Study On Improving Team Performance Management Essay

Study On Improving Team Performance Management Essay Performance management includes activities to ensure that goals of the organization are consistently being met in an effective and efficient manner. It also contributes to the effective management of individuals and teams in order to achieve high levels of organizational performance. Performance management can focus on performance of the organization, a department, processes to build a product or service or the employees. It is about the organizational long-term goals and should link various aspects of the business, people management, and individuals and teams. Performance management should involve performance improvement, development and managing behavior. Unless there is a continuous development of individuals and teams, performance will not improve. The CIPD has identified the performance management by saying that it is:about establishing a culture in which individuals and groups take responsibility for the continuous improvement of business processes and of their own skills, behavior and contributions. It is about sharing expectations. Managers can clarify what they expect individual and teams to do; likewise individuals and teams can communicate their expectations of how they should be managed and what they need to do their jobs. It follows that performance management is about interrelationships and about improving the quality of relationships between managers and individuals, between managers and teams, between members of teams and so on, and is therefore a joint process. It is also about planning defining expectations expressed as objectives and in business plans and about measurement; the old dictum is If you cant measure it, you cant manage it. It should apply to all employees, not just managers, and to teams as much as individuals. It is a continuous process, not a one-off event. Last but not least, it is holistic and should pervade every aspect of running an organization. Now I work on a packing line in the Farm Packhouse. My day to day responsibilities involve: making sure that the punnets packed by me have the right weight and the quality meets the supermarket standards, ensuring the right labels are being used, separating first from second class, looking for progressive and non-progressive defects. I work on a packing line with five more girls. From my observation the problems that arise in our team come from poor communication between us, e.g. sometimes the line is overloaded and we need to stop packing, but not everyone is doing that. Also, due to poor communication and planning between and line leader and packhouse management, sometimes we have to wait for fruit or we will start packing and they will ask us to stop as we need to change the fruit in accordance to the orders. In these particular examples my responsibilities are limited as I am not the line leader and I am not responsible for planning the work. If there is a break down in the team communication, I talk to the other team members and try to explain that if we work together as one team and listen to each other we will be more productive and it will benefit us all. Another thing that is also an issue sometimes is the quality of the fruit that we have to pack. The quality controllers will have different opinion about the same fruit and one will say that we have to be very careful and tip the fruit and the other one will say that the fruit is good and we do not need to be so accurate. Again, I am quite limited as to how I can change this. One of my SMART objectives for the coming year is to become a QC. I am planning to talk to the QA manager and say from a packers point of view how this is disturbing our work. I will propose that the fruit is approved for packing by two QCs before it is loaded on the line, so that issues like that are minimised. I would say that the performance in our team is good. We work hard and make sure we do our job at the best of our abilities. Of course, sometimes our performance is not as good as it can be, but I believe this can be changed by better communication, clearer instructions, further training and more involvement. I believe that the leader on my line will benefit from with is performance. Some of his main duties include making sure we have enough fruit of the right quantity and quality on the line, making sure we have the right labels for the fruit we are packing, motivation and increasing the team performance, coordinating our work and breaks, putting the right labels on the pallets so that the packed fruit goes to the right supermarket. He and the other line leaders meet the Packhouse Assistant Manager in the morning after the daily orders have arrived, and they make the plan for the day. As mentioned above, I think that sometimes there is a lack in the communication about the right packing order of the fruit, e.g. which fruit has to be packed first based on the supermarket requirements. Also, his communication with the team can be improved. He does not get us involved as much as we would like to be involved. He finds it really hard to work under pressure and in there has been situation when he will be really stressed and this will affect his attitude towards us. I believe that our team leader needs to improve his communication both with us, his team and the management. He should involve us in the planning and the quality issues. Employees will only be able to perform at their best if they know their duties, obligations and rights and have an opportunity of making their views known to management on issues that affect them. Good communications is central to the management process and assume critical importance when dealing with changes in working practices and procedures. All managers need to communicate and consult with employees in order to be effective but they also need to exchange information with other managers. My thoughts can be supported by ACAS view on that topic: Employee communication and consultation offer many benefits although, done well, they require time and money. In particular good employee communications and consultation can: improve organizational performance improve management performance and decision making allowing employees to express their views can help managers and supervisors arrive at sound decisions which