Human Resource Management: Submitted To

HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
SUBMITTED TO: MR. KHALID RAFIQ SUBMITTED ON: APRIL 17, 2007 SUBMITTED BY: ABDUL LATIF DADABHOY (5975) DANIYA RIZWAN (5729 FARHAT KHALIL (6936) HAMZA ZAHID (5435) NIMRA SAEED (5127)
INSTITUTE OF BUSINESS MANAGEMENT
LETTER OF ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
April 17, 2007
MR.KHALID RAFIQ HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT College of Business Management Karachi- Pakistan
Dear sir, As per the requirement of the HRM course, we had been authorized to prepare a report on "PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT". The scope of this report is to encompass all aspects of HR of the company and its position in the comparison of other companies. We would be looking forward to your feedback, queries or suggestions regarding this report.
Sincerely; FARHAT KHALIL (6936) DANIYA RIZWAN (5729) NIMRA SAEED (5127) HAMZA ZAHID (5435) ABUL LATIF DADABHOY (5975)
Performance management
Performance measurement is the process of assessing progress toward achieving predetermined goals. Performance management is building on that process, adding the relevant communication and action on the progress achieved against these predetermined goals.
In network performance management
(a) a set of functions that evaluate and report the behavior of telecommunications equipment and the effectiveness of the network or network element (b) a set of various sub functions, such as gathering statistical information, maintaining and examining historical logs, determining system performance under natural and artificial conditions, and altering system modes of operation.
In organizational development (OD), performance can be thought of as Actual Results vs. Desired Results. Any discrepancy, where Actual is less than Desired, could constitute the performance improvement zone. Performance management and improvement can be thought of as a cycle:
1. Performance planning where goals and objectives are established 2. Performance coaching where a manager intervenes to give feedback
and adjust performance
3. Performance appraisal where individual performance is formally
documented and feedback delivered A performance problem is any gap between Desired Results and Actual Results. Performance improvement is any effort targeted at closing the gap between Actual Results and Desired Results.
Application Performance Management (APM) refers to the discipline within systems management that focuses on monitoring and managing the performance and availability of software applications. APM can be defined as workflow and related IT tools deployed to detect, diagnose, remedy and report on application performance issues to ensure that application performance meets or exceeds endusers and businesses expectations. Business performance management (BPM) is a set of processes that help businesses discover efficient use of their business units, financial, human and material resources. Operational performance management (OPM) focus is on creating methodical and predictable ways to improve business results, or performance, across organizations.
Simply put, performance management helps organizations achieve their strategic goals. Rather than discarding the data accessibility previous systems fostered, performance management harnesses it to help ensure that an organizations data works in service to organizational goals to provide information that is actually useful in achieving them. and focus on the Operational Networking Processes between that performance level. The main purpose of performance management is to link individual objectives and organizational objectives and bring about that individuals obey important worth for enterprise. Additionally, performance management tries to develop skills of people to achieve their capability to satisfy their ambitiousness and also increase profit of a firm.
Business performance management
Business performance management (BPM) (or Corporate performance management, Enterprise performance management, Operational performance management) is a set of processes that help organizations optimize their business performance. It is a framework for organizing, automating and analyzing business methodologies, metrics, processes and systems that drive business performance.
BPM is seen as the next generation of business intelligence (BI). BPM helps businesses make efficient use of their financial, human, material and other resources. For years, owners have sought to drive strategy down and across their organizations, they have struggled to transform strategies into actionable metrics and they have grappled with meaningful analysis to expose the cause-and-effect relationships that, if understood, could give profitable insight to their operational decision makers. Now corporate performance management (CPM) software and methods allow a systematic, integrated approach that links enterprise strategy to core processes and activities. Running by the numbers now means something as planning, budgeting, analysis and reporting can give the measurements that empower management decisions.
