individual employee is not well done and in particular it is vague. The case is that one employees mistake is covered up by the other employee without leaving the guilty employee to be accountable for his own mistake. Allan think the evaluation creteria is very generalised and it will take a while before the real deficiencies are identified in the performance management. It will be seen from the case that the appraisal forms arre either marked good or excellent. With the evaluation system so generalized it is not easy to identify the training needs that exist in the Colbran medical institute (Noe et al., 2006). It is interesting that Isabel does not see any problem with performance management of the medical institute and when Allan questions her about this she says the workers are very hardworking. This does not been that production is at a hundred percent and that there are no problems as far as productivity is concerned. Consequently the method of appraisal is quite generalised and the medical istitute has to look for another way of correcting the anomaly if it wants to see effective management of the employees for maximum production. Performance management should be very elaborate to point out areas of weakness that should be strengthen in the long run if the organization is to achieve the set goals and objectives. Inicating that something is either good or excellent does not show the real picture that can be used in the improvement of the organization (Grote, 2002). Performance Appraisal Performance appraisal is comparing quantifiable actual performance against the targets and standards and seeks agree and identify opportunities for improvement as well as correct any deficiencies that may be in existence. It is through performance appraisal that training needs can be identified and addressed to equip the employees with the required skills for realization of organizational goals and objectives. Performance appraisal is a formal interaction that is structured between supervisor and subordinate that normally is in the form of interview conducted annually or semi-annually and through which the subordinate work performance is evaluated and discussed, with the aim of identification of strengths and weaknesses together with opportunities for skills development and general improvement (Noe et al., 2006). In the case of Colbran medical institute Isabel admits that they are using the graphical ratings that everyone else is using to evaluate the employees. It is much of concern to Allan that the method is full of generalities that should be rectified as soon as possible before the situation becomes worse. The individual productivity of an employee cannot be pointed out and in case there is some laxity on his part the other colleagues come in to take up the wanting part and cover up for the employee. Isabel emphasizes the fact of the employees working as a team for the overall production of the goods of the institution. Despite her stand there is be a more specific way of telling where the deficiencies in the production is so that the management can come in as fast as possible to rectify the disparity and put the organization back on its track (Gomez-Mejia et al., 2004). Regardless of Isabel showing that the team is a happy bunch there is someone who is suffering because of the inability of another one to tend to his duties fully. The company has endorsed the graphical scale for sometime but there should be reviews from time to time to identify where the assessment criteria is wanting. Every company works to resolve the differences between its targets and the actual results realized. If this kind of evaluation criteria is permitted to continue to be in use for a long time it will be hard to effect promotions and to know which employees to render redundant in case of an economic meltdown as the one that has been experienced in the recent times. A normal scale of rating is not sufficient enough to give the results of the performance of each individual employee (Kusluvan, 2008). As Allan rightly points out, the system is too much generalised to the extent that a problem occurring in the company will not be attributed to the correct source or triggering factor. The role of the human resource department is to make sure that the human resource is effectively utilised in any organization. In a system of evaluation of employees where other employees will cover up for the lazy ones then it will be very difficult to tell who is bringing the production of the company down. Allan points out that there are no various parameters that give enough details about the performance details of an individual employee (Daft and Marcic, 2008). The evaluation criterion has not put into consideration rates errors like the central tendency or leniency. The levels and standards apparently are very unclear for an organization like the Colbran medical institute. The performance appraisal method that is being employed by the company is very relative and it could mean anything to anyone. Just making the performance as good and excellent does not show articulately show which is the missing link in the perfect achievement of the organisation’s goals and objectives with the use of the human resource as the defining factor (Herkenhoff, 2002). According to Daft and Marcic (2008)categorising work as only quality work is very general and cannot be used in the pointing out of the real shortcomings in the utilisation of the human resource in any particular organization. Good or excellent can be very relative from one person to another. Whatever is good for the other may be substandard for another going by ones experience and expectation of quality of work. In any evaluation criterion there should be enough evidence that the required standards were met indicating quality work, so that even any analyst from outside the organization can be