Multiple Source Essay
Employee Performance
Kyle B. Amstead
University of Maryland University College
May 3, 2019
Employee Performance
Employee performance requires the ability of employees to effectively carry out duties ordained to them. It relates to the credibility of their job output, citing the speed and time of delivery. Effective employee performance means that the organization is deemed to prosper. As such, maintaining an effective performance e of employees is a major objective of the management. Employee performance can be boosted through initiating work evaluation strategies. Employee performance has been a serious issue to many organizations. Most, do don’t have effective strategies that enable proper work productivity. Furthermore, this has been a very serious issue to many organizations. As such, this comprehensive analysis factors various attributes that can be employed in performance management initiatives. The study quantifies ideas and solutions based on case from reputable journals. In addition, the report generates an analytical synthesis of data used by various authors in generating information about employee performance.
Motivation
Motivation is a set of objects or incentives aimed at boosting the general outcome. The main initiative towards motivation is top up the performance of a task. As such, various managers have resorted to motivational activities in an aim of encouraging employee output. According to Robescu & Iancu (2016), motivation has proved to be extremely successful in enhancing employee performances. Pradhan & Jena (2017) also factor motivation as the main idealistic approach towards the performance of employees. Understanding the concept of motivation requires interior relation to determining factors. As such, this analysis tries to debunk the concept of motivation from an internal review. Employers should take time to relate the best types or techniques of motivation that best suits individual employees.
Types of motivation
Positive motivation: this is motivation based on rewards. The performance of employees is boosted by the idea of getting a reward at the end of their toil. The use of positive motivation encourages employees to work an extra mile in order to achieve the desired reward. Basically, it is pull mechanism generated by the employee.
Negative motivation: this is creating fear with an aim of boosting the general performance. Here employees gain the push towards excellent performance as a result of fear. This fear can be generated through warnings and threats. For instance, an employer can resort to laying-off unproductive employees. As result, the remaining lot would boost their performance and aim towards the expectations of their employer.
Extrinsic motivation; this form of motivation is based on external factors. It uses incentives or remuneration to factor excellent performance. Majorly, extrinsic motivation is based on financial and materialist rewards.
Intrinsic motivation: this form of motivation is ideally created from an internal drive. It is majorly the satisfaction gained by employees after achieving their objectives. Intrinsic motivation is factored by self-esteem and recognition or responsibility of the individual employee.
Self-motivation; is the personalized form of motivation. An individual employee can set targets and work towards their achievement. The source of strength is internalized and varies from each person.
Group motivation: the performance of individual employees can be boosted through use of groups. This form of motivation is created by the ability of working as a team. In addition, it boosts it not only boosts performance of individuals but also fastens productivity rates.
Techniques of motivation
Financial motivation: this is the use of financially based motivators in encouraging the performance of employees. It involves salary raises, bonuses or voucher offers as reward for titillating performance.
Prestige, status, and pride: motivation can be achieved through other rewards other than finances. This can be factored through promotions or extra facilities. In addition, this form of motivation can be generated through individual self-esteem from the incentive.
Competition: motivation as a result of competition can be idealized from the drive towards achievement. Management can resort of using localized competitions between employees as an aim of boosting their performance. Competitions can be accompanied with possible rewards for the winners in order to generate personalized drives in the project.
Job rotation and specialization: job rotation aims at familiarizing all employees to the available tasks within the organization. These incentives kill boredom resulting from continuous repetition of tasks. Specialization, likely, encourages productivity since the employee tasked enjoys familiarity of the project or machine being used.
Performance Appraisal and Compensation
Performance appraisal requires an interior understanding of the productivity of employees from the hosts. Performance appraisal incentives encourage the communication of employees and their employers. Muda, Rafiki, and Harahap (2014) retaliated on communication between employees and their employers. They recorded the importance and employer in understanding individual performances of his employees. Significantly, performance appraisal and communication incentives are based on idealized facts from employees. Performance appraisal requires evaluating the work of employees who are later compensated. Compensation is majorly the act of financially rewarding employees based on their performance.
Methods of Performance Appraisal
Work standards approach: this involves setting of achievable goals for employees. The goals set a bar for evaluation of individual performances of employees. In addition, this approach enables management to monitor the performance of employees before setting objectives or standards.
Essay approach: this approach is generated from individual employee data. Here, the evaluator records strengths, weaknesses and past activities of individual employees. Basically, it is an essay, generated by an evaluator, describing the performance of a particulate employee.
Critical incidence appraisal: here an evaluator records both positive and negative behaviors of the employee. He creates a comparison that determines the rate of employee appraisal. This approach might be affected by biasness of the evaluator or halo effect. In addition, the approach might factor leniency constraints.
Checklist approach: this approach borrows the use of set questionnaire in evaluating the performance of individual employees. Their work output is validated from specific questions. Furthermore, the rater uses yes and no answer questions in determining the performance.
Use of ranks: this involves generating ranks from the performances of employees. Ranks can be evaluated using various factors such as the rate of work delivery. This method compares two or more employees.
Compensation of employees
Compensation mainly involves the use of financial incentives. It considers the creation of credible pay structures based on job evaluation. The satisfaction of employees is very important. Their payment similarly has to be focused on the job category. The essence of job evaluation is to categorize job groups and create an effective pay structure.
