1

Summative Assessment SCOM5 RFM5

By Student's Name

Institution Affiliation

Course code

Due Date
 2

AC 5.1 Describe suitable methods of performance management and managing performance (800

- 1000 words)

The terms "performance management" and "managing performance" are two commonly

confused phrases, especially in middle-market organisations that lack the traditional human

resource manager position in their leadership. The two concepts are equally key to employees'

success and high performance. To this end, it is key that a manager understands that performance

management entails giving employees direction. In contrast, managing performance involves the

provision of feedback and initiating development initiatives for the employees. Recent changes

and attention in performance management have transformed the processes from what was done

on an annual basis traditionally to the current systems where performance management has

become continuous. Continuous performance management and improvement aims to ensure

continued productivity and counter any issues that arise in the middle of a task that may lower

employees' performance. Having understood that performance management entails giving

direction to the employee, discussed below are some of the best performance management

methods, including goal setting, efficient communication, setting performance KPIs, analysing

the performance reports, and developing strategies to improve performance. The next part is a

discussion of how to manage performance, including continuous training of employees,

analysing feedback, aligning improvement strategies with organisation goals, and performance

analysis, among many others.

First, setting clear goals is an excellent method of performance management.

Performance management programs have been known to impact an organization positively or

negatively. But first, the managers must clearly understand what is not working right in their

organisations (Latham et al. 2008). Goal setting can have a directive impact on a person's actions
 3

and affect how they think. Goals help direct an individual's attention toward goal-oriented factors

and activities. For instance, setting high standard goals would influence the level of persistence,

thus transforming their effort into commitment. To this end, it is, therefore, important for

managers to set SMART goals that do not exploit employees but boost their motivation. The

managers must analyse all the available alternatives to achieving organisational goals and set

achievable objectives. The ultimate impact of setting SMART goals is an increased level of

employee performance (Latham et al. 2008). During goal setting in performance management,

employees can understand what is expected of them upon appraisal of their performance, which

could be done quarterly or annually. Also, goal setting keeps the managers and employees in

better positions to streamline their duties towards the objectives set that will improve their

overall performance.

Another important method of performance management is employee involvement.

Managers are integral stakeholders in the process of organisational performance improvement,

and so does the employee. They both play an outsized duty in motivating and improving one

another. Therefore, a good communication system should be implemented to facilitate sharing or

ideas back and forth between the employees and managers (Mone et al. 2018). Through an open

and efficient communication system, employees can have the opportunity to make proposals that

they deem fit and can improve their overall performance. Notably, with the introduction of

performance management software, performance management of managing performance is

happening concurrently. Good performance management should integrate goal setting, effective

communication, schedule performance tasks, evaluate frequently, and recognise the loopholes in

achieving set objectives.

 4

On the other hand, managing performance is equally important to the success of an

organisation or business. Managing performance is a cycle of events, including activities that

optimise employee performance, such as feedback analysis, periodic pieces of training, and

employee education. Individuals who effectively manage their employees' performance are often

characterised by offering periodic check-ins of their employees. This can be done formally or

informally depending on the best means that suit the characteristics of employees and

organisation culture. Recent technological advancements have facilitated communication,

enabling information sharing between employees and their managers. Through this feedback,

employees have the opportunity to share their processes and challenges in achieving the SMART

goals set during performance appraisal. The managers can then offer constructive approaches

and actions that will help each employee to develop both personal and professional skills.

Higher levels of employee engagement and lower disengagement are important methods

of managing performance (Mone et al. 2018). Organisational culture and the leadership styles

employed in managing employees play an important role in achieving organizational goals. One

the common means of engaging employees is through reward programs where individuals are

provided goals and acknowledged based on performance KPIs. However, it is notable that the

processes or performance evaluation should be continuous to aid in correcting loopholes early

enough to avoid underperformance at the end of an appraisal.

