Performance Management Models and Tools: Waitrose Case Study Report

This report delves into the realm of performance management, examining various models, tools, and techniques employed by organizations to evaluate and enhance employee performance. The report begins by defining and evaluating different performance management models, such as the Performance Management Sequence Model and the Cave and Thomas model, outlining their respective advantages and disadvantages. A significant portion of the report is dedicated to exploring how organizations utilize a combination of performance management tools, including 360-degree feedback, utilities feedback, and employee self-assessment, to suit their unique organizational environments and maintain high levels of motivation and performance, especially for remote teams. The role of line managers and the impact of legal laws, such as the Equal Pay Act and the Health and Safety at Work Act, on performance management are also discussed. The report incorporates a case study of Waitrose, a British supermarket chain, to illustrate the practical application of these concepts, providing specific examples of their performance management practices, including target setting, feedback mechanisms, and employee rewards. The analysis underscores the importance of aligning performance management with organizational goals and fostering a positive work environment to drive employee engagement and productivity.

Managing Human
Resources

Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................1
MAIN BODY...................................................................................................................................1
1.Definition, evaluation, and analysis of performance management models, including
advantages and disadvantages of each........................................................................................1
2. Define and explain how organisations use a mix of performance management tools and
techniques to suit their unique organisational environment and how they maintain high levels
of motivation and performance from their remote people and teams.........................................3
3.Give one example of actual practice by a named organisation, ensuring you cite sources,
such as, company wide people practice, company annual reports, academic case-studies, etc to
evidence your work.....................................................................................................................6
CONCLUSION................................................................................................................................6
References:.......................................................................................................................................6

INTRODUCTION
Performance management is an process by which organisation analyse and manage work
performance of their employees(Verhoest and Wynen, 2018). It is an important activity to ensure
whether the company is going in a right direction or not to achieve their main goal. This is useful
to maximize the best use of employees performance of doing an task. Waitrose is an British
supermarket company which was founded in 1904 by Wallace Waite, David Taylor and Arthur
Rose. It is headquartered in Bracknell, UK. This company was acquired by another British
company John Lewis. The current CEO of this company is James Bailey. This project covers
definition and evaluation of performance management model and their advantages as well as
disadvantages, theories of performance management and to analyse how they are useful to an
organisation and how to manage employees performance when employees work from home.
MAIN BODY
1.Definition, evaluation, and analysis of performance management models, including advantages
and disadvantages of each.
Performance management is important in an company because it analysis the employees
performance and measure it and take corrective measures in case of unproductive performance
from workers(Barrena-Martinez, López-Fernández and Romero-Fernández, 2019). Few models
of performance management are explained below-
Performance Management Sequence Model- This is a model in performance
management which consist of a common sequence in performance management process. This
model also indicates that performance management process is an continuous process which never
ends within an organisation until the organisation shut down. This model is very complex. It
further tells that once the targets are set and reviewed, they modified according to situation and
environment. After the review of first set of expectations, more targets are given to employees
based on their current performance. In simple words it means that managers and employees
never stand still after completing a task, they were assigned by another work just after
completion of previous task. This results in high level of productivity in organisation and creates
a good working environment among workers. It also helps to develop their skills. Cave and
Thomas model consist to break down each step in performance management in smaller parts so
that it becomes more easy for managers and employees to work with more transparency (Grossi
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and et. al., 2019). This model tells that initially individual performance management is aligned to
overall organisation strategies like mission and vision. So that employees target will not become
barrier for organisational target. Some of the points which are being considered by the employer
of Waitrose at the time of managing performance of their employees:
 Targets are made with good planning.
 Action plan is created for how to complete the task and who completes the task.
 After receiving target, employees receives the feedback.
 Rating is provided which summaries employees performance throughout the process.
 Financial rewards are given to their good performance to motivate workforce.
Analysis of this model under Waitrose that how this model works under mentioned
organisation and how this is useful for company- Determining performance expectations: This are the expectations made by company
with their employees. It includes expected result, expected behaviour and many other
things. In context of Waitrose, they expected a good behaviour of their employees with
customers because its an retailing company and most important factor of any retailing
company is to built good relationship with their customers. Hence, the same is expected
by employer of Waitrose to their employees. Supporting performance: It consist of supporting the actual performance of employees
and encourage them to perform more better(Boon and et. al., 2019). In context to
Waitrose, their managers support the employees performance on regular basis and in case
of any problem faced by employees to perform a task then immediately the solution is
given by that employees superior authority. This is done to ensure no obstacle will be
faced by their workers in working appropriately. Reviewing and appraising performance: After completing the task, employees
performance is measured. In context to Waitrose, every retail store is assigned by a head
which is called supervisor who supposed to watch their workers performance and record
it. Reviewing performance expectations: this is the stage where employees overall actual
performance is measured with expected performance. In context of Waitrose, they
prepared a sheet in which they record their employees performance than at the end of
each month they match it with expected word given at starting. In case, actual work of
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employees is more than expected work than that employee is rewarded with monetary
way and also get appreciated by their supervisor. But in case actual performance is less
than expected performance then employees were given training again. Counselling is also
given to them to tell them that where they are lacking behind and what they can do to
improve their performance.
Advantages of Performance Management Sequence Model in context of employer and
employee of Waitrose are explained below-
Advantage for employer- Whole work is done in an sequence and with proper process
which is good for employer as everything goes smoothly when a sequence is adopted for doing
any task. No burden on employer is there of how to manage their workers and etc.
Advantage for employee- This model consist of providing rewards to good performed
employees, which is an opportunity of every employee of Waitrose to earn more and fulfil their
personal goals.
Disadvantages of Performance Management Sequence Model in context of employer and
employee of Waitrose are explained below-
Disadvantage for employer- Long process of sequence model consume more time which
is an obstacle for employer to take any decision on time. Chance of arising conflict is high in
measuring performance of employees as employees consist that they have done good work but
managers expectations are high.
Disadvantage for employees- Employees god demotivated when their actual performance
is not matched to their expected performance. They loose the chance of earning extra wages in
case of little bad performance.
2. Define and explain how organisations use a mix of performance management tools and
techniques to suit their unique organisational environment and how they maintain high
levels of motivation and performance from their remote people and teams.
Performance management tools and techniques are basically used to measure employees
performance(Fenech, Baguant and Ivanov, 2019). Some performance management tools and
techniques are explained below-
360 Degree Feedback- this is the tool of performance measurement of employees by
their managers. In this tool supervisor or manager observe the performance of their subordinates
and record them in a documented way then this report is presented by manager in front of
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employees whose report is being prepared. This method helps the employees of Waitrose to
determine the point of view of many people surrounds them like manager, customers, suppliers
and