convinced that the right evaluation criterion was used in appraising the work of the employees. If a worker has not met the standards that are set for him then the evaluation system should be able reflect where the employee fell short of his targets (Armstrong, 2007). Training and Development Training and development is inculcating of specific skills, knowledge and abilities to an employee. It is an effort to improve future and current performance of the employee by increasing the ability of the employee to perform by learning and normally by changing the attitude of the employee or increasing his or her knowledge and skills. Training and development needs are identified by the performance deficiency of the employee that is obtained by subtracting the actual performance from the standard performance set by the management of an organization. Training is the process of giving to an employee the special skills needed to perform a certain function or functions. Development is used to define the learning opportunities that are designed to assist in the growth of the employee. Education is the theoretical learning that one receives from a classroom setting when he goes to school. Education and training are very complementary. Formal education helps an employee to under training in a specific field. If the employee had no education it would have been difficult to train him in any field (Armstrong, 2007). The essence of improved productivity has become globally acceptable and it is dependant on effective and efficient training. It has become imperative for the organizations to invest in training in the modern world. The role played by employee training in the current world organizations cannot be understated. Employee training and development is given impetus with the understanding that the skills of the employees need improvement for the organization to realise meaningful growth. Employees will require training in order to adequately perform on a job or task assigned to them. Training involves systematic development of attitudes, skills and knowledge (Kusluvan, 2008). Employees who newly enter the organization by be in possession of skills that are not relevant to the needs of the organization and will therefore require specific training to enable them to be productive in the organization. Training and development is what will put the organization in the right track towards the destination it so desires. Without training the organization will remain stagnant at one spot as far as the attainment of its objectives and goals are concerned. Training physically, intellectually, socially, and mentally is fundamental for attainment of the required level of productivity and personnel development in an organization as a whole. Human resources being the most valuable resource that an organization has, they should be utilised in the most efficient way to ensure that an organization meets its mission and goal in the short-run as well as in the long-run. There should short-term goals and strategic goals there will be achieve after duration of time. In the context of Colbran Medical institute there is no mechanism that is put in place for identification of the training needs that may exist among the employees. When Isabel is asked about an employee not meeting his target or the desired quality, she explains how the other employees come in to cover up for the fault of the wanting employee. She emphasizes the fact of them working as a team. Team work is encouraged in organization but it should be used to cover up the mistake done by the other. The productivity of the company may be doing down but it will be very hard to point out where the real problem is considering the performance management program that is in place in Colbran Medical Institute. If it were not for Allan to point out the limitation of the existing performance management criterion, Isabel would not be able to know that there is a problem by being very general. If an organization has no a well constituted system of identifying the training needs that exist then it will be impossible to put up training program for the simple reason that is not easy to identify who to go for the training. As it has been mentions the training needs are obtained by subtracting the actual performance from the standard performance, in Colbran institute there is no standard performance that has been put is place so that an employee actual performance is rated against it to identify the discrepancy. From the surface it will be seen as the Colbran Medical Institute is doing very well without looking at the individual performance of each employee. It will be seen that it is impossible to tell whether the organization met its target through the adequate utilization of the human resources available to the organization. Rating employees as either excellent or good is deceiving and there is no way one can tell if there is a problem in the organization. Isabel says that if a member of staff does not perform as well as he is required to, the other employees chipped in to bring the production to where it is supposed to be. This kind of performance management is destructive and dangerous if the organization wants to have a competitive advantage over the others. The performance management program should in such a way that it is easy to know what went wrong in the event the organization fails to achieve its targets. In Colbran Medical Institute seeming it will be difficult to have standard performance criterion that will be used to assess the actual performance (Hale, 2006). This is owing to the fact that the individual performance an employee cannot be quantified and consequently generalised terms are used when it comes to rating them. Isabel admits that there some employees who have let things to go in the wrong direction but the parameters of evaluation do not represent the