Introduction
Effective functioning of any organization is premised on the behavior of people who are within the organization, groups and organizational processes, for instance, performance management. Organizational effectiveness encompasses multiple constituents for measuring the performance of an organization. Organizational effectiveness theory and practice has changed with time as a result of complexities that have characterized modern organizations. Performance management is an ongoing effort within an organization that is aimed at helping workers to maximize their potential. Performance management in a company includes proper planning of work and setting expectations to be achieved by employees. Performance management also consists of monitoring performance of workers and training them thus helping them to improve their performance thus helping the organization to achieve its goals and objectives. Managers can use reports on performance management to reward workers who perform exceptionally well. The practice is crucial to the growth of any organization for the reason that it serves the purpose of evaluation and development. Performance management serves an evaluation purpose when it lets individuals know where their actual performance lies in relation to the goals of the company. Performance management serves a development purpose when it provides insights into the strengths and weakness of each individual within the organization (Schermerhorn, 2012). This essay analyzes performance management in organizations and discuses how I can apply it in the military.
Performance management in the military is mostly affected by the environment in which the officers work because of the nature of the military work. Those managers in the army who are tasked with recruiting servicemen establish systems to select recruiters from the available pool of officers. Those officers who are selected are tasked with training and developing new recruiters, opening recruiting offices in certain locations, establishing the production goals of each recruiter, motivating recruiters with rewards and monitoring the performance of the recruiters. The process of recruitment in the army is similar to that carried out in other fields like sales field in civilian organizations. The military recruiting environment has many features that make it to be different from other fields in the civilian population (Sackett, Mavor and Ebrary, 2004). The military has embraced the internet in the recruitment process so as to get the best talents thus improved performance. The US army is one of the largest organizations that employ people on an annual basis and thus performance management is needed (Suvankulov, 2013).
An effective performance management system in any organization should communicate expectations, distribute performance information to workers and determine areas of strength of the workers. Such a program should also identify areas in need of development, and document performance for personnel records. Some employers seek to improve the productivity of their firms through appraisals whereas others see appraisals as the primary supportive document in promotion and termination decisions. In building a performance measurement system, one should take into account the following principles which include; establishing broad goals to help in decision making and reviewing the organization strategic plan. Commanders in the military always communicate their expectation to junior officers in their preparation for various missions. This is an example of how effective the performance management in the military is because in any civilian organization it is expected that leaders should communicate their expectations to the workers. The all important aspect of employee engagement has an enormous effect on organizations, for instance, reducing employee turnover can make a significant difference on the organization because of the major effects that such a move can come with.
Performance management has several objectives which include; helping workers towards the achievement of standards that have been put in place by the management. The practice also helps the workers to identify the skills that are required for effective performance of certain duties. The practice empowers employees and motivates them if an effective reward mechanism is used to appreciate the best performing workers. Performance management is also essential to any organization because it helps to identify the barriers that make workers not to perform well and development of interventions to address such challenges (Aguinis, 2009).
An effective performance management system has several components which include;
Performance planning, this is the first component in which workers set targets and the areas of concern that should be addressed over the year which should fall within the performance target. Planning helps the firm and the workers to know what is expected of them at the end of the year so that they can make timelines within which to accomplish their duties. Workers are assigned the duties and the timelines in which they are supposed to accomplish the responsibilities at this stage.
Performance appraisal and reviewing, this is usually done twice in any firm in the form of mid and annual reviews. The process of review involves the participation of both the worker and the firm who come together to analyze the causes of loopholes in the performance and how such loopholes can be overcome. The organization is informed on how loopholes which exist in the management of the workforce can be addressed by using different interventions
Feedback, this is a very important stage in which the worker knows his areas of weakness and strengths. The worker receives feedback and the areas of development in which he/she is supposed to improve. Feedback helps the worker to know of his/her effort yielded fruits by meeting the expectations of the management.