Key Performance Indicators
For business data analysis to become a useful tool, however, it is essential that an enterprise understand its goals and objectives essentially that they know the direction in which they want the enterprise to progress. To help with this analysis key performance indicators (KPIs) are laid down to assess the present state of the business and to prescribe a course of action. Metrics and Key performance Indicators (KPIs) are critical in prioritization what has to be measured. The methodology used helps in determining the metrics to be used by the organization. It is frequently said that one cannot
manage what cannot be measured. Identifying the key metrics and determining how they are to be measured helps the organizations to monitor performance across the board without getting deluged by a surfeit of data; a scenario plaguing most companies today.
More and more organizations have started to speed up the availability of data. In the past, data only became available after a month or two, which did not help managers react swiftly enough. Recently, banks have tried to make data available at shorter intervals and have reduced delays. For example, for businesses which have higher operational/credit risk loading (for example, credit cards and "wealth management"), A large multinational bank makes KPI-related data available weekly, and sometimes offers a daily analysis of numbers and real time dashboards are also provided. This means data usually becomes available within 24 hours, necessitating automation and the use of IT systems. Most of the time, BPM simply means use of several financial/no financial metrics/key performance indicators to assess the present state of the business and to prescribe a course of action. Some of the areas from which top management analysis could gain knowledge by using BPM: 1. Customer-related numbers: 1. New customers acquired 2. Status of existing customers 3. Attrition of customers (including breakup by reason for attrition) 2. Turnover generated by segments of the Customers - these could be demographic filters. 3. Outstanding balances held by segments of customers and terms of payment - these could be demographic filters. 4. Collection of bad debts within customer relationships. 5. Demographic analysis of individuals (potential customers) applying to become customers, and the levels of approval, rejections and pending numbers. 6. Delinquency analysis of customers behind on payments. 7. Profitability of customers by demographic segments and segmentation of customers by profitability. 8. Campaign management 9. Real time Dashboard on Key operational metrics 10. Click stream analysis on a website 11. Key product portfolio trackers 12. Marketing Channel analysis 13. Sales Data analysis by product segments 14. Call center metrics
This is more an inclusive list than an exclusive one. The above more or less describes what a bank would do, but could also refer to a telephone company or similar service sector company.
What is important is: 1. KPI related data which is consistent, correct and provide an insight into operational aspects of a company. 2. Timely availability of KPI-related data. 3. KPIs designed to directly reflect the efficiency and effectiveness of a business 4. Information presented in a format which aids decision making for top management and decision makers 5. Ability to discern patterns or trends from organized information BPM integrates the company's processes with CRM or ERP. Companies become able to gauge customer satisfaction, control customer trends and influence shareholder value
THE ORGANIZATION: AN OVERVIEW
THE ORGANIZATION: AN OVERVIEW: A. Regalia (Private) Ltd. is the manufacturing concern of well known local brand Cotton & Cotton. It was established in the year 1992 with the main aim to capitalize on international textile markets. Since its inception, good quality of its textile products, well established reputation in the market, extensive production setup and concern for end results has helped the company bolster profit, year after year. As a result, the company has been growing rapidly and the need for inducting human resource is at its peak.
HISTORY OF THE ORGANIZATION Being a venture of three visionary investors / partners, A.Regalie (Private) Ltd. has been successful in tapping international markets and is aggressively competing with the worlds best garment manufacturers. The company firmly believes that its core competency is men clothing and has been proactively marketing these products to its international clients. In fact, Cotton & Cotton is a true local extension of this faith in men clothing and caters to the niche segment with the slogan Where luxury is the way of life. In order to cater to the demand of its clients the company has also started to manufacture and market women clothing as well as traditional clothing in small numbers.
LOCATION: The company being well known and well established, has a large production facility in the largest industrial area of Pakistan i.e. Korangi Industrial area. The production facility has workforce of 275 plus employees which comprises of both, qualified professionals and skilled labour. In addition to this, the company has outlets throughout the major cities of Pakistan which are being managed by its impressive sales force.
