“Handling Employee Issues/Conflicts”;
April 10, 2016
To: General Manager of Acme Manufacturing
From: HR Manager at Acme Manufacturing
Subject: Employees Issues/Conflicts
Acme manufacturing has been dealing with employee conflict the past few weeks. The employees in the operation department are fighting and harassing each other creating conflict within the firm. Due to the fights and harassment issues Acme Manufacturing has been in the news and it is damaging the company’s image. You have asked me to take disciplinary action against the employees and set new performance standards.
Implementing discipline to employees is a complex thing and must me handled correctly or else it will cause more issues within the company. It is important to address performance issues when they arise and take a progressive approach to discipline.
Progressive discipline is an employee disciplinary method that provides a range of responses to conduct solutions for problems or employee performance. Disciplinary actions range from mild to severe, depending on the how often it happens and nature of the issue. Almost all large corporations use some type of form of progressive discipline. They may be referred to as positive discipline programs, corrective action procedures, performance improvement plans, or some other title, these methods are all similar, although they might vary in the details. All these principles are base on company’s disciplinary response and should be equal and appropriate to the employee's conduct issues.
The Benefits of Progressive Discipline: Using progressive discipline can helpful to get employees back on track. As long at it is done right, progressive discipline can:
The progressive discipline system allows management to avoid the consequences of letting workplace problems to continue to go unchecked. Without management interfering, the employees may not realize that employee behaviors or actions are not acceptable. Not only will management have lost an opportunity to help the employees improve, but also the organization will continue to experience the consequences of the employee's issues, which could result in reduced profits and productivity, lost opportunities, quality control problems or customers, high attrition and low employee engagement. Using progressive discipline techniques the right way will also help your company stay out of legal trouble. Progressive discipline means to make sure employees know what you expect from them, being consistent, fair, and objective in following through with discipline. It also means to include employees in the procedure of improvement, and to document your decisions and actions properly, every single time. By doing this, you will make sure that employees who are unable and/or choose not to improve will not have the legal means to file a lawsuit against the company or organization.
Motivation plays an extremely important role in keeping employees on track and helping to achieve the organizations goals. Motivated employees work harder to achieve the goals and help in company productivity. There are so many motivational theories that try to explain what motivates people to behave the way they do. Motivational theories are applied in the workplace to shed light into why some employees work harder and are more dedicated than other employees, which can lead managers to understand how to motivate each employee to perform at their highest levels. Motivational theories are selected according to the job position and requirements of the job. There are a lot of motivational theories e.g. reinforcement theory, goal setting theory, satisfying employees needs, effective discipline and punishment, restricting jobs and reward & compensation plans. Management can get work done through employees if they are motivated. These motivational theories can effectively work out if management tries to reduce the gap between the desired state and actual state.
Performance Management System (PMS):
The desired outcome of an effective performance management structure is for employees to have a clear understanding of the work expected from them, to receive current feedback regarding how they are performing relative to expectations, to recognize development opportunities, to allocate rewards accordingly and to address performance that does not meet expectations. A comprehensive PMS allows employees to have greater input to their personal career progression and will facilitate managers to better recognize, identify and reward employees based upon an agreed set of criteria.
The purpose of the procedure: Ensure consistent and fair behavior for all employees; Provide managers with a guidance and framework that will allow them to clearly communicate the standard of work expected and to make sure the standards are met. Recognize and implement mechanisms to allow the employee to reach the required standard of performance.
Employee PMS is a fundamental part of an organization management. It should relate employee achievements and work performance to the strategic and operational performance of the organization. While historically the focus of PMS was on pervious performance, often used for the aim of compensation decisions, today PMS focuses on on-going employee professional development and performance improvement.
Elements of Employee Performance Management: There are so many of elements of performance management that companies should focus on when establishing an employee PMS process and policy. These elements are as follows:
Alignment of Employee Performance Objectives to Organizational Goals: When job descriptions establish the activities that need to be done in order to deliver the services of the company, performance objectives define the quantitative and qualitative standards for each of the key activities. Employees, at all levels in the company, must be able to clearly understand how their job activities and the level of their performance directly contribute to the success or downfall of the company.
Supervisor – Employee Collaboration: Employee PMS provides an opportunity to build trust and encourage productive and constructive working relationships, particularly between supervisors and their employees. A PMS encourages relationship in setting performance objectives and evaluation results that are more effective in motivating employees.
Cycles of Performance Management: Many organizations set up an annual performance management cycle, however, it may be more suitable for the company as a whole, or specific functions within the company to have shorter performance management cycles depending on the projects.
