Introduction
Performance management is a continuous process adopted by organizations to improve their goals and performance. This is done through streamlining employee and team performance to ensure that their efforts match the organizational objectives (Ganapathi, 2019). Performance management obtains better results from the company teams and individuals by regulating their performance at an accepted framework of the planned goals, standards, and competencies. Responsibilities of various stakeholders such as the organization employees, supervisors, and the human resource department are essential in attaining effective performance management.
Responsibilities and Performance Review Strategies for Stakeholders
From the top to the bottom level, all employees in the organization play critical roles and are subject to performance management since the process revolves around them. Firstly, they develop performance agreements in collaboration with their line managers. Secondly, they participate in periodic evaluation of their performance review and 360-degree assessment schemes (Awan et al. 2020). Thirdly the employees discuss and share their competencies as required by their supervisors and ask questions to ensure they know their performance goals and objectives. They also take responsibility for their systematic performance improvement and development. In addition, the employees are often responsible for monitoring their duties as well as behaviors at work to avoid a mix-up and misunderstanding about job expectations.
Strategies used to Review Employee Performance
Reviews of employee performances are one of the critical functions of the human resource department in an organization. This involves the assessment of current employee performance, offering feedback, and identifying top and bottom performers to ensure the organization’s goals are achieved. Management by objectives (MBO) is one of the modern strategies used to evaluate employee performance. It refers to a situation where the employee performance is graded against the specified objectives (Pollock, 2018). Employees are also reviewed using the ranking method. In this method, the managers rank their employees based on the merits of top to bottom performers. Behaviourally anchored rating scales (BARS) are also used to evaluate employee performance by contrasting employee performance against the specified behavioral examples rated numerically.
Supervisor Responsibility
Supervisors assume many functions and roles in an organization to ensure effective management. Supervisors are responsible for providing the assistance, support, and coaching that the team may need in their work (Armstrong,2021). They create performance and job objectives collaboratively with the necessary reports. They also carry out performance evaluations according to the established regulations and policies. In addition, the supervisors provide fair, timely, and constructive feedback on the performance expectation of a team.
Strategies used to Review Supervisor Performance
When evaluating supervisor performance, managers use a combination of team average performances and other subjective assessments such as communication skills. The assumption is that the supervisor is also doing well when the team is doing great (Awan et al. 2020). 360 degree is another performance review technique for assessing supervisor performance. It involves the assessment of various inputs of the supervisor superior and how they directly influence the supervisor’s actions on other employees.
Responsibility of the Human Resource Department
The human resource department plays a critical role in providing effective performance management. Supervisors and employees rely on the HR department for smooth operations within the organization. The functions of the HR department in performance management include; planning for the organization workforce. This is done by linking the company demands with the resource requirements to ensure that the organization has the right individuals at the right place at the right time. The department also ensures that the employees are rewarded and recognized for achieving objectives and a job well done. Moreover, the department provides periodic employee training and development as well as creating the mid-term review, which regulates the lows and increases on the highs through systematic reviews.
Strategies used to Review HR Performance
The human resource department is responsible for executing major organizational processes. The department performance is evaluated based on the employee satisfaction index, the average length of service, attrition, and absenteeism rate (Sakdiyakorn, & Wattanacharoensil, 2018). The assessment center method is used to review the human resource performance; it involves creating a central point where the human resource managers and personnel undertake job-related tasks and get evaluated by trained observers (Roberson, 2019). Another strategy for reviewing HR department performance is Human Resource Accounting (HRA). This involves judging the performance based on cost contribution, the organization analyses the monetary aspects accrued by the department, and is often based on the cost-benefit analysis.
Creating a Culturally Sensitive Work Environment
Workplaces globally are becoming more diverse, creating a culturally sensitive workplace is a critical aspect. Cultural sensitivity involves the awareness and acceptance of the existence of other cultures without the belief that your culture is superior to others (Yurur et al. 2021). Cultural insensitivity can negatively impact the organization’s performance and image; therefore, skills to work with culturally diverse individuals are essential to every organization. Organization stakeholders such as the human resource department, employees, and supervisors play a critical role in contributing to a positive and culturally sensitive work environment.
Employee Contribution
All employees contribute towards a culturally sensitive working environment by participating in cultural sensitivity training where they can learn rules and policies surrounding the accepted workplace behavior relating to cultural discrimination (Chang et al., 2017). Employees also get to know the consequences of disregarding cultural sensitivity policies through training. Employees should also reduce cross-cultural communication barriers. When dealing with employees, customers, and partners who speak different languages, they should switch to a neutral language to accommodate them. In addition, they should ask questions instead of making assumptions.
Human Resource Department Contribution
The HR department plays a significant role in ensuring that the workplace is culturally sensitive. One of the contributions is setting laws and policies within the organization that govern the employee conduct towards achieving a culturally sensitive environment (Den Hartog et al. 2017). The human resource department is also responsible for creating periodic training to ensure that all employees are trained on aspects relating to cultural sensitivity (Den Hartog, 2017). Moreover, the department should also create celebration and infrastructure to celebrate diversity and culture in the workplace.
Supervisor Contribution
Supervisors play a role in leading the teams in ensuring that they adhere to the set policies relating to the cultural sensitivity within the organization. The supervisors can promote a culturally sensitive environment by forming groups with their teams that discuss and understand more about the cultural differences within the organization (Cressey, 2019). The supervisors should also communicate clearly to avoid misunderstanding when addressing culturally diverse teams. Some cultures have different verbal and nonverbal cues which need to be considered to create a culturally sensitive workplace.
Factors Affecting Cultural Sensitivity in a Work Environment
Although most organizations have adopted cultural competency training within the workplace, several factors affect cultural sensitivity in the organization. Firstly, individuals within an organization belong to different religions and denominations. Different religions have different beliefs and values that affect an organization’s cultural sensitivity (Chang et al., 2017). Secondly, current organizations employ individuals of different races and ethnicities whose communication styles and cultures are different, making it challenging to create a culturally sensitive environment. Personal attributes such as age, gender, communication, and language ability affect cultural sensitivity in a working environment (Cressey, 2019). Customers, employees, and partners may not share the same first language and experience difficulties communicating and understanding each other. Similarly, communication between individuals of different ages may create a barrier. Young people are often biassed towards their age during communication.
Conclusion
Overall, Performance management is a process used to improve the organization’s performance and goals by aligning employee and team performance to ensure that their efforts match the organizational goals. Roles of employees, supervisors and the human resource department are essential in attaining effective performance management. Employees participate in developing performance agreements in collaboration with their line managers. They also participate in their periodic performance review and participate in 360-degree assessment schemes. The Supervisors are responsible for providing the assistance, support, and coaching that the team may need in their work; moreover, they create performance and job objectives. The roles of the HR department in performance management include; planning for the organization workforce by linking the company demands with the resource requirements to ensure that the organization has the right individuals at the right place at the right time. The organization uses many strategies such as the 360- degree ranking method, assessment center, and BARS to review employee performance to ensure all shareholders meet individual and organizational goals.
References
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