The characteristics of performance management Essay

The characteristics of performance management - Essay Example Performance management has been promoted, researched and emphasised upon in small and large enterprises since long. The topic has evolved from much technical performance appraisal system. However, with the passage of time, increased complexity in businesses and emerging concepts of knowledge transfer, innovation, strategic human resources and greater attention on capabilities of human assets have transformed the way performance has been perceived, measured, judged and understood in organizational perspective. Even its application to subsequent HR policies and strategies has also changed drastically with the advent of information systems, international operations and establishing cultural symmetries between multinational offices of firms. In such context, it becomes essential to revisit the definitions of these two areas of HRM, chalk out differences between the two and identify reasons for prevailing confusion. Performance management can be defined as â€Å"a process for establishin g a shared understanding about what is to be achieved and how it is to be achieved, and an approach to managing people that increases the probability of achieving success† (Armstrong 2009). Thus, thriving on this basic definition of performance management, it can be deciphered that performance management is concerned with synchronisation of individual and organizational goals, setting up of expectations, duties and responsibilities and providing for the development of employees through a modification in their attitude, work behavior, skills and abilities. The characteristics of performance management can now be charted out. Armstrong (2009) next opines that performance management system is the sum total of five basic elements- agreement, dialogue, measurement, feedback and reinforcement. Agreement takes place between what organizations want to achieve with the help of contribution of its employees and what employees want to achieve with the help of organizational culture, stru cture and policies. Dialogue is the sharing and dissemination of ideas, data and information to and fro employer and employees. In this respect, not only the managerial heads, but also line managers are responsible for the establishment of a two-way communication channel that exhibits transparency, reliability and truthfulness. Measurement of individual performance is based on continuously evolving standards, indicators and targets. Combination of these three tenets serve as foundation for constructive feedback mechanism through which employees identify their own deficiencies and shortcomings and policy makers also allow and arrange for their development and reinforcement of positive behavioural traits. Secondly, performance management is a flexible, continuous and evolving process which takes note of both past experiences and future requirements to chalk out present policies and strategies. It is not in the nature of authoritative or bureaucratic management where commands and order s follow from the upper echelons of hierarchy. Rather, it is a process done in partnership with employees themselves. As such, continuous changes in role expectations, job requirements, skills and competencies needed and other work aspects keep on surfacing out. Known by various names like merit rating, merit evaluation and others, performance appraisal is a narrower concept with respect to performance management. It is more formally and operationally focused upon evaluating the performance and work behavior of employees through the use of various rating techniques. Grote (1996:3) state that performance appraisals serve to fulfil three major objectives- one organizational and two individual. Organizations use it as a tool to determine the contribution of employees towards the achievement of

Theory Synthesis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Theory Synthesis - Essay Example For instance, in this paper, we focus on the postulation that there exists a gap in practice theories where nurses show partiality in the manner they treat outpatients as compared to the manner of treating the patients who are admitted. Introduction The study in the theoretical structures that govern nursing practices reveal that nurses care for patients holistically (patients as well as their family members) more when they are admitted than when they are on the outpatient setting. Therefore, there is the need to breech the gap in the holistic care of outpatients in order to restore effectiveness and efficiencies in the nursing profession. All patients, regardless of being admitted or treated under outpatient settings rely on the nursing services as advanced by the nursing practitioners. The nursing profession on the other hand has been shown to rely on the theoretical frameworks in order to actualize the effective delivery of caring services to patients. Therefore, nursing theories complement the nursing practice in servicing patients. From the previous literature review, a gap is established between the nursing practice and theory and this forms the basis of this paper. Synthesize the knowledge gained in the area you studied during this course The study of the interrelationship between theoretical and practical aspects in the nursing profession has revealed a lot of incites which form the basis of this paper. Among other features noted, nursing is purely a scientific discipline whose success wholly depends on the proper adoption and application of scientific theories (Swanson, 1991; Risjord, nd ). Scientific theories are frameworks that have been in application over decades in explaining scientific phenomena and are testable and universally accepted. Nursing as a profession is therefore based on scientific research and hence runs under the guidance of such defined theoretical frameworks. However, research studies have been used to reveal that there exists som e gap between the existing theories and the actual practice by the nursing professionals. In often times, the inpatients enjoy higher attention and improved care by the nurses as compared to the patients receiving care in the outpatient department. This gap shows that there is inadequacy in the existing theories to guide the nursing professionals in attending to needs of patients; both at the customized care set up within hospitals inpatient programs as well as at the outpatient departments. We therefore note that there is great need to breach the gap existing between practice and the nursing theories. Our particular attention will be on breaching this gap by proposing and evaluating the provisions of a theory that addresses a patient as an entity, the family and community from which the patient hails as well as the nurse as most critical component in the recovery process. Though there lacks particular theories to address the disparity between nursing practices towards inpatients as and outpatients, there are some theoretical formulations which holistically empowers nurses to play a critical role in recovery process of patients; both admitted and the outpatients. Propose a component of a theoretical framework that addresses a gap following the theory development procedure you learned It is worth noting that the formulation of theories