Performance evaluation for Carlson Company

Write about the Report on the Carlson Case Study for Performance Evaluation.

Performance evaluation is an important aspect of any business organization. Creating an evaluation system to review the performance of employees and the company at large can help determine the direction of the business. Management by objectives is one of the perfect methods used by companies to measure performance. Carson Company has a total of one hundred and seventy-six thousand employees. All these employees need to be evaluated and monitored in terms of performance so as to ensure quality output from each of them (Fengel, 2014).

To evaluate performance, a company may need to follow the procedure involved. This includes creating a form for guidance during evaluation, identifying measures and criteria of performance, setting guidelines for feedback, formulating procedures for disciplining and terminating processes and employees, and finally, setting a schedule for evaluation. Management by objectives is mostly used to evaluate the managers and employees in top positions. To implement this, the Carlson Company should clearly define their objectives to the employees; provide necessary resources for the achievement of the goals, and meeting periodically to assess performance. The performance can then be measured by the number of goals achieved by the employees within the designated time frame (Klun & Trkman, 2018).

Carlson Company can also use the forced ranking technique to measure the performance of its employees. The best performers should be ranked separately from average performers, who should also be ranked separately from poor performers. This technique does not only evaluate performance but also promotes competition among the employees, resulting in quality output. The use of graphic rating scales can also be an appropriate method to measure performance. This process involves listing employee duties and performance standards with a rating scale of one to five. Choosing one scale indicates the performance of an employee on certain duty. Maruscia et al (2017) argue that this method is ideal for companies dealing with fast pace activities, making it suitable for Carlson Company since it deals with hospitality and travel services.

Process performance management involves the ways in which a company motivates and empowers its employees to create a conducive and pleasant environment for quality performance. Carlson Company can employ this method of management to ensure full utilization of potentials and skills possessed by its employees. In the travel industry, so many activities are involved and the working hours usually run into the night. To motivate and empower the Carlson employees, management should ensure that workers only work within designated hours and not to overwork themselves. Also, day offs and holidays should be offered apart from giving salary increments. The company can also offer insurance covers to the employees to assure them of their safety during work. This move may motivate them to work hard and hence performance evaluation may become easier (Natschläger & Geist, 2013).  

Management by objectives

After creating a friendly and conducive working environment for employees, motivating and empowering them, the management now needs to assess their performance as well as the performance of the company in general. Assessment of performance can be done through evaluating the objectives and identifying which ones have been met and which ones have not yet been met. The individual assessment of employees in terms of ranking and evaluating individual projects and objectives can also help in assessing performance. The Carlson Company can assess its employees by checking on their set objectives and whether they have been achieved within the set time or not. Quality service delivery is one of the main objectives of Carlson Company. Reviewing and checking quality service feedback from customers can be an appropriate method of assessment. Also, an increased number of people seeking their services is another sign of improved performance (Rocha, Fantinato, Thom, Eler, 2015).

In any business organization, change can occur any time for or against the objectives set or the expectations of the company. Change is inevitable, and it is something the management should always be ready to handle, whether positive or negative. Critical factors may also arise in the process of change. There are three elements that can guide organizations in managing change;

Carlson Company, being an organization under the hospitality and travel industry can encounter uncertainties in term of booking fluctuations, competition, seasons and demand. The company should always be prepared in the case of any of them occurring. The top management should first define their change management strategy. A change management team should then be organized, composing of different ranks of employees and the management. Finally, a sponsorship model should be developed (Röglinger, Pöppelbuß & Becker, 2012).

• Managing change

Having prepared for change, Carlson Company should then manage the change in case it occurs. This can happen through developing a change management plan, taking action and implementing the plan according to the nature of the change that may have occurred.

• Reinforcing change

The company should take the step of reinforcing the change. This is effective through the collection and analyzing of feedback, investigating any gaps and managing resistance. Lastly, Carlson can now implement corrective actions and celebrate success.