In summary, performance management and management are important processes in any

organisation's success. Executing the two involves a series of interconnected processes and

methods, including goal setting, having efficient communication, setting KPIs, appraising

performance, analysing complaints, and recommending improvement programs like training to

improve employee performance. Also, technological advancements should be integrated to

 5

facilitate feedback analysis and improve communication efficiency between the managers and

employees. The overall impact of good performance management, thus, reflects to improved

accomplishment of goals and a feeling of recognition among employees.

AC 5.2 Describe the personal and professional skills required for effective management (800 -

1000 words)

Management within an organisation is one of the most crucial factors to organisational

success. The professional and personal cohesion within the workplace depends heavily on the

competence of those in the management position, their leadership skills and the management

styles they possess. Despite the variation in roles and responsibilities of managers based on their

industry of operation, excellent managers will always have the right mix of personal and

professional skills as discussed in the paper below. The skills must match the right set of

characteristics that will help them execute the various roles of management including strategy

setting, coordination, controlling, and maximisation of resource usage to meet organisational

objectives.

One of the common personal skills relevant in managing a workforce is good

communication skills (Zakarevičius and Župerkienė 2008). Communication is among the

priorities in ensuring flow of ideas within a taskforce. Managers must have the right quality of

communication to enable them develop good relationship with their subordinates. Through good

communication skills, both in verbal and written forms, manager can address organisational

goals and expectations to employees with wide range of varying communication habits

(Zakarevičius and Župerkienė 2008). Good communication is an essential component in building

 6

strong relationships with team members. Also, good communication reduces the probability of

misunderstanding between team members, thus, creating a conducive work culture through some

aspects of motivation. A manager should therefore embrace various skills including active

listening, good negotiation skills, excellent written and verbal communication, and persuasion

strength among others. A good manager should therefore be in a position to assist team members

with aligning activities and practices with the organisational goals.

Secondly, an excellent leader should have excellent critical thinking ability and good

problem skills to manage effectively. Critical thinking is a skill that requires one to use the

knowledge, data and facts to develop viable solution to problems (Facione 2011). Usually, work

environments provide a lot of pressure and may requires one to be quick and effective in decision

making. Good managers should therefore be able to respond quickly to urgent matters that may

require their attention. Additionally, regardless of the magnitude and complexity of a problem, a

good manager should be resilient and agile to handle the pressure that come along with such

complex management duties (Southwick et al. 2017). For example, in a scenario where a

taskforce fails to achieve set objectives within the recommended deadline or with the allocated

resources, good managers should be quick at finding the best alternative ways possible to

execute the task and keep factors in line with organisational objectives.

Thirdly, good managers must portray good leadership and emotional intelligence.

Southwick et al. (2017) highlight that emotional intelligence is a two-way traffic activity that

involve effective management of once own temper and emotions as well as that of others. Good

leadership skills entail the ability of an individual to motivate, direct, and encourage team

members towards achieving a set of objectives. In many cases, a good leader should be a role

model to their subordinates by directing the team and not bossing. In fact, leadership theories
 7

encourage that good leaders be passionate with their roles and set achievable goals to their

subordinates. Excellent leaders should, therefore, be decisive, empathetic, show good integrity,

and constructive in their mindset. Having the right leadership qualities mix w

In addition to the personal skills, excellent leaders should embrace professional skills like

commercial awareness. Commercial awareness requires that an individual understands the

market and industry within which they operate in and how things operate (Wilson 2018).

Managers should therefore learn about their organisations operational niche, understand their

organisation goals and set plans that will shape employee operations towards the organisation's

goals. For example, effective management of the road transport industry requires that the

managers understand the stakeholders in policy making and the relevant authorities that they

should address their matters to. Also, in the above example, good leaders should have the

technical competence to run fleet management operations without jeopardising other activities

related to their tasks.