STRUCTURE OF THE ORGANIZATION: From the look of it, the structure of C & C seems to be extremely liberal and decentralized. The management practices open door policies, the Directors of the company remember each staff member on first name basis and supervisors communicate, as well as help their subordinates. But after having studied the organization in-depth we have come to the conclusion that the structure of C & C is very much bureaucratic and the decision making authority lies with the top managers only. A lot of secrecy is prevalent regarding the data the employees may find helpful e.g. Performance Appraisal ratings. The organization is also extremely autocratic in characteristic and 3 partners of the firm dominate its functionality. Hence, it would not be wrong to say that, in spite of some appropriate HR policies which are in line with the modern day organization; overall C & C is still in transition as far as its structure is concerned. WHY WE CHOSE COTTON & COTTON: The main reason to choose C & C as the organization for research was that, no HR department exists at the company and as such there are no written HR policies. Thus, it was a challenging task for us to conduct extensive interviews, float surveys and do personal observation to extract the data on how the various HR functions are performed by the top management of the company. Furthermore, as most of the other companies which are being presented as part of the HRM term project are multinationals, C &C stands out as a good prosperous national example to understand the HR practices in Pakistani organizations. OUR RESEARCH TOPIC & WHY WE CHOSE IT: The topic that we chose for our research is: Performance Management / Appraisal
The reason for choosing this topic is:
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Performance Appraisal: Today organizations are changing rapidly. There is surge in cross-functional teams and the approach towards employees is more humanistic. Hence, the benchmarks for performance have changed. Empowerment and decentralization of authority is a burning issue. Opendoor policy and Management by Objectives is gaining momentum. Overall, the concepts regarding performance management are different now from what one would have expected a decade ago. Therefore, it was interesting for us to study how much of this change has been absorbed by Cotton & Cotton.
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RESEARCH METHOD
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RESEARCH METHODOLOGY In a medium sized organization, a human resources generalist may handle all aspects of human resources work, and thus require an extensive range of knowledge. MR. YAQOOB PECHI IS the Director of Cotton & Cotton and acts as the generalist who handles all the human resource functions. As it is apparent, Cotton & Cotton does not have a Human Resource department and all the HR Functions are under the direct control of the Directors of the company hence, our main goal was to derive a concrete policy in black and white on our research topic i.e. Performance Management. Considering our objective we relied heavily on primary sources of data and used three methods for its collection. These methods included: One-On-One extensive interviews with the senior management of C & C Floatation of Questionnaires within the factory Personal Observations and tour of the factory
The details of the procedure that we followed for collecting the primary data from all the three methods stated above is as follows:
1. INTERVIEW: The first extensive interview was conducted with the Director of Cotton & Cotton Mr. YAQOOB PECHI. A Chartered Accountant by qualification, he has been associated with Cotton & Cotton for the last thirteen years. Hence, he has an extremely good insight about all the elements of the C & C factory and the textile industry. Mr. YAQOOB PECHI can be accessed on the following numbers and email: Tel: 021-5068871-4 Mobile: 0300-8253598 Fax: 021-5068916 E-Mail: ccshirt@cyber.net.pk
The interview we conducted focused on the organization as a whole i.e. the various human resource policies such as recruitment, hiring selection, training and development and methods of performance appraisal which the organization follows, benefits that the company has reaped from training and the future training requirements / plans of cotton and cotton. Once, all five of us interviewed the director together, each one of us interviewed the supervisors individually to get their feedback on the specific topics that we had divided amongst ourselves. The total number of supervisors who we interviewed was 4. These supervisors belonged to the manufacturing / production department, finance department and information systems department. The names of the personnel we met in these departments is: MR. ARIF MIRZAH (Supervisor Stitching Department), MRS. NOREEN ANWER (Supervisor Packing Department), MR. MUHAMMAD RIZWAN QURAISHI (Information
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Systems), MR. NASIR RANGOONWALA (Finance Department), MR. ISHTIAQ Ahmed and MR. MUHAMMAD YASEEN QASIM (Inventory Management). Examples of questions that we asked are: o Recruitment System & Selection
Which method do you use to forecast future demand for employees?
o What are the most significant environmental factors which affect your recruitment planning? o What types of fringe benefits do you give your employees? o o o Employee relations
How do you handle discipline cases and seniority issue? What kind of bonuses do you give to your employees? How do you manage layoffs for economic/business reasons?