actual picture on the ground. For there to be effective and efficient training and development there should a mechanism that is elaborate that identifies the training needs that exists in a particular organization. The appraisal of employees being done in general terms does not make the organization to adjust to the changing needs of the consumers. For the organization to prosper, the training needs should be identified correctly and worked upon to remove the gap that exists between the standard performance and the actual performance (Condrey, 2010). The employees of the organization cannot be trained just on anything; there must be a criterion that is used to identify the training needs that exist in an organization. Categorising employees as just being good or excellent leaves a lot to be desired as far as the performance management of the organization is concerned. This method is misleading and does not chart the correct way for advancement. According to Hale (2006), any training and development system must involve inputs which make the people taking place in it to get skills, grasp theoretical concepts and assist to acquire the vision to look into the distant future. Besides this there is reason to inculcate ethical orientation, put emphasis on attitudinal changes and point out problem-solving and decision-making abilities. The basic aim of training is to assist the organization to attain its purpose by the addition of value for the human resource which is a vital asset to the organization. Colbran Medical Institute should ensure that it put in place a system of performance management there is credible and can be used to assess the strength of the company and how it can help to identify the training needs that exists the company. The chart that is used for evaluation of performance management is very simplified and needs to be modified to adapt to the changing needs in the business world. The method of identification of training needs is not in place at all and Colbran Medical Institute must put in place something that can be use to point out the training needs that are present in the organization. Beebe et al. (2004) efficient training can be used to solve various manpower problems which may work against the optimum productivity of the organization. The problems that emerge differ in their nature but all could be resolved by identification of the right training needs that should be worked upon to make sure that the company meets the goals that are set either in the long run or in the short term. Training can increase the productivity of the organization tremendously. More so training improves the quality of work and raises the morale of the workers. The well trained employees have the confidence to take on tasks without feeling intimidated by the challenge of the task. Training when done effectively reduces accidents, waste, lateness, turnover, overhead costs and absenteeism. Training also ensures that there is correct used of new tools, processes, machines, methods, processes or modifications thereof. It is only through adequately training in order to implement changed or new policies or regulations. Training also is able to fight against obsolescence in technologies, skills, products, methods, capital management and markets. AS it can be seen training a very fundamental practice that should be embraced by any organization that wants to meet the needs of the customers fully (Condrey, 2010). Remuneration Remuneration is the reward given for employment such as pay, wage or salary, inclusive of benefits, allowances, cash incentives, bonuses and monetary value of the non-cash incentives. Benefits include such things like medical plan, pension plan, and company car. The policy of remuneration should be accessible to all employees in the organization. The employees are entitled to be informed of the criterion that is used to determine the employees’ remuneration. The process of appraisal should be transparent and properly documented to the rest of the employees in the organization. Without disregarding confidentiality, information that is relevant on the employee remuneration policy should be disclosed in easily and clear understandable way to the external stakeholders that are interested in it. Remuneration gives a reward to the good work done in the organization running. It is a method of giving the employee the morale to continue working hard for the organization. Any institution should be able to articulate clearly its remuneration policy should a request be made by any authority concerned with it. The organization should be able to be answerable to the labour laws that exist in a particular country. Apart from the labour laws there is also the pressure from the labour unions concerning minimum pay and the working condition of the employees. The organization has to comply with the set regulations to make sure that they do not run into trouble with the government and the labour unions in a particular country (Grote, 2002). In the case of Colbran Medical institute a proper remuneration plan cannot be instituted if the individual contribution of the employee is not determined. This is made this way owing to the poor performance appraisal system that has been put in place to evaluate the performance of the employees. Promotion is another way that the employees can be motivated to work diligently in the attainment of individual and organizational goals and objectives. If the employees in Colbran Medical Institute are marked either good or excellent, it will be hard to determine which employee should be promoted in case such a chance comes up (Beebe et al., 2004). DelPo (2007) notes that in cases where a lazy employee is promoted the rest of the working force will be demoralised and will engage in a go slow to show their importance to the organization. It is very important that the remuneration