In the event of changes occurring in an organization, there are potential risks that may occur. Carlson Company may follow a systematic procedure for managing change and potential risk issues that may occur. The process involves nine steps as follows;

1. Assessment of readiness

Forced ranking technique

The change management team put in place should use the necessary tools to assess the readiness of the company concerning change. Such tools may include culture and history, employee assessment, change assessments and organizational tools. These tools may provide a rough idea to the team on the potential challenges and changes that may occur (Samsul & Tava, 2014).

1. Communication/ Communication planning

The management of Carlson Company should clearly communicate to its employees concerning the potential changes and the company’s readiness towards them. The communication should be effective in such a way that it should consider the following components;

• The audience
• The message
• The time at which it is communicated 

• Sponsor activities and roadmaps

The selected team should develop a sponsor activities plan that can help business leaders in executing the plans. Sponsorship is the process by which the top business leaders actively participate in supporting a change management plan by offering support and guidance (Segatto, Pádua & Martinelli, 2013).

1. Training managers on change management

Managers are usually on the resistant side of change. They do not always take change positively and may refuse to implement some of the change management plans. The Carlson Company should ensure they are backed up by the managers and supervisors of the organization, after which training can be done to equip them with skills on handling change (Severine & Adnane, 2015).

1. Developing and delivering training

Training employees and those in management is a good way of imparting knowledge and skills to them, for a better readiness towards change. They should be made aware of the need for change and the urge to back it up.

1. Managing resistance

It is a common thing to experience resistance from employees and managers towards change. Nevertheless, persistent resistance can threaten a change project. Reasons for resistance should be identified and addressed so that the implementation process can proceed. Carlson Company may face resistance from employees in terms of increasing the workload or cutting salaries. The management team should use suitable means to convince them of the advantages of being flexible to change (Wang et al, 2018).

• Getting the employee feedback and corrective action

Carlson Company’s involvement of employees in the change management process may be advantageous to the organization. Feedback acquired from employees may help the management team in identifying an area that needs correction and taking necessary corrective actions.

• Celebrating success and reinforcing change

Success must be recognized and celebrated by a company after successfully implementing the change management plan (Tbaishat, 2017).

1. Performing a review after the project

It is good for the Carlson Company to review the whole process after it has ended. This helps in identifying future potential changes and updating the change management plan (Tbaishat, 2018).

In conclusion, the Carlson Company needs to work on the right procedure to ensure a good process management plan and implementation. This can be done by evaluating performance and implementing the right plan to manage possible changes in the organization. 

References

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Klun M. & Trkman P., 2018. Business process management – at the crossroads. Business Process Management Journal, 24(3), pp. 786-813.

Maruscia B., Marcelo F., Lucineia H. T., Violeta S. & Hung P. C. K, 2017. Business process point analysis: survey experiments. Business Process Management Journal, 23(2), pp. 399-424.

Natschläger C & Geist V., 2013. A layered approach for actor modelling in business processes. Business Process Management Journal, 19(6), pp. 917-932.

Rocha R.S, Fantinato M., Thom L.H., Eler M.M., 2015. Dynamic product line for Business Process Management. Business Process Management Journal, 21(6), pp. 1224-1256.

Röglinger M., Pöppelbuß J. & Becker J., 2012. Maturity models in business process management. Business Process Management Journal, 18(2), pp. 328-346.

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Segatto M., Pádua S.I.D & Martinelli D.P., 2013. Business process management: a systemic approach?. Business Process Management Journal, 19(4), pp. 698-714.

Severine L. & Adnane M., 2015. How high-tech entrepreneurs bricole the evolution of business process management for their activities. Business Process Management Journal, 21(1), pp. 152-171.

Tbaishat, D., 2017. Business process modelling using ARIS: process architecture. Library Management, 38(2), pp. 88-107.

Tbaishat, D., 2018. Process architecture development using Riva and ARIS: comparative study. Business Process Management Journal, 24(3), pp. 837-858.

Wang X., Xuan Z., Tong L., Junhui L. & Qingyi C., 2018. Correctness of aspect-oriented business process modeling. Business Process Management Journal, 24(2), pp. 537-566.