Human Resource Management

Methods of Measuring Staff Performance 

How are expected standards of performance communicated to the team?    

The performance of every employee is fundamental for generating revenue in different organizations. Team managers especially for the cooks’ team in a fast food restaurant are bestowed with the role of communicating expected standards of performance to the employees. The manager begins by inviting the team members to an expectations setting session. The first step to be taken in this case is stating the purpose of the session. This entails telling the team members that the meeting is for setting of performance expectations that can be agreed upon by the team members and the team manager. The second step involves a discussion of the non-negotiable and negotiable expectations of the team manager and the team members where job performance is concerned. The third step encompasses a discussion of the team members’ level of authority when fulfilling the expected standards of performance. The fourth step encompasses the discussion of the steps to be taken by the team members in arriving at their expected standards of performance. The last step encompasses summarizing the performance expectations to ensure that each team member is aware of his expected standards of performance.

How do team members receive feedback about their performance? 

After every month, the team members of the fast food restaurant are subjected to performance appraisal. After the conduction of the appraisal, feedback is provided to them based on their positive or negative performance. The feedback is provided promptly after the appraisal. The team manager chooses the appropriate time to provide the feedback to the team members. Feedback is not provided collectively, but it is provided individually. The team manager calls upon a single team member, he describes and interprets the specific results of the individual performance appraisal. He does not label the team member with such words as arrogant, he keeps the feedback short and warm such that the team member can relax in his presence. The team manager does not provide any form of advice to the team member unless if the team member requests it. The team manager focuses the feedback on the behavior that can be changed and he should actively listen to the team member when he explains his performance.

How is the team praised / rewarded?

Team rewards work towards fostering team bonding as well as providing motivation to the teams. Motivated teams will always provide expected results for an organization. In the fast food restaurant, rewarding the team enhances the success of the business as the team acquires the motivation to accord the customers with high quality services. The cooks’ team is provided with team rewards and individual rewards for the outstanding team members. The team is provided with intrinsic and extrinsic rewards. In terms of the intrinsic rewards, the team members are accorded with a public recognition for their good work. This builds their self-esteem and motivations to work. In terms of extrinsic rewards, the team members are accorded with such tangible rewards as gift certificates, merit certificates, a special day off work, materials gifts such as t-shirts printed with the team logo as well as tickets for certain concerts or game events. Individually, the team members are accorded with promotions and benefits in terms of salary rises so that they can improve their performance to a higher extent. In this way, both the individual team members and the team at large benefits from high performance and is motivated to work even harder to acquire more rewards.

How are performance problems dealt with?  

At times, certain team members might not be able to meet their expected standards of performance. This culminates into performance problems, which have to be solved in specific ways that will enhance the performance of the team members while at the same time encouraging them and not discouraging them. In the fast food restaurant, the team manager utilizes different steps to ensure that the performance problems are solved. The first step involves defining the performance problem and the team members affected. In this way, the manager can understand the role he should uptake in the problem and how to venture into solving the problem. The second step encompasses identifying the causes of the problem such that the solutions to be implemented will be specifically applied to the problem causes. The third step involves identifying the alternative solutions to the problem. The fourth step involves choosing the best alternative, which in most cases encompasses coaching as carried out by the team manager. The fifth step encompasses planning for the coaching process such that the team members and manager will benefit from the whole process through improvement of performance. The sixth step involves monitoring the coaching process after its implementation and the last step involves verification of whether the problem was solved through coaching.

How are team members identified and selected for training / future development opportunities?     

Before identifying and selecting potential team members, there should be the setting of the team’s purpose or goals. In this case, the goals should be selected and the timeline for achieving these goals should be set. The next step encompasses the identification of team needs, which involves identification of the needed fast food restaurant experience, the attributes of the team members, what the team will be specifically involved in, the skills required and the personalities of the people to be involved in the team. In the case of the cooks’ team in the fast food restaurant, their goals should be to prepare the best meals that will keep the customers coming for more. These goals should be achieved each day, as every day performance is crucial.

After the selection of the goals and needs, the team manager then requests the fast food to send a job advertisement for the acquisition of team members. Out of all the applicants, potential team members are selected and trained for a few days. They are then accorded with a 90 day probation period in which the existing team members are bestowed with the role of supervision their work. When the probation period ends, the existing team members vote for the best candidates who will officially join the cooks’ team.