Organisation and task delegation are another important set of skills relevant for effective

management in any organisation. Delegation of duties in management refers to the process of

assigning responsibilities to employees bases on certain specific criterion like competence and

skill required for every particular task. The target of delegation is to ensure better result and align

duties to the strategic goals of the organisation while facilitating personal and professional

development (Wilson 2018). Management position requires an individual to deal with several

responsibilities including planning, supervision, task delegation, and budget harmonisation

among others. Thus, to achieve such task, one must embrace good organisational skills including

time management, goal setting, team coordination, and project management. Effective task

management through organisational skills is helpful in the run activities effectively and in an
 8

efficient way. Notably, with the technological advancements, good managers should have the

technical skills to handle communication facilities that will help improve team cohesion and

eventually productively.

In summary, effective management is a complex aspect of leadership that entails good

personal and professional skills. Mangers should have excellent communication skill, good

leadership traits, be high critical thinkers and have good organisational awareness of their

organisation's line of specialisation.

AC 5.3 Discuss how different leadership styles impact on the achievement of objectives (800 -

1000 words)

Throughout recent years, there has been a junk or research, both empirical and theoretical

directed at establishing organisational performance and the relevant factors that play a role to it.

In fact, throughout the last five decades, a lot of research have been conducted to establish the

link between leadership approach and organisational performance. The premise of the analogies

in the literature suggest that leadership style plays and integral role in the organisational goals'

achievement and the overall employees' performance (Al Khajeh 2018). Usually, organisations

experience daily changes both strategic and in terms of performance based on several factors,

among which leadership is key. This discussion analyses how the various leadership approaches

impact on achievement of objectives in an organisation. Specifically, the discussion addresses

how varying leadership approaches influence achievement of organisational goals and employee

performance.

There are various leadership approaches used by managers ranging from autocratic

through to transformational and servant leadership. First autocratic leadership style has an
 9

important impact on the level of employee performance. Autocratic and authoritarian leadership

approaches is an approach attributed by situations where an individual has the biggest say in

decision making processes (De Hoogh et al. 2015). According to De Hoogh et al. (2015), the

approach is usually characterised by very minimum level of trust between the authoritarian

leaders and their subordinates. Autocratic leaders normally feel that reward is a just way of

appreciation, and through it, employees can work for more. Such leaders usually stress on loyalty

and belief that top managers are entitled to make decisions followed by the subordinates.

Through their dictatorial traits, autocratic leaders create a culture of limited communication back

and forth between the employees and their leaders, hence limited flow of idea within a work

environment. Autocratic leaders, therefore always create an environment that is less conducive to

promoting creativity and innovation, an impact that eventually lowers employee morale and

performance. However, researchers suggest that the approach is more suitable for handling

emergency situations that require quick decision making.

Another important set of leadership styles that impact objective are the democratic and

service leadership approaches. Also referred to participative style, democratic leadership is a

style characterised by employees having a more participative role in the decision-making

processes of an organisation (Akparep et al. 2019). The technique involves inputting of

contributions from employees during decision making while at the same time rewarding

excellent performance. Democratic leadership remains one of the outstanding approaches

because of the involvement of employees through discussions and brainstorming of ideas which

give them the feeling of being part of the organisation. Such feeling is normally linked to high

motivation that reflect in high performance among employees, hence impacting on the level of

achievement of organisational objectives. In democratic leadership, the subordinates are allowed

 10

the opportunity to brainstorm and share ideas but the decision-making responsibility lies mainly

with the top most leadership (Akparep et al. 2019). The approach may be deemed to offer slow

decision-making process but it turns out to be among the best means of boosting encouragement

and performance among employees.

Transformational leadership is another important style that impacts employee

performance and organisational objective achievement. In this approach, the leader usually

challenges their subordinates by setting achievable goals and providing a role modelling bit role.

Transformational leadership, therefore, help in goal setting in terms of what each employee

should accomplish and the relevant motivating environment through encouraging motivation,

commitment, and shared ideas among the teams they manage (Akparep et al. 2019). Through this

approach, organisations can manage to tailor good working environment that will encourage

achievement of the organisational objectives.