policy should reward employees that are working hard without discrimination of any kind. The advice that Allan gives to Isabel is very important. Allan says when the performance appraisal is concerned with pay and performance it is fundamental to make sure that the system reflects accurately what exactly an individual employee is producing. The correct system should be relevant to the operation of the organization to make sure it attains its goals and objectives (Moskowitz, 2007). The potential for distortion of appraisals In the case of Colbran Medical institute there is potential of distortion of appraisal due to the fact that the appraisal system that is in place is much skewed and does not give the correct picture of employee performance in the organization. A good system should be able to identify the individual performance of each employee and make sure the correct remuneration procedure is used to reward excellent work without favouring anyone. Consequently the system that currently exists in the Colbran medical Institute is misleading as far as appraisal of the workers is concerned and it will kill the morale of the hardworking employee (DelPo, 2007). Recommendation of a Performance Appraisal System It is fundamental that the management of Colbran Medical Institute must put in place a credible performance appraisal system that is reliable and reflect the clear picture on the ground. There should an overhaul of the current system and in its place a new one that is pragmatic should be put in place. A good appraisal system should point out areas of improvement and elaborate of the training needs that should be undertaken to fill up the gap between the actual performance and the standard performance. The performance appraisal system that can be recommended for Colbran Medical Institute is the one that is carried out at an interval period of three months. Let as say one should carried out in March, June, September and December. The appraisal should be done generally in all areas that the employee is involved in. This should not be misunderstood to mean that daily routing such as time in (clock in) and time out (clock out) should be observed. There are minor but crucial detains that should be observed like the relationship of the employee with the supervisors and how he addresses the supervisors. The employee should be rated on how he general carries himself around. There should be a scale of let say 1-10 and a digit assigned to an employee depending on his performance in the organization. Using words such as good and excellent does not say much as per as the performance of the employee is concerned. The appraisal forms should be used and also any errors perceived to have occurred should be explained so that whoever is interpreting the results is able to get the actual picture on the ground. Errors that could occur include leniency, severity, Halo, and implicit personality theory (Grote, 2002). The causes of these could be administrative procedures, political considerations, incomplete information, poorly defined rating standards, memory decay, and the rater’s lack of conscientiousness. There should be an employee comparative system that should see the different employees of the organization to some standard of excellence. In this case the performance of the employee should be evaluated in relation to the other employees. By doing so the organization is able to indentify is an individual employee is actually doing well or there are others who are performing much better that him. The appraisal forms of different types should be used in determining the various parameters that make up quality performance. There should reports furnished by the immediate managers and supervisors about the performance of individual employees. The essence of the appraisal system is to determine the disparity that exists between the expected productivity and the actual productivity realised. A rating scale should be always available for use in the rating of the employees. In case of descriptive words the organization should reach out to the performance appraisal handbook for the relevant work to use in describing the performance of the workers without remaining vague. References Grote, R. C. (2002). The performance appraisal question and answer book: a survival guide for managers. New York: AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn. DelPo, A. (2007). The performance appraisal handbook: legal & practical rules for managers Edition2, London: Nolo. Condrey S. E. (2010).Handbook of Human Resource Management in Government Edition3, London: John Wiley and Sons. Noe, R et al. (2006). Human Resource Management: Gaining a Competitive Advantage. 5th ed. Boston: McGraw-Hill/Irwin. Gomez-Mejia, L.et al. (2004). Managing Human Resources. 4th ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. Grote, R. C. (2002). The Performance Appraisal Question and Answer Book: A Survival Guide for Managers. New York: AMACOM Books. Kusluvan S. (2008). Managing employee attitudes and behaviours in the tourism and hospitality industry. New Jersey: Nova Publishers. Daft R. L. & Marcic D. (2008). Understanding Management. Edition6, Cengage Learning. Beebe S. A. Et al. (2004). Training and development: enhancing communication and leadership skills. Sheffield: Allyn and Bacon, 2004 Hale J. A. (2006). Outsourcing training and development: factors for success. NY: John Wiley and Sons. Moskowitz, M. (2007). A Practical Guide to Training and Development: Assess, Design, Deliver, and Evaluate. NY: John Wiley and Sons. Armstrong, M. (2007). Reward management: a handbook of remuneration strategy and practice. Kogan Page Publishers. Herkenhoff, L. M. (2002). National Remuneration (Pay) Preferences: Cultural Analysis Within the Hofstede Model Using Cultural Values to Untangle the Web of Global Pay. NY: Universal-Publishers. Read More