QUESTIONNAIRE Secondly we floated a questionnaire in Urdu. Our sample was a mix of labor and managers. Our sample consisted of 20% of the population which is 55 people out of which 47 were labor and 8 were managers. Out of the total sample, 48 employees responded. Examples of closed ended questions we asked in the questionnaire are as follows: Training and Orientation 1. How many training programs does the company hold in a year on an average to train One / year Two / year Depends on the need of the company
2. What is the criterion of selecting employees for training? The supervisor selects them It is based on seniority It is a sequential process It depends on what skills an employee requires Performance Appraisal 1. Your performance is measured on: An yearly basis Quarterly basis Monthly Basis Never
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2. Are you informed about your performance evaluation results? Yes No (Note: Detailed Questionnaire attached in the Appendix A of this report.)
2. OBSERVATION: We inspected the entire factory, observed the working conditions as well as the working environment, the procedures followed in manufacturing clothes, the dressing of employees, their body language and attitude towards the job. This gave us a first hand insight into what actually the employees of Cotton & Cotton feel about their jobs and whether they are equally motivated like the management or not.
Organizational Chart (C & C)
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PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL
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LITERATURE REVIEW: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT Today's organizations seem to change much more rapidly than in the past. Consequently, many experts have strong reservations about the numerous measures that must be taken in performance management. They assert that no sooner is a measure identified it becomes obsolete because the organization has changed substantially. Frankly, many supervisors dread having to fill out the employee performance review forms. That is the time means they have to recount the employee's activities during the year, try to translate the activities to areas of knowledge and skills shown by the employee -- they have to "reverse engineer" what's been happening, mostly to fill out a form. They worry that they haven't spent sufficient time noticing their employee's behavior, that they might be confronted and proven wrong. They often believe that the employee has been doing just fine during the year, so why have to quit work now just to fill out a form. They worry that the employee may have high expectations that can't be met by the performance process. That's how many supervisors see the process - because the form and the various measurements that it recalls are too often seen as the end in themselves. There are numerous measurements to consider when adopting a performance management system. However, the measurements themselves are not the major purpose of the performance management process. The purpose of the process is to provide a consistent frame of reference during ongoing feedback about performance, whether the organization is entirely stable or in the midst of rapid change. Measurements ensure that everyone involved is working and talking from the same script. The measurements themselves may change. However, organization members should be able to recognize and explain the change. This assertion is true whether one is addressing the performance of an organization, process, subsystem or employee. Consider the implications of the above assertion. The assertion is saying, e.g., that when performance management is carried out with an employee, filling out the performance form and having the performance discussion is not the highlight of the performance process -- the highlight has been occurring during the year when the supervisor and employee exchanged ongoing feedback about performance. Filling out the form and having the discussion are really measurements, too. If the performance process is done well, the performance review discussion should include absolutely no surprises for the employee. All feedback to him or her already should have occurred. In effective organizations, managers and employees have been practicing good performance management naturally all their lives, executing each key component process well. Goals are set and work is planned routinely. Progress toward those goals is measured and employees get feedback. High standards are set, but care is also taken to develop the skills needed to reach them. Formal and informal rewards are used to recognize the behavior and results that accomplish the
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mission. All five component processes working together and supporting each other achieve natural, effective performance management.
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT - KEY PRACTICES A recent survey conducted by the Institute for Corporate Productivity (i4cp, formerly the Human Resource Institute) in conjunction with HR.com suggests that it is futile for an organization to seek the 'one silver bullet' that will revitalize its performance management (PM) system. MARK VICKERS, senior analyst with i4cp said: "That bullet doesn't exist. That is, there is no single PM practice that can transform an ineffective system into a good one. Performance management systems are just that - systems. They require the coordination of multiple key practices. The more of these practices that are in place, the more likely a performance management system is to be seen as effective." Based on data from 1031 respondents, The 2006 Performance Management Survey indicates that there is significant scope for improvement in the performance management systems of many companies. Only 8 per cent said that their PM process contributes to individual performance in a significant way, 45 per cent said that it does contribute but requires improving, while 47 per cent were not sure if their PM process makes any contribution. While most companies are facing serious challenges with regard to their PM systems, many seem aware of which aspects are under-performing. Correlating performance management processes and the overall perceived effectiveness of their systems produced a list of nine key practices. The survey concludes that PM systems are more likely to be seen as effective when they include the following: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. Plans for helping employees develop in the work period after the appraisal Ongoing goal review and feedback from managers Training for managers on how to conduct a performance appraisal meeting Metrics of the quality of performance appraisals Ways of addressing and resolving poor performance Appraisal information that isn't limited to the judgment of supervisors A PM system that is consistent across the whole organization Some form of multi-rater feedback Employees can expect feedback on their performance more often than once a year.
