Sustaining employee performance at the workplace goes beyond simply encouraging them to work longer hours by requiring them to report early and leave late. How an employee feels impacts on how well they can perform the work and thus the organization should invest in strategies that help employees to feel better about their job. Employees put in a lot of efforts to ensure that the organization achieves sits targets and thus need to be motivated throughout the process. The two positions chosen include chief finance officer and chief technology officer at the electric car automaker, Tesla.
Performance Management Systems
The process of performance management entails the coming together of employees and supervisors to plan review and closely monitor how the work of a certain employee contributes to the overall goals of the organization. Most organizations focus on the process of performance management to ensure that there is an ongoing coaching of employees to ensure they meet organizational and career goals (Bohnert, & Ross, 2010). Performance management systems refer to the different strategies that are put together to make sure that employee's contribution in the organization is monitored and evaluated.
The general function of performance management system is to improve and promote employee effectiveness in the organization through monitoring their performance and coaching them efficiently. The process of managing performance is not a one-time thing, as it takes the time to ensure that both managers and employees work together to review goals and objectives and how they contribute to the organization. The function of performance management systems does not end with monitoring how the employees are performing, as it also involves learning and understanding how the organization can facilitate the entire process. The performance management cycle involves processes such as planning, monitoring, review and evaluate. The planning stage involves determining the number of issues such as identifying and clarifying on the expectations, determining the process of measuring results, agreeing on how the performance will be monitored and documenting the entire plan (Ferreira, & Otley, 2009). The monitoring stage requires evaluating and monitoring the progress of the entire organization and making changes where necessary or where improvement is required. The review and evaluation stage involves yearly performance review and assessment and restarting the entire cycle again.
If the assigned company does not have a performance management system, adoption of such a system would be recommended as it serves an important function in the organization. Before any business can embark on coming up with an effective performance management system, it is good to consider whether its HR management practices can support the performance management systems and processes. For example, Tesla has HR management practices which support performance management process including well-designed jobs, a good and supportive working environment, operative management and inclusive employee alignment and training (Ferreira, & Otley, 2009). The company has all the required practices which can support a performance management system and thus it can be recommended.
Job Evaluation Methods
The process of job evaluation enables an organization to assess the content and value of various positions and determine a good and competitive compensation. The evaluation of job content is normally carried out through evaluating the type of work, skills required and also the general or specific knowledge required by employees to perform the work. The value of a particular position is determined by how the job contributes to the company's goals and objectives. Job evaluation methods which can be used for evaluating the position of chief finance officer include ranking and grading (Bohnert, & Ross, 2010). Ranking involves separating the jobs regarding their importance to the organization with the most important position being at the top. The method has some advantages including that it is simple, economical to operate and it is less time consuming since it can be implemented within the shortest time possible. The main demerits of the ranking evaluation method include the lack of specific standards for judging and lacking a way of differentiating between the differences jobs in the organization. The assessment method cannot be used in organizations which have a high number of jobs such as Tesla. The grading method classifies the different jobs into grades, with each grade containing some jobs which are similar in difficulty or requiring related skills to undertake them (Luthans, Avolio, & Avey, 2008). Its merits include simplicity of operation and also lower cost which is suitable for smaller organizations. Demerits of the grading method include bias by committee members and difficult to fit in the current technological world.
The chief technology officer can be evaluated through certain methods such as points rating and factor comparison method. Under the points rating method, the jobs are categorized into some factors which include training, responsibility, skill, and effort. The points are allocated into each factor thus completing the points rating method. Its major merits include the fact that the system cannot be biased or manipulated and also it is highly favored by workers. The demerits of the method include that it is expensive to implement and also time-consuming. The factor comparison method compares jobs through analysis and breaks them into compensable factors. The methods merits include that it is flexible and also to explain to employees since it is not complicated. Demerits of the method include that it is time-consuming and also expensive to implement (Luthans, Avolio, & Avey, 2008).
Compensation Plans
The compensation plan of employees refers to the process of employees receiving cash bonuses incentives and salary increments. Some of the compensation plans which can be used in the above positions include an annual salary, retirement savings and raises bonuses and incentives. Such high positions in a big organization such as Tesla cannot be paid daily or hourly since they prefer an annual compensation plan. A retirement savings plan is sponsored by the employer and helps to save some money to enable the employees to have a good life when they retire. Raises, bonuses, and incentives are determined by the employer's performance management system, and they are meant to motivate the employees (Wowak, & Hambrick, 2010).
Importance of Benefit Plans to Employees
Benefit plans to employees are necessary as they keep them happy and increase their morale so as to maximize their productivity. Employee benefit plans are important as they help to minimize turnover rate in the organization. Any organization that does not offer benefits to employees tend to lose the best talents to rival organizations. Providing employees with benefits also increases the appeal of the company and thus can also attract the best talent in the land (Bohnert, & Ross, 2010). The overall aim of providing benefits to the employees is to increase their morale to encourage them to perform better in their given assignments. Happy employees stay motivated throughout and thus they can perform their work better and with due diligence.
References
Bohnert, D., & Ross, W. H. (2010). The Influence of Social Networking Web Sites on the Evaluation of Job Candidates. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 13(3), 341-347. doi:10.1089/cyber.2009.0193
Ferreira, A., & Otley, D. (2009). The design and use of performance management systems: An extended framework for analysis. Management Accounting Research, 20(4), 263-282. doi:10.1016/j.mar.2009.07.003
Luthans, F., Norman, S. M., Avolio, B. J., & Avey, J. B. (2008). The mediating role of psychological capital in the supportive organizational climate—employee performance relationship. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 29(2), 219-238. doi:10.1002/job.507
Wowak, A. J., & Hambrick, D. C. (2010). A model of person-pay interaction: how executives vary in their responses to compensation arrangements. Strategic Management Journal, n/a-n/a. doi:10.1002/smj.839
