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Being a Leader
Introduction
The contribution of each employee into an organization is pretty imperative. The workers are faced with performance issues not considering whether they do their job dismally or exemplary (Favell, 2005). As a first line manager, I have encountered various performance issues, such as late deliveries, underperformance, and punctuality concerns. I have a role in addressing these issues, but my responsibility has its limits. Whenever the situation is beyond my limits, I explain it to the top management to let them make the right decision. However, I always participate in assessing the performance of both individuals and entire team. Assessing the team performance periodically has been a wise decision since it has helped keep the company’s performance on the highest possible level.
Task 1
As a first line manager, I have a role in monitoring and managing the employees’ performance. Sometimes, I realize that their level of performance is dwindling, which prompts me to investigate the reason of this situation. In my company, the critical performance issues that I have noted engross underperformance, late deliveries, and problems with punctuality. In most cases, my group of employees fails to achieve the goals since the top management did not give comprehensive guidelines. Moreover, the clarifications on the instructions regarding how the work should be undertaken are communicated to the employees too late (Favell, 2005). For that reason, my employees struggle to deliver in time; thus, they have both punctuality and late delivery issues.
Sometimes, my subordinates showcase performance issues even when they are executing the roles exemplary. For instance, some individuals appear stressed at the workplace. Others miss or nearly miss the deadlines, while some persons have absenteeism and punctuality issues. Since I am the first line manager, I can easily realize the situation of a stressed employee. When not stressed, these people deliver high-quality work, and their performance levels are always impeccable (Favell, 2005). In such days, my subordinates do not miss the deadlines. I am always assured that they handle the piece of work assigned within the given timeframe. Apart from that, such employees do not have absenteeism or punctuality issues, and the overall performance of the company is high.
In line with the team performance, I have the responsibility limits in dealing with these instances. I am responsible for the project management in the company. I work in a consulting organization, whereby the employees that I supervise are supposed to offer consulting services that are related to e-commerce. Thus, there are certain ways how I identify the performance issues that arise in my team. The three techniques that I use entail customer feedback, colleagues' feedback, and observation. For the less experienced members of staff, they are prone to experiencing the performance issues that I have identified above. More experiences persons help me detect such problems since people work in a team.
Having realized the issues, there are some problems that I can handle, while others are beyond my abilities. On a daily basis, I monitor the performance of each person. Then, I write reports regarding how the activities for the entire day are panned out. After that, I present those performance reports to the top management. The latter measures the success of each week, month, or year based on the reports that I make on a daily basis. The senior management provides me with daily targets, and I only measure the success based on such objectives. I can play an instrumental role in improving the working results of the team members. For instance, I need to inspire them and explain to them that the success of the company is still their success. Some individuals are stressed by massive work that they have to do each day; I have the responsibility to explain this to the top management so that the workload can be tailored to suit their abilities.
Task 2
To begin with, there are various tools that I can use to evaluate how an individual or entire team of employees is performing. For instance, I use Key Performance Indicators (KPI) at my workplace. The top management provides me with strategic goals and objectives that have to be met within a specified period. Sometimes, they could instruct me to ensure that such targets are fulfilled daily, weekly, or monthly. Using KPI, I can assess both individual and group performances. Apart from that, I apply performance appraisal to supplement KPI, and both tools are useful. Since the process is honest, fair, and regular, the employees' behavior is positive, and they are happy about all that is happening (Favell, 2005). The performance reports are detailed, and this has gradually resulted in improved performance.
Many instances at my workplace offer a manifestation of how assessing the employees' performance has helped the company keep working well. I have both formal and informal examples to support this premises. By using KPI, I collect essential data regarding the members of staff. If they are performing well, their excellent performance is explained to them and vice versa. As a consequence, this data-driven process has helped the top management make critical decisions (Favell, 2005). In an informal setting, I ask each person on their personal goals. After they reveal them, I weigh out how they can be aligned with the organizational goals. Happily, most of them are focused on personal growth and align own targets with that of the company.
Evaluating both team and individual performances alongside behavior requires some special tools. As mentioned above, KPI is a valuable approach. It has to be designed in a way that it contains some specific elements that the assessor would wish to use. The metrics include weekly/monthly progress reviews, KPI reviews and reports, personal goals, as well as targets. A manager has to use various approaches to evaluate the team’s performance (Favell, 2005). It comprises weekly/monthly team reviews, team engagement surveys, team KPI reviews, and reports. In doing this, the manager has to personally observe the attitude of the employees and assess whether they are satisfied with the process. In case they are not happy, it is advisable to change the means of evaluating their results.
Finally, both team and individual performances can be implemented by the use of either formal or informal processes. Formal procedures are much common during the employees’ performance appraisals (Favell, 2005). In my case, I can use this formal means to assess the results of the team on a quarterly basis. Explicitly, I am confirming whether each member of staff has goals that align with the company’s objectives. If there are ways that such an employee can be helped to reach his/her full potentials, I communicate this to the human resource manager. Regarding the informal procedures, I continuously communicate with the employees to assess whether they are having any difficulties in completing the assigned tasks. Preferably, I do this with individuals who seem nothing to do during the working hours.
Conclusion
All in all, the employees might face performance issues irrespective of whether they are performing well or dismally. In my company, I have encountered many instances, whereby I have to identify performance issues from employees even at the times when they are working well. Mostly, my subordinates are stressed, and this is down to the amount of workload that they have to complete on a daily basis. As a first line manager, I still have a role to ensure that the organizational goals are met, and the employees fulfill their targets.