Job evaluation methods: Job evaluation is commonly done through job ranking and classification methods. Ranks are accorded from the hardest to the simplest tasks. Significantly, classification borrows the same criteria but awards grades instead or ranks. In addition, job grades can also be considered as ranks. The worth of each job is then quantified from the groups and pay scale determined. The other technique of evaluation is the use of points: it uses points which are validated through a scale. The technique requires use of different scales in evaluating the jobs of managers and subordinate employees.
Types of compensation incentives: the main types of incentive plans are individual and group incentives. Individual incentives as the name suggest are based on personalized attributes. These plans can be created from individual rates of delivery, time saved and commissions. Pay scales are generated from the individual performance evaluation of the stated determinants. Group incentives categorize the performance of employees into groups. Pay scale is considered from profit share ratios, bonuses resorted from saved labor costs, stock ownership, and variable pay plans.
Training and development
Training is the process of acquiring additional skills, knowledge and attitudes aimed at boosting the performance of employees. Training is very important because it enhances the credibility of employees in terms of job output. Mwangi et al (2018) recognizes the importance of training to employees. They factor training as the most important objective of organizations with an aim of maximizing employee output. From the research conducted, they found out that training of employees, specifically the coaching factor increased their credibility and efficiency. Similarly, Sendawula, Nakyejwe, Bananuka, & Najjemba (2018) seconded the effectiveness of training techniques in performance motivation. Training requires the understanding of basic needs affecting individual employees. As such, managers have to effectively evaluate needs in order to come up with the best training initiatives.
Needs Assessment
Needs assessment is the process of identifying needs of employees. It considers the specific needs of each employee. Training plans are then initiated from the data sourced. The essence of needs assessment is to provide specific training initiatives for individual employees.
Methods of needs assessment; needs can be assess through a number of strategies.
Interviews: This requires carrying out interviews with individual employees in order to determine their issues. Interviews allow management to relate with employees’ problems from the hosts directly. As such, they can generate the best plans for training.
Surveys: This involves developing a set of skills and ideas that would guide a survey initiative. Survey requires the collecting of data and generating conclusions out of the data generated. Surveys can be conducted through issue of questionnaires or carrying out interviews while recording the data provided. From this data the direction of training needed can be evaluated.
Observation: This requires continuous watching of performance of employees. Data needed for training is collected through analyzing the observed characteristics.
Focus groups; A focus initiative is based on various levels and departments within an organization. An expert human resource practitioner can be requested to carry out the focus and generate conclusive data which shall be used in basing training initiatives.
Methods of Training and Development
Job rotation: this training method involves change impacted through job rotations. The essence is to initiate awareness of each task carried within the organization.
Apprenticeship training: this method involves the use of instructions of both on job and off-job platforms. Basically it’s through guiding but based on specific instructions for the particulate task.
Simulation methods: these are off-job training campaigns aimed at improving the output of individuals. They include:
Lectures: these are study based training initiatives where employees get guidance through various tasks within the organization. This can be done by a senior manager or an expert in the particulate field.
Seminars: these are teaching and learning platforms carried out by experts majorly externally sourced. The employees get directive evaluation of various tasks within the organization.
Conference methods; these involves taking employees to learning platforms where they boost their work efficiency. Conferences can be internal or external and mainly use expert trainers. In addition, most conferences are aimed at learning new ideas and techniques used by other competitors.
Role playing; this training is done through job rotations where employees get to learn more about their colleague’s tasks.
Job satisfaction
Job satisfaction is the perception of employees relating to their jobs. It is basically from attitudes created. Job satisfaction is an important factor to be considered by employers especially when evaluating performance. On various incidences, organizations record a large number of employee turnovers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, employee performance is a very important objective of organizations. From the study it is evident that employee performance determines the general output of the organization.
References
Inuwa, M. (2016). Job satisfaction and employee performance: An empirical approach. The Millennium University Journal, 1(1), 90. Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321966659_Job_Satisfaction_and_Employee_Performance_An_Empirical_Approach
Muda, I., Rafiki, A., & Harahap, M. R. (2014). Factors influencing employees' performance: a study on the Islamic Banks in Indonesia. International Journal of Business and Social Science, 5(2). Retrieved from https://www.researchgate.net/publication/265081714_Factors_Influencing_Employees'_Performance_A_Study_on_the_Islamic_Banks_in_Indonesia
Mwangi, Z., Wario, G., Odhiambo, R., & Nzulwa, J. (2018). Effect of Coaching on Employee Performance of State Corporations in Kenya. The Strategic Journal of Business and Change Management, 5(1), 193-209. Retrieved from https:// strategicjournals.com/index.php/journal/article/download/618/641
Pradhan, R. K., & Jena, L. K. (2017). Employee performance at the workplace: a conceptual model and empirical validation. Business Perspectives and Research, 5(1), 69-85. DOI: 10.1177/2278533716671630
Robescu, O., & Iancu, A. G. (2016). The Effects of Motivation on Employees Performance in Organizations. Valahian Journal of Economic Studies, 7(2), 49-56. https://doi.org/10.1515/vjes-2016-0006
Sendawula, K., Nakyejwe Kimuli, S., Bananuka, J., & Najjemba Muganga, G. (2018). Training, employee engagement and employee performance: Evidence from Uganda’s health sector. Cogent Business & Management, 5(1), 1470891. DOI: 10.1080/23311975.2018.1470891