Rewarding good performance, in this stage, the best performing employees are rewarded to motivate them to put in more effort in their work. Motivating employees is necessary and crucial to successful achievement of goals and targets of an organization. Workers make decisions that maximize expected outcomes, benefits and harms and thus managers need to influence behaviors of workers to meet business goals by manipulating the expectations of outcomes. Employees who are motivated put in more effort towards the accomplishment of the goals of a firm and thus organizational effectiveness. Motivation does not stop at getting people to pursue organizational goals but goes beyond getting people to buy in and take ownership of the firm. Good salary is one of the strategies that an organization can use to motivate workers. Other strategies that can be used include; bonuses, incentives, appreciation of achievements, empowerment, individual attention and providing a chance of leadership roles.
Performance Improvement Plans this is another crucial stage in which fresh set of goals are established for the worker and new deadline are set for the accomplishment of certain objectives. The worker is told about the areas in which he/she is expected to improve and a stipulated deadline is also assigned within which the employee must show this improvement. This is the stage in which the issue of change is addressed if any is required for the effective functioning of the organization. This plan is developed by both the employee and the management before it is mutually approve by both parties. Organizations need to go through change if they are to perform at competitive levels in this turbulent environment. Organizations need to adapt to changing environments and put forward that in order to cope with the challenges and opportunities they face, organizations have to confront the challenge of developing a suitable management style and culture that is appropriate for them.
As a military officer, the knowledge of performance management is crucial to me because I will need it in the accomplishment of my duties. The information that I have gathered in performance management is of great value in my service in the military. The feedback that I get from managers as a result of performance management helps me to improve in my service in the military. Performance management will help me to know my strengths and weaknesses and thus improve in my tackling of various assignments. The more feedback I receive as a result of performance management, the more I improve in my work and service to this great nation. In the military performance management is an aspect that has been embraced. Combatant commanders evaluate an individual ship within the group of assets with which it deploys. Navy leaders in the US have an inherent belief that a properly trained and assessed individual ship will be capable of successfully integrating with others for all possible missions (Suppa and Webb, 2012). Senior commanders in the military make many decisions about the division of labor, delegation of authority, departmentalization and span of control. Delegating authority to junior officers to execute certain duties ensures that there areas of weakness are identified. The juniors are also able to showcase their strengths which make their leaders to assign them duties in areas in which they are good. A leader in any firm must design and implement plans, and policies to maximize group cohesion, subordinates’ potential and foster high professional ethics. Just like in any company, commanders within the military circles determine the area of strength of each officer and place them where they suit. We have various areas of specialization within the military because junior officer have diverse talents in different fields. Senior officers within the military use performance management to identify areas which need development and challenges that may be encountered in the execution of various missions.
Conclusion
Effective performance management ensures that stakeholder requirements, organizational strategy and business goals are attained. Performance management should be integrated and link various aspects of the organization so that the goals of the firm are met in a conducive environment. Performance management is simply about striking a harmonious alignment between workers and the objectives of a firm for accomplishment of goals of the firm thus excellence performance. Performance management is essential in my profession because it helps my managers to know my strengths and weaknesses. As a military officer, the positive feedback that I receive from the management as a result of performance management acts as an encouragement thus prompting me to put in more effort in my service to this great nation. Performance management can be effectively carried out in the military just like in other civilian organizations like sales companies.
References
Aguinis, H. (2009). Performance management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
Sackett, P. R., Mavor, A. S., & Ebrary, Inc. (2004). Evaluating military advertising and recruiting: Theory and methodology. Washington, D.C: National Academies Press.
Schermerhorn, J. R (2012) Organizational Behavior, 12th Edition. [VitalSource Bookshelf Online].
Suppa, A., & Webb, N. J. (2012). Managing Performance in the Defense Sector: Cases of the Italian Army and Us Navy Surface Warfare Enterprise. Available at SSRN 2084793.
Suvankulov, F. (2013). Internet recruitment and job performance: case of the US Army. International Journal of Human Resource Management, 24(11), 2237-2254