can more readily be accepted by employees as a whole; Improve employees performance and commitment employees will perform better if they are given regular, accurate information about their jobs such as updated technical instructions, targets, deadlines and feedback. Their commitment is also likely to be enhanced if they know what the organization is trying to achieve and how they, as individuals, can influence decisions help develop greater trust discussing issues of common interest and allowing employees an opportunity of expressing their views can engender improved management/employee relations increase job satisfaction employees are more likely to be motivated if they have a good understanding of their job and how it fits into the organisation as a whole and are actively encouraged to express their views and ideas. encourage a more flexible working environment employers can help to promote a good work-life balance within the organisation by talking to all their staff about developing flexible working policies and practices Communications and consultation are not, and should not, be an end in themselves. Nevertheless, used properly they have a key role to play both in ensuring the business success of organizations and in involving and empowering employees. In our case, if we trust the instructions given to us by the line leader, if we know exactly what is expected from us, if we know that the instructions will not change, if we are involved in the decision making, if our ideas are considered, we will feel motivated and our performance will increase. Never the less we work on piece rate and our performance is measured by the output, which means the more we pack the more we will earn, a job satisfaction and fulfillment will give us a long lasting motivation and performance drive. This is supported by Herzbergs motivation according to which people are influenced by two factors: Satisfaction and psychological growth are a result of motivation factors. Dissatisfaction is a result of a lack of hygiene factors Examples of Herzbergs hygiene needs in the workplace are: relationship with supervisor, work conditions, salary, status, security, relationship with subordinates. Herzbergs research identified that true motivators were other completely different factors, notably: achievement, recognition, work itself, responsibility. Most managers realize that a happy workforce leads to improved performance which holds equally well for leadership and training. Performance counselling is a powerful motivational tool and can be defined as a formal discussion between a manager and a subordinate for the purpose of discussing the subordinates current job performance, determining why the performance is at its current level and outlining ways in which the subordinate can perform better in the future to the ultimate benefit of all: the subordinate, the manager and the organisation. They key is to focus on the future. The challenge to the manager is to provide a climate in which employee growth is actively encouraged. The team leaders at Hall Hunter Partnership are offered and attend different trainings. To help improve our team and our line leaders performance HHP can organize communication training and performance management training for the team leaders. At these courses things like improving communication, involving the workers, motivation theories (Maslow, Herzberg, equity, expectancy and goal motivation theories) should be discussed and examined in details. Also there should be regular meetings between the team and the leader, at which responsibilities, daily planning, weak and strong performance issues must be discussed. Another issue in our team is that in some situations our line leader does not treat all workers in the team equally. If there is a problem with the quality he might focus on couple of people from the team and constantly check their trays. This de-motivates these particular works and their performance becomes poor. The above is supported by Adams equity theory, according to which motivation is about the perception of fair and unfair treatment and distribution of resources between the employee and the employer. In order to improve our team performance and to deal with the performance issues our team has, I believe the following should be done: Have better communication both between the team and the line leader and the line leader and the packhouse management- this can be done by weekly meetings (on a Monday) at which the whole team meets and we discuss issues from the previous week and share ideas. These meetings will also help us build a team spirit so that we all feel involved as being part of a team. Have better planning- at the beginning of the day our line leader should meet the management and ask for the plan for the day. As we arrive at work he should share that with us. Attend training courses- the line leaders at the Packhouse should attend training courses which will improve their performance, which will also lead to improved team performance. Suitable courses I believe can be motivation, communication, stress management, planning courses. Treat all workers in the team equally- when the line leaders knows that we will be packing a poor quality fruit, he should have a meeting with all of us, describe the problem and monitor everyones performance in the same way. HHP has clear disciplinary and grievance procedures. Both of them are displayed in the farm office and in the induction. All workers are made aware of the policies as soon as they arrive on site. To make sure that they all understand them well, the company has translated them in four languages- Russian, Bulgarian, Romanian and Polish. The stages of the disciplinary procedure are verbal warning, written warning and dismissal. If a worker needs to be dismissed he is invited to a disciplinary meeting. All workers can be accompanied by a representative at the meeting. After that the worker can appeal if he does not agree with the outcomes of the meeting. The minutes of the meetings are always recorded and signed by the employee and the manager. It is really important that all meetings are recorded and an investigation is carried first. The consequence of making the wrong decision, or not following procedures, could lead to a claim to an employment tribunal and a subsequent award. In addi tion to