Laissez Faire is also a key leadership style that influences performance and achievement

of organisational goals. The approach implies that a leader let employees work to achieve a set of

goals given to them with little interference (Akparep et al. 2019). In this sense, it implies that the

employees work under their own set of policies and procedures provided they do not interfere

with the policies and procedures of the organisational work ethics. In laissez faire, leaders rely

on loyalty of the subordinates and hence offer limited support to their personal and professional

development (Puni et al. 2014). In many scenarios like the banking sector and non-governmental

organisations, the managers do not offer much into impacting employees' decisions, thus making

them take limited responsibility in the entire decision-making processes. The decision made is

deemed right by whoever is willing accept it right. Through limited influence on decision
 11

making, laissez faire leadership does have limited positive impacts on the achievement of

organisational goals.

The final approach is servant leadership style. This is regarded as the common style in

many sectors including the transport industry. Servant leadership is characterised by the top

leaders giving much weight to the wellbeing of their subordinates, an aspect that improves

employee motivation (Akparep et al. 2019). Also, servant leadership increases the level of trust

and collaboration, thus increasing cohesion within a team and hence positively impacting their

performance to achieving organisational objectives.

In conclusion, various leaders have different traits and personality, and so do they use

different styles in managing their subordinates. Autocratic and dictatorial leaders offer limited

room for sharing of idea and rely on the notion that reward should be based on performance.

Servant and transformational leaders believe on employee motivation and the factors that

contribute to it such as organisational culture. It is, therefore, important that the right mix of

leadership style is employed depending on the personality of employees to facilitate achievement

of organisational objectives.

AC 5.4 Analyse different motivational approaches that can be used within the workplace (800 -

1000 words)

Leadership in an organisation plays an integral role in the productivity and team cohesion

within an organisation. The basic force behind good performance and hard work among

employees it their motivation and inspiration. The concept of motivation may seem simple to

understand but requires more than just offering advice to speed morale. The various theories,
 12

including Maslow's hierarchy and Vroom's instrumental theories have been key to documenting

the various methods of motivational theories and how they could impact employees. Discussed

below are the various motivational approaches used applicable in workplace, and the relevant

benefits and disadvantages attributed to each approach. Understanding the various motivational

approaches is important to managers in selecting the right technique that match with their

workforce characteristics in terms of personality and cultural dynamics.

The first approach to motivation employees is offering growth opportunities. Human

beings by nature are born to work towards achieving high levels of job satisfaction, personal and

professional development (Gechbaia et al. 2020). Employees always get motivated to work more

when they understand that they are in the process of learning new and valuable ideas. Gechbaia

et al. (2020) argue that job opportunities that offer opportunity for career development are

considered among the best means to motivating employees. Managers must strive to provide

professional and personal training opportunities, and keep employees trained to keep pace with

the technological advancement available in their career lines so that organisational goals are met.

Good employee education and training will not only motivate employees but improve the

reputation of the organisation as well. In conjunction with this extrinsic motivational approach is

the paternalism technique where employees are treated in a fatherly manner. The fatherly

environment instils the employees with a sense recognition in organisational decision making,

hence boosting their mole and dedication towards organisational objectives.

Creating conducive work environment is another relevant means of improving motivation

among employees. The term work environment is a broader sphere that encompass various

aspects including how employee interact with their organisation, and in particular the immediate

work environment. Employee work environment has an important impact on determining error
 13

rate, and consequently the level of creativity and innovation (Aleksić-Glišović et al. 2019).

Conducive work encourages efficient communication between employees thus facilitating flow

of ideas within a workforce. Research indicate that reward does provide an impact but in the

short term but having a conducive work environment could have a long term impactful.

However, over the last decades, designing work environment and office design has been

challenging because of several factors including the social environment and flexibility that come

along with the various office layouts. Therefore, employers must strike the right mix of

organisational office design, employees' personalities and technology to provide motivate

employees.

Incentive programs are another important approach to increasing motivation among

employees. Incentives to performance are a great method to improve performance and

dedication. One of the techniques employees is setting performance KPIs for which are rewarded

upon achievement. In some scenarios, managers use gamification method integrated with the

performance reward incentive to boost morale among employees prompting to work beyond set

organisational targets.