KEVIN OAKES, i4cp's CEO, commented: "Performance management tends to be a work in progress. PM technology is increasing in popularity, but without a solid process already in place it's not going
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to make a significant difference. The good news is that the data shows that many companies today are getting more serious about implementing tighter performance management processes." CASE INCIDENT: HOW TO IMPROVE THE EFFECTIVENESS OF PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT This article explores why existing formal and informal approaches to employee performance management and appraisal (EPMA) tend to work well enough in theory, but fail to meet expectations in practice. Current Situation There is a huge amount of frustration and dissatisfaction with existing methods of formal employee performance management and appraisal (EPMA). Regardless of whether the approach is based on rating scales, competency assessments, objectives, key performance indicators, or other performance standards, rankings, 360-degree feedback, or the balanced scorecard, the problem appears to be the same. While they all appear to work well enough in theory, to a greater or lesser extent they all tend to fail in practice. They just don't seem to measure up to the expectations that managers, employees, and organizations alike have for them. This appears to be the case even when the implementation of a given method is well managed and accompanied by proper training on how it should be used. The problem is not limited to formal EPMA systems. Organizations encourage, even urge, their managers to talk informally with their employees about their performance on an ongoing basis. However, this rarely happens. Moreover, even if it does occur, the discussion itself and the results it achieves are often less than ideal. Despite our best efforts to date, managers still report that they are uncomfortable giving feedback and discussing performance with their employees, especially if poor performance is a factor. Consequently, they avoid the situation, or fudge the facts, whenever possible. The reasoning behind formal or informal EPMA is laudable; however, the methods we currently use do not achieve the results we want. The bottom line is that "open and honest" communication (the Holy Grail of appraisal generally) remains elusive. The problem is real and pervasive and every organization seems to be struggling with it. While it is difficult to quantify the negative effect that such a problem must have within an organization, we know (at least intuitively) that it is probably staggering. For example, my estimates indicate that, regardless of whether it is done formally or informally, only about 10 per cent of the managerial population has a natural ability to discuss performance with their employees in an effective way. Since it is likely that this population follows a normal statistical distribution it means that, for the remaining 90 per cent of managers, giving feedback and discussing performance with employees remains a task that is easier said than done. This appears to be the case regardless of whether or not they have previously received any training in how to do it properly.
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Aside from the obvious negative consequences that a problem of this magnitude has on an organization's productivity, the costs on a human level in terms of low morale and demotivation may be equally devastating. While this cost is not necessarily quantifiable, it is definitely reflected in the bottom line. Not being 'open and honest' with employees about their performance, how they are perceived by management and what such a perception means for the future, raises some important moral and ethical questions around an organization's responsibility for, and often-stated commitment to, developing its employees. For example, is it right for managers to give acceptable formal appraisals in order to avoid bringing up poor performance issues and then to subsequently deal with them by ignoring, sidelining, downsizing, 'promoting", or transferring, employees without telling them why? Is it fair to expect any employee (including managers) to resort to guesswork to find out how they are perceived and what this means for their career? Ultimately, is it a smart (or even an acceptable) organizational strategy to leave employee success to chance? To expect employees to succeed not as a result of clear information about how well they are they are doing, but rather in spite of it? Most books on management (including the recent bestseller, First, Break All the Rules: What the World's Greatest Managers Do Differently by Marcus Buckingham and Curt Coffman, 1999) advocate the importance and intrinsic value - at both an organizational and individual level - of helping employees to reach their full potential by assisting them to find their right 'fit' in (or out) of the organization. However, as these books point out, this is a managerial task, not an organizational one. Unfortunately, it is this basic inability of most managers to sit down and talk to employees honestly and effectively about their performance and potential that prevents them from following such advice. The process is stopped before it even starts.