any award, there are the costs of legal fees, poor productivity, lost management time and any effect on morale. In the summer I am a team leader on the field. I am responsible for monitoring the quality, making sure the lines are picked well, motivating the team to increase the performance, monitoring the workers performance. On our farm the workers are paid on piece work and set daily targets for them which they need to achieve. The first week they are in training period and we teach them how to pick. After that they start working on piece rate and their performance is monitored and they are given the targets- picked trays per hour. If they fail to achieve the rates they go through the disciplinary procedure. I, as a team leader, am responsible for the early stages of the disciplinary process. If there is a worker in my team who is not meeting the targets I will first try to find out why is that, check his picking technique, try to show him how he can pick fast. I will use counselling, will have a quiet word with the worker in question. If the performance is still poor and there is no improvement I will speak with the harvest manager. At that point the disciplinary procedure will come in force. The worker will be invited to a meeting at which both I and the harvest manager will be present. He will be issued with a verbal warning for poor performance. In more serious situations where the worker has conducted a gross misconduct- stealing a tray, changing the labels on a tray, fighting, coming drunk to work I will contact the harvest manager straight way. The worker will be dismissed by the harvest manager and no work will be offered to him. I always encourage my workers and tell them that if they have a complaint or a grievance they should come and talk to me first. Depending on the issue I will either try to solve the problem or get the harvest manager and the HR manager involved. The farm has also a worker council lead by the worker welfare representative. The workers know that they can discuss their problems there. The HR manager is involved in their meetings. The HR manager visits the sites regularly and speaks with the workers. Her telephone number is displayed on the notice board and the workers know they can contact her with any issues. I always encourage my workers to come and talk to me first. I try to have an open relationship with them, to treat them well and equally, to support and help them. If they have a complaint against me, I hope they come and talk to me first and try to resolve the issue together. The employees have very important part and a crucial role of running the business smoothly and efficiently. Using performance management can ensure that the employees not only fulfill their responsibilities, but do so to the best of their abilities and up to the company expectations. Performance management makes sure the employer uses the full potential of the staff. It is a process starting from monitoring and developing the desired traits to rating their progress and rewarding them for their achievements. The mere making of plans alone will not help a company to run business successfully. Focusing on the appropriate ways to get business tasks done is really important. One way of doing this efficiently is to involve the employees in the planning process. This will not only boost their morale and confidence, but also help avoid any communication gaps in the process. Measuring the performance of every employee is also important. This ensures that tasks are efficiently completed on time and on or under budget. It also points out any shortcomings of either the staff or business plans, and helps to take the appropriate corrective actions. Performance management gives the tools to instill the desired qualities in the employees in order to get the job done. Development is not limited to only individuals in the workplace, but also addresses the performance of the team as a whole. Evaluating and rating the performance of the employees on an individual basis is essential. This gives them a clear picture of where they presently stand, areas that they need to work on and what they are good at. This way, they can focus more on their weaknesses and work to strengthen those areas. Rewarding and appreciating the employees efforts ensures that their level of their performance and consequently the performance of the business is not compromised. It ensures optimum productivity, performance and maximum profitability. Rewarding the staff for a job well done not only enhance their performance but also serves as a tool to keep them motivated. Therefore, performance management is an effective system that allows companies to achieve their strategic and financial goals.

The Harlem Renaissance Essay -- essays research papers

Harlem Renaissance   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Harlem Renaissance was a time of racism, injustice, and importance. Somewhere in between the 1920s and 1930s an African American movement occurred in Harlem, New York City. The Harlem Renaissance exalted the unique culture of African-Americans and redefined African-American expression. It was the result of Blacks migrating in the North, mostly Chicago and New York. There were many significant figures, both male and female, that had taken part in the Harlem Renaissance. Ida B. Wells and Langston Hughes exemplify the like and work of this movement.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Wells was a fearless anti-lynching crusader, women’s rights advocate, journalist, and speaker. After her parents passed away she became a teacher and received a job to teach at a nearby school. With this job she was able to support the needs of her siblings. In 1844 in Memphis, Tennessee, she was asked by the conductor of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railroad Company to give up her seat on the train to a white man. Wells refused, but was forcefully removed from the train and all the white passengers applauded. Wells was angered by this and sued the company and won her case in the local courts; the local court appealed to the Supreme Court of Tennessee. The Supreme Court reversed the court’s ruling. In Chicago, she helped to develop numerous African American women and reform organizations. Wells still remained hard-working in her anti-lynching crusade by ...