Creating a fun work environment and a culture of supportive colleagues is also key to

improving morale among employees (Aleksić-Glišović et al. 2019). Usually, peer to peer support

offers the best system of personal and professional development. Interaction among peers allows

them the opportunity to share challenges and achievements, thus allowing them opportunity to

brainstorm on better means to handle their challenges. Such collaborations encourage employee

satisfaction, increasing their dedication to offering quality services to customers, and eventually

turning to high rates of customer satisfaction (Aleksić-Glišović et al. 2019). Notably, the method
 14

of peer to peer appreciation should be handled with much focus on leveraging their practices to

align with organisational ethics and culture.

Another approach is facilitation of creativity and innovation among the employees. The

key to establishing performance and creativity among employees is allowing them to share ideas

and brainstorm their solutions to real world matters. Conducive work culture encourages

thinking beyond imaginations and can have a massive impact in idea generation and performance

in general. Managers should, therefore, have good policies and procedures that allow for free

input of ideas by employees in organisational decision making.

Finally, recognition by manager is another key approach to motivating employees.

Reward help create a sense of security among employees (Gechbaia, et al. 2020). Several factors

come to play when selecting the right approach to reward and acknowledge employees, including

the motive of reward, the frequency, and type of reward. It is, therefore, important that managers

first test the methods of reward and apply that which suites an employee's position and role in the

management hierarchy. The approach is advantageous in boosting performance but may result in

high levels of competition among employees seeking for rewards at the expense of assisting with

growth of their colleagues.

In summary, motivation should be taken as a complex approach that requires

consideration of various factors. A manager should understand the responsibilities of an

employee, the organisational culture, and the hierarchy to establish what approach should be

used in motivating employees. The commonly applied approached include reward and

performance incentives, creation of conducive work environments, and enabling peer to peer

collaboration because they all encourage personal and professional development.

 15

References

Akparep, J.Y., Jengre, E. and Mogre, A.A., 2019. The influence of leadership style on

organizational performance at TumaKavi Development Association, Tamale, Northern

Region of Ghana. Open Journal of Leadership, 8(01), p.1.

Al Khajeh, E.H., 2018. Impact of leadership styles on organizational performance. Journal of

Human Resources Management Research, 2018, pp.1-10. DOI:

https://ibimapublishing.com/uploads/articles/JHRMR/2018/687849/687849-1.pdf

Aleksić-Glišović, M., Jerotijević, G. and Jerotijević, Z., 2019. Modern approaches to employee

motivation. Ekonomika, 65(2), pp.121-133.

De Hoogh, A.H., Greer, L.L. and Den Hartog, D.N., 2015. Diabolical dictators or capable

commanders? An investigation of the differential effects of autocratic leadership on team

performance. The Leadership Quarterly, 26(5), pp.687-701.

Facione, P.A., 2011. Critical thinking: What it is and why it counts. Insight assessment, 1(1),

pp.1-23.

Gechbaia, B., Tchilaia, N., Goletiani, K. and Muskudiani, Z., 2020. Ways and characteristics of

employee motivation in modern conditions. Social and labour relations: theory and

practice, 10(1), pp.25-32.

Latham, G.P., Borgogni, L. and Petitta, L., 2008. Goal setting and performance management in

the public sector. International Public Management Journal, 11(4), pp.385-403.

Mone, E., London, M. and Mone, E.M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective

performance management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.

 16

Puni, A., Ofei, S. B., & Okoe, A. (2014). The Effect of Leadership Styles on Firm Perfor mance

in Ghana. International Journal of Marketing Studies, 6, 177-185.

Southwick, F.S., Martini, B.L., Charney, D.S. and Southwick, S.M., 2017. Leadership and

resilience. Leadership today: Practices for personal and professional performance,

pp.315-333. Available at https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-319-31036-

7_18

Wilson, K., 2018. Collaborative leadership in public library service development. Library

Management, 39(8/9), pp.518-529.

Zakarevičius, P. and Župerkienė, E., 2008. Improving the development of managers' personal

and professional skills. Inžinerinė ekonomika, (5), pp.104-113.