Performance appraisal – A formal performance appraisal should be conducted at the end of the performance management cycle. The performance appraisal should be conducted in a one-on-one meeting with opportunity for discussion regarding performance achievement. The performance appraisal should be documented and kept in the employee file.
Performance Appraisal Ratings and Forms
Organizations usually establish appraisal ratings to indicate the level of performance achieved by the employees. The current trend is to simplify rating scales and move away from numeric scales to words that are descriptive of performance.
The value of a rating system is that it provides a clear indicator to the employees of the level of his or her performance achievement. However, over-focus on the performance rating minimizes the value of the on-going performance development of the employee.
The conversation on all aspects of the performances should be emphasized over and above communicating a rating, and should focus primarily on future performance versus employee mistakes and past performance.
An appraisal form contributes to consistency in performance feedback and management in the organization, and ensures performance management activities are properly documented. Forms should be kept as simple and as clear as possible – the more complex the form the more opportunity for miscommunication and misunderstanding.
While performance results are often the key criteria for making compensation decisions, best practice organizations separate the two conversations to maintain a focus on performance excellence.
Performance Appraisals:
Performance Appraisal is very important for the evaluation of the staff and an effective management team. Appraisals help enhance organizational performance, develop individuals and feed into business planning. Formal performance appraisals are conducted annually for all employees in the company. Employees are appraised by their line manager. Directors are appraised by the CEO, who is appraised by the chairperson or company owners, depending on the structure and size of the company.
Annual performance appraisals allow management to monitor the standards, agreeing objectives and expectations, delegation of responsibilities and tasks. Employee’s performance appraisals also set up for individual employee training needs and allow organizational training needs analysis and planning.
Employee’s performance are checked according to the set standards of performances and compared with previous year performance. Performance appraisals are also important for career and succession planning – for employees, important jobs, and for the company as a whole.
It is important for employees motivation, and behavior development, attitude, communicating and aligning individual and organizational goals, and building positive relationships between management and employees. Performance appraisals provide a recorded, formal, standard review of an employee’s performance and a plan for future development. Job performance plays the vital role in an organization and help to evaluate their employee’s carrier building.
There are a lot of types of performance appraisals that are used by management to evaluate the performance of their employees. Management selects the appraisal according to the job requirement and rate them according to the set standards. The following are types of performance appraisals:
Manager closely assesses the work of the employees and then evaluates their performance according to the standards. Manager also conducts the training and coaching sessions to enhance employee’s skills and abilities. The main purpose of performance appraisal is to improve the performance of the organization. It helps company spot and categorize employees based on how they work. This categorization helps organizations motivate the employees and provide proper training to under performing employees.
References:
Lorne Seidman, Robert J. Aalberts, (1993) "MANAGING EMPLOYER‐EMPLOYEE CONFLICT: A CASE FOR ARBITRATION AND THE MODEL EMPLOYMENT TERMINATION ACT", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 4 Iss: 3, pp.263 – 276.
Olivier Doucet, Jean Poitras, Denis Chênevert, (2009) "The impacts of leadership on workplace conflicts",International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 20 Iss: 4, pp.340 – 35.
Richard A. Posthuma, (2011) "Conflict management and performance outcomes", International Journal of Conflict Management, Vol. 22 Iss: 2, pp.108 – 110.
Carolyn Wiley, (1997) "What motivates employees according to over 40 years of motivation surveys",International Journal of Manpower, Vol. 18 Iss: 3, pp.263 – 280.
Multiple uses of performance appraisal: Prevalence and correlates. Cleveland, Jeanette N.; Murphy, Kevin R.; Williams, Richard E. Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 74(1), Feb 1989, 130-135.
Are performance appraisal ratings from different rating sources comparable? Facteau, Jeffrey D.; Craig, S. Bartholomew Journal of Applied Psychology, Vol 86(2), Apr 2001, 215-227.
Dilanthi Amaratunga, David Baldry, (2002) "Moving from performance measurement to performance management", Facilities, Vol. 20 Iss: 5/6, pp.217 – 223.
Simme Douwe P. Flapper, Leonard Fortuin, Paul P.M. Stoop, (1996) "Towards consistent performance management systems", International Journal of Operations & Production Management, Vol. 16 Iss: 7, pp.27 – 37.
Mike Bourne, Monica Franco, John Wilkes, (2003) "Corporate performance management", Measuring Business Excellence, Vol. 7 Iss: 3, pp.15 – 21.
Bernard Marr, (2008) "Strategic Performance Management: Leveraging and Measuring Your Intangible Value Drivers", Strategic Direction, Vol. 24.