What Are the Main Causes of Food Insecurity in the World Today?

What are the main causes of food insecurity in the world today? Outline and evaluate 2 or 3 possible solutions to food insecurity problems Currently, millions of people across the globe suffer from under-nutrition and hunger. In 2007, the UN (United Nations) estimated that there are approximately 850 million people who suffer undernourishment in the world today. It also reported that 799 million undernourished people live in developing countries, most of which are on the African and Asian continents. Reportedly, the major contribution to this international issue has been food insecurity (FAO, 2008, p. 8). It affects people ranging from individual to national level with various causes, particularly neglect of agriculture and natural disaster in developing countries (FAO, 2005, no page given). This essay will identify two main causes of food insecurity which have been said above and also it will outline and evaluate two possible solutions to food insecurity problems: improving agriculture and humanitarian aid system. It is necessary to define the meaning of food security before its causes can be considered. Commonly, the concept of food insecurity is the state of being unable to have both physical and economic access to enough and nutritious food (WHO, 2008). Socially, people who are in this state often cannot maintain household food supplies and suffer from under nutrition (FAO, 2005). This situation prevails when nations lack sustainable access to sufficient, safe and, nutritious food for productive and health living (WHO, 2008). According to an on-line journal by Getachew (2008, no page given), neglect of agriculture has been ascribed as the major cause of food insecurity from short-term shocks. Other search illustrates that natural disasters can have significant impacts on food security from long-term shocks (FAO, 2005). Millions of people around the world are affected on food insecurity by various issues especially downgrading agriculture and natural disaster. Having outlined the definition of food security, it is now possible to consider the main causes of food insecurity. There are various factors that contribute to food insecurity in different parts of the world. First, neglect of agriculture especially in developing countries is such a key ause of chronic food insecurity (Makoni, 2010, no page given). According to Khasnobis (2009, p230), the amount of foreign aid allocated to agricultural activities has decreased from 19 per cent in 1980 to 4. 5 per cent in 2009. Nevertheless, only a few governments have attained the 2003 Maputo Declaration which required every nation to allocate 10 per cent of its budget to agriculture. It can be said that this has consequently led to poor infrastructure, along with poor food-storage facilities, which risk such nations in suffering food shortage in case of crop failure. Indeed, food insecurity is likely to be greater in areas with lower agricultural knowledge (USDA, 2010, no page given). According to an on-line article by Makoni (2010, no page given), 80 percent of population in Africa depend on agriculture and people become more poor because of low productivity and consequently, 30 percent suffer from hunger daily. Therefore, it could be argued that this evidence illustrates that chronic neglect of agriculture can lead to low productivity, poverty, and eventually chronic food insecurity. Secondly, natural disasters can be considered as another major cause of food insecurity. According to an on-line article in FAO (2008, no page given), in the past two decades, the number of sudden onset natural disasters including floods, hurricanes and earthquakes has increased dramatically from 14 per cent in the 1980s to 27 per cent since 2000. In the result of this, the number of food insecurity has increased sharply during the same period (FAO, 2008, no page given). Food security is affected by natural disasters through its impact on local and national food systems. Recently, the impact of natural disasters has created a fall in agricultural product prices and therefore this current price led to inconvenient conditions for farmers in developing countries (FAO, 2002, no page given). Under the circumstance, producers use less money for improvements on the nature of farming land such as fertilizers and manure which are normally not affordable by poor farmers (FAO, 2002, no page given). Thus it causes a bad effect on food production in developing countries and eventually food insecurity. Moreover, when natural disasters occur, poor households suffer great economic losses, resulting in deepening their poverty further. These losses can trap them in food insecurity. As a result, it seems that natural disasters are one of the causes of food insecurity. Now, the remainder of this essay will discuss solutions for the two causes of food insecurity which have been argued above. In order to solve food insecurity problems, improving agriculture can be one of the solutions. International donors and the government in developing countries had neglected agriculture for a long period and it causes food insecurity. In 2008, the World Bank, in its annual development report, admitted that greater investment in agriculture is