Source: www.hr.com
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PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: COTTON & COTTON Performance Appraisal: An Overview Performance appraisal is extremely important in modern day organization dynamics. As the task is becoming more challenging, competitive and daunting, performance appraisal not only helps the management in rewarding the outstanding performers but also acts as a tool to provide valuable feedback for improvement to the employees. Therefore, today the appropriate term for performance appraisals is Performance Management. But unfortunately, like many other Pakistani firms, Cotton & Cotton has been unable to realize the full potential of performance evaluation and its management aspects. Having mentioned this, C & C does have a performance appraisal procedure which acts as a penalization barometer rather than a feedback instrument i.e. any employee who fails to produce the desired results and has a bad performance appraisal is fired immediately. Therefore, it is necessary that C & C management should look beyond the individual ratings and try to eliminate the hurdles that may have hampered the performance of a meritorious employee.
Performance Appraisal: The Process The C & Cs performance appraisal procedure is very typical and conventional in nature. It is conducted on an annual basis whereas the performance is judged every quarter. The management of the firm uses the performance appraisal to assess the strengths and weaknesses of employees, set the training requirement for each worker and give monetary as well as other benefits to deserving employees. Although the performance appraisal as a documented evidence helps in making all the stated decisions, but the matter of fact is only good impression in the eyes of the supervisors can lead to career growth. Furthermore, since C & C does not have an HR department the performance appraisal activity is conducted by the department heads and supervisors. The filled in forms are then scrutinized by the directors of the company. The precise procedure of performance appraisal for C & C is as follows: In the beginning of the year, the top management of the company evaluates the performance appraisals for the previous year, sets the goals / targets to be achieved and convey them to the department supervisors. These targets for each department are communicated to the supervisors latest by the 3rd week of February. The supervisors then distribute the task amongst the number for employees that work under them. The department supervisors are then responsible for reviewing the achievement of targets on a quarterly basis. At the same time, they are also responsible for helping the employees who are lagging behind in their
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targets and appreciate the outstanding achievers. The barometer for judging these performances includes evaluating both, efficiency and effectiveness shown by the worker in completing the assigned tasks. Finally, a formal performance appraisal is conducted in the 1 st week of December. Technically, the performance appraisal document is a combination of Graphic Rating Scale and Critical Incident method. The employees are given points for their achievement and traits, which range from 1 to 5 where 1 is the lowest. There also exists provision to describe outstanding achievements or undesired failures of each individual employee. The results of these ratings are kept confidential and are not disclosed to the employees of the company. Although the top performers are rewarded in the form of monetary gains or promotions and the poor performer are called in for an explanation. If the employee is unable to justify his / her performance without any ambiguity he / she is fired. Moreover, employees who feel that they have been falsely fired cannot appeal to the grievances committee / union as all such bodies are prohibited by the firm and do not exist at the factory. Performance Appraisal: Employees Feedback In order to ascertain the level of satisfaction that employees have about C & Cs performance appraisal procedure, a survey was conducted with 55 people and the results of it are as follows: Is your Job properly defined and have the tasks been assigned accordingly?
98% of the workforce surveyed gave affirmative answer to this question. This indicates that the C & C stringently counts on the fulfillment of job duties and tasks when evaluating performance.
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Does your supervisor direct on how you can improve your performance?
A clear majority of 95% people believe that supervisors actively give feedback on improving performance. The main reason behind this is that, the supervisors perform a very important role in the performance evaluation at C & C due to lack of a proper HR department.
Your performance is always measured in the areas which were specified to you?
Since the entire performance evaluation system of C & C revolves around target achievement, efficiency and effectiveness, therefore, as expected, 99% workers gave an affirmative answer to this question.
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Your performance is measured monthly, quarterly or yearly?
