PART A
Explain why it is beneficial for managers to set performance expectations with employees, including benefits for both managers and employees.
Managers spend quality time in appraisal cycles and performance reviews within an organization. However, they allocate minimal time to set the right performance expectations with their employees, an aspect that is beneficial to both the management and the workforce fraternity (Blake, 2017). Below are a number of benefits that the management would enjoy from setting the performance expectations;
Delegate your assignment to our experts and they will do the rest.
It facilitates the setting up of direction, which in turn evokes the setting up of priorities.
It provides a yardstick for the evaluation of the direct report's performance.
It enables them to present their fairness as well as justice in their direct reports' point of view.
It provides a reason for the reiteration of the organization's goals, which keeps the team on the right.
Establishing performance expectations increases the probability of achieving the set target, especially when the employees are involved.
And for the employees;
It provides a clear directional sense.
It facilitates a proper understanding of the fundamental goals of the organization and the roles required of them to see to it that those goals are fulfilled.
It is a method of remaining motivated.
It facilitates the prior development of a work plan geared towards the achievement of the goals as clearly outlined in the expectations.
Describe the process that managers should follow when setting performance expectations with employees .
Involving the employees in the process of setting up performance expectations is actually the ideal approach. The process may follow these steps in order to set up effective expectations:
Provide an account of the organization's goals, including an explanation of the deficiency experienced at all organizational levels.
Seek the opinions of the employees to that effect.
Expound on the employees' opinions.
Acknowledge employees' feedbacks as well as constraints
Give suggestions on solutions and enquire from them if they have a different dimension of solutions.
Give a detailed and well-stated list of responsibilities to the employees as well as the repercussions upon failure of attending to each and every one of them.
PART B
Describe two areas in which John can improve by comparing the criteria in the attached "Accounts Payable Manager Job Description" to the information in the attached "Performance Appraisal."
As revealed in the performance appraisal report, John has the technical know-how required for the position of the accounting manager. This is demonstrated by his apt ability to grasp the aspects of accounting and completion of tasks satisfactorily (Sandy, 2016). However, John has to improve his level of organization, detail-orientation, and self-motivation in order to meet the knowledge, skills, and abilities requirements of the company. Furthermore, he should improve on his interpersonal skills (workforce relationships) to control the employees' uncalled for behaviors that lead to underperformance in his team, late completion of assigned tasks, as well as the high rate of absenteeism.
Describe the steps John needs to take to improve in each area identified in part B1.
Typically, accounting managers are viewed as financial leaders with outstanding capabilities of influencing an organization's growth as well as its strategic direction. It is therefore crucial that John acquires some skills in strategic decision-making geared towards driving the company's value (Schultz, 2017). To improve his interpersonal skills, John will be required to depict a strong sense of ethics by motivating and empowering his team members without favoritisms to appear capable and trustworthy as a coach. As such, they will be comfortable sharing their career goals. Another step that would be relevant for the improvement of his interpersonal skills is attending interpersonal coaching mentorship programs to help him develop skills for building a good rapport with his team and gain their trust as well as respect. And to improve his level of organization, detail-orientation, and self-motivation, John will have to set some professional goals and standards to be pursued and met by all members of his team as well as the related departments within the organization (Blake, 2017). He will also be required to plot a step-by-step roadmap for achieving the set goals, which will be applied with the same shrewd capacity in carrier planning as well as subordinates' assessment. The set goals and standards should come in handy with clearly spelled out the repercussions for not meeting them, which should be brought to the attention of every member of the team as well as the related departments
Describe how John's progress will be evaluated for each step identified in part B2.
A number of questions will be developed to guide the evaluation process for each of the steps taken by John in an attempt to improve his interpersonal as listed herein:
Has he admitted his mistakes?
Has he maintained great communication within his team?
What are his strategies for tapping the best out of his team members' abilities?
What are his plans for handling toxic employees?
Does he make the working environment fun for the employees?
What are his plans for empowering his team members?
How much do his subordinates respect and trust him?
On the other hand, progress in the attempts to improve his level of organization, detail-orientation, and self-motivation will be evaluated by assessing his defined and broadcasted vision, the extent to which he has engaged his team to commit to his vision, his way of dealing with subordinates with difficult characters, and his sense of business, as well as conversational repertoire (Blake, 2017). The moral compass that guides all of his professional decisions, as well as interactions, will also be assessed. The evaluation will also involve examining the manner in which John deals with the staff across the various departments of the organization as an accounting manager.