needed to solve food insecurity problems (Makoni, 2010, no page given). Investment in agriculture can make the governments to ensure that farm materials and equipment are available to farmers at fair prices. Moreover, government is also able to ensure that farmers in the rural areas have easy and convenient access to the necessary farming requirements (FAO, 2008, no page given). This can be achieved by setting up stores for supplying these materials and equipment in every region at strategic places (Khasnobis, 2009, p231). Thus, it can be said that improving agriculture including investment for the availability of materials and equipment can allow people to record high productivity and it leads to solve food insecurity problems. However, it requires an enormous amount of investment in these materials and equipment and so it is not a constructive solution if the developing countries assets are in a bad shape. Furthermore, it is essential to address that climate change problems still affect on agriculture improvement in developing countries even the governments invest in these materials and equipment. Recently, impact of climate change on food production in developing countries has been increasing and at this rate, its impact will be double by 2060 (FAO, 1996, no page given). This means that it is also necessary to invest in agriculture to increase the resilience of present food production systems due to climate change problems. For example, investment in drip systems and sprinklers enables farmers to produce more food with less water (Postel, 2001, no page given). However, it is a long term solution and a large amount of funds is needed to offer these systems to every farmer. It could be said that investment in agricultural materials and equipment is one of the solutions to solve the food insecurity problems, and it should be concerned that investment to improve the food production systems is also needed because of climatic changes. However, a large amount of funds and time is needed for these solutions so, it can be said that these solutions are not so practical for food insecurity problems. Secondly, improving humanitarian aid system for natural disasters can be another solution for food insecurity due to the fact that natural disasters cause food insecurity. When natural disasters happen in developing countries, it causes the direct physical damages on crops and the indirect impacts especially, loss of potential production due to deteriorated the nature of farming land, and increased productions cost (UN, 2008). Thus, when natural disasters especially sudden onset disasters happen, the immediate humanitarian aid, particularly medical support, relief supplies and food aid for disaster refugees is needed as it causes food insecurity eventually. According to an on-line article in Oxfam International (2009, no page given), the number of people affected by national disasters will increase by 54 per cent to 375 million people in the next five years. However, the aid response is fickle, too little and not good enough. One of the reasons for this is political preferences make aid unfair (Oxfam, 2009, no page given). For example, in 2004, while an average of only $23 was spent for each victim of the crisis in Chad, an average of $1,241 was spent per person affected by the Asian tsunami (Oxfam, 2009, no page given). Therefore, it is essential to improve the immediate aid system promptly without political preferences so that it is possible to prevent the agricultural damages from spreading. As it is mentioned earlier, backward aid for natural disasters is important to prevent agricultural damages. Moreover, proactive aid is also needed to prepare for disasters to decrease the damage from it (Oxfam, 2009, no page given). Investment for researching data on past natural disasters can be one of the examples. It is an effective but not easy solution without the help of national governments. The United Nations should propose some ideas for improvement of proactive aid. It is a solution with long-term effects which reduce the impact of natural disasters and mitigate food insecurity. Food insecurity is highly dependent on agricultural production and is caused by natural disasters. Therefore, both an immediate aid and a proactive aid for disasters are needed to solve food insecurity problems. It is necessary that national governments help to improve these aid systems. In conclusion, this essay has identified that neglect of agriculture and natural disaster are the main causes of food insecurity today. Both of these causes lead to great economic losses, poverty and eventually food insecurity in developing countries. These causes are not directly related to food insecurity. However, they indirectly cause the major people’s food insecurity problems. In order to solve food insecurity problems, improving agriculture by investing for agricultural materials and present food production systems could be one of the major solutions. Another solution for food insecurity is improving immediate and proactive aid systems. Thus, it could be argued that both long-term and short-term solutions are needed for food insecurity problems.

The American Culture And History - 1233 Words

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