As mentioned earlier, performance is reviewed after every quarter and evaluated formally once a year. Hence, the answer to this question is varied and includes the following replies:
Are you informed about your performance evaluation results?
Since C & C does not disclose the rating of the performance evaluation, as a matter of company policy, to any of its employees thus the 95% of workers have replied with a big NO!
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Is your positive performance evaluation backed by company rewards? If yes, what kind of rewards does the company provide?
C & C believes in internal recruitment for managerial post and gives promotions to almost all deserving workers. On the other hand, when no such vacancies are available, salary increment is used to reward employees. Therefore, 80% of the total employees surveyed have answered promotions compared to 20% who have been awarded monetary increments.
Is your negative performance evaluation backed by company punishment? If yes, what kind of punishments does the company practice?
At C & C, the margin for error is very low. According to the survey, in most of the cases non-performers will either be Terminated (82%), Warned (13%) or Demoted (5%).
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Performance Appraisal: Main Challenges for C & C The first, biggest challenge for C & C is to convince the employees that performance appraisal is an extremely useful activity which not only helps the organization to identify the best but also provides a means to reward the good work that has been done. In short, employees need to realize that performance appraisal is a positive exercise that has alot of benefits. Secondly, C & C needs to strengthen its own process when it comes to performance appraisal. Rather than being stern and deaf to the complaints of poor performers, C & C should treat them better and try to understand the problems that are hampering their performance. In case these hurdles that decrease performance cannot be controlled by the factory, the management is bound to put every effort to eradicate them in order to facilitate their employees smooth functioning. Only then the performance appraisal process will be fair and justified for both the parties i.e. the workers and the management. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: RECOMMENDATIONS FOR C & C As it has been mentioned throughout the report, performance appraisal can be extremely beneficial for the company and employees, provided it is carried out with care. We would like to put forward following recommendations: Introduce other types of performance appraisal procedures as well
Conventionally, a supervisor does the performance appraisal. C & C can introduce subordinate appraisal and peer appraisal, etc. This will help reduce the autocratic atmosphere that prevails within the factory.
Use other Performance Evaluation methods
Graphic Rating Scale method is the simplest appraisal procedure, it will be better to use behavioral anchoring method as the employee behavior can be an important attribute of his performance compared to traits that are presently rated.
Involve Employees
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It is important for an effective performance management system that the firm engages its employees in it. C & C can ask employees themselves to set initial goals, suggest training that they desire, etc.
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RESEARCH LIMITATIONS
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HRM COMPANY RESEARCH: LIMITATIONS Evidently, this research of ours had some constraints and limitations. We would like to highlight each of the major constraints and limitations as follows: Time Constraint
A research like this requires a lot of time, around than six to eight weeks, but the contact person was unable to give us time. So, this report was made on the observation and research of three weeks. Another constraint that we had to face, which became a big obstacle in our research is that C & C allowed us to visit their factory after 6 pm. What we observed was that half of the workers had already left by this time. Thus, the information obtained is from the limited shift that starts at 5 pm. Respondent Bias
There was another problem while we were surveying the factory. The supervisor did not allow us to speak at will with the worker of our choice. He handpicked the workers himself and remained with us throughout the interview. Hence, most of the workers gave positive responses to all our queries. Respondent Error
Another difficulty that we faced was that most of the workers were unable to understand some of our questions in spite of our best efforts to translate the questionnaires into Urdu Language. So we had to explain to them what we wanted, but even after that, they gave answers based on guess work as per their comprehension. Thus, some of the responses turned out to be irrelevant. False Perceptions
One of the most interesting problems that we faced was that, workers mistook us as some production company conducting video interviews for a C & C ad, and thus praised the company to the fullest. Sample Size
The sample size of only 48 is very little because it represents only 17% of the population (275 employees). Management Mindset
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Another problem is the mindset of the Directors of the Cotton & Cotton. They think that the main objective is to make money. Although we do appreciate the truth from their part but this definitely made the task for us more difficult. The Director of the company quoted in the first meeting: We are managing the resources decently and we are doing well, so we dont require any HR.
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