Describe specific outcomes that will demonstrate John's success in each area of improvement identified in part B1.
The following shall demonstrate John's success in his attempts to improve on his level of organization, detail-orientation, and self-motivation shortcomings as identified above:
When his department has generally shown progress in meeting the monthly deadline for ledger reconciliation.
When there is a piece of evidence for timely payment to vendors.
When all the invoices from his department bear acceptable account codes.
When there is an evident improvement in attendance in his department.
If there is evident positive progress in meeting all the deadlines of the company, federal as well as the state.
If his department exhibits an improvement in the level of organization, self-motivation, and thoroughness.
If the exist a piece of solid evidence showing his engagement in supervisory responsibilities as directed by the company's policies as well as applicable laws.
On the other hand, John's success in his attempts to improve his interpersonal skills will be demonstrated by the following outcomes:
Improved ability in both verbal as well as written communication skills.
Reduced absenteeism among the members of his team.
Evidence of improving employee motivation and empowerment
Evidence showing considerable positive changes in employer-employee respect and trustworthiness.
Describe a consequence John would face for noncompliance in each of the steps identified for improvement in part B2.
Continued underperformance of John's team and the department at large will attract drastic measures to address the behavior before it goes out of hands and result in the entire company failure. This will bring a sense of seriousness to other employees of similar behavior upon demonstrating that human resource management will not tolerate continued misbehavior as well as deliberate underperformance (Blake, 2017). The human resource management will not withhold unleashing stringent corrective measures involving demotion from the position already held by John, shifting him to other departments, or relieving him of duty to attend some leadership training before resuming his role as an accountant manager. Such measures will bring the hardworking members into quick alerts to disengage from the lazy colleagues in fear of bearing their repercussions (Sandy, 2016). If the situation proves even worse, then the human resource will not hesitate to let go of John to save the life of the company. However, this unenviable task will be considered as the last resort. Ideally, it will not be wise to hold onto an underperforming employee, which could lead the company into a ripple consequence of negativity.
Describe the final meeting that would take place between you, John, and Mary at the conclusion of the three-month performance management plan. Include the following discussion topics:
How to acknowledge the progress made during the performance management plan
Reviewing John's job descriptions and any other material used in evaluating his performance will be necessary for the process of acknowledging his performance progress, including attendance records, disciplinary records, productivity reports, and work logs (Schultz, 2017). It is expected that the performance plan changes John's professional abilities for the better. Any positive progress demonstrated in interpersonal skills as well as the level of organization, detail-orientation, and self-motivation in the process of that performance plan will be pointed out, appreciated, and commended publicly to motivate him to work harder for more achievement. In that case, John will be assured of full support in every aspect that would enable him to maximize his output. However, negative progress will be humbly but privately condemned to avoid the public embarrassment that may result in disrespect as well as mistrust from John's subordinates (Schultz, 2017). Additionally, John will be directed on better ways to approach the depreciating parts of the performance plan and encouraged to put more effort into correcting the negative situations. All in all, he will be assured of full support from the management.
How to conclude the performance management plan, including next steps
Depending on the progress made by John during the entire performance management plan, there are three possible outcomes: resignation, termination, or retention (Schultz, 2017). If John fails to improve on his shortcomings despite the guidance and coaching during the management plan program, it will be wise for him to end the working relationship by resigning to avoid adding termination to his work-life records. But if he does not show signs for resigning willingly, it will force the human resource management to lay him off through termination. However, in the event that John has raised his performance rating by meeting all the performance management plan's requirements, he will automatically retain his employment status with added benefits such as salary increment or a promotion to a higher rank in the accounting department.
References
Blake, A. (2017). Fundamentals of performance improvement: Optimizing results through people, process, and organizations, third edition. Performance Improvement, 51(9), 38-40. https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.21307
Sandy, W. (2016). Link Your Business Plan to a Performance Plan. Journal Of Business Strategy, 11(6), 4-8. https://doi.org/10.1108/eb03938
Schultz, J. (2017). Performance improvement: The means to process improvement. Performance Improvement, 46(7), 27-32. https://doi.org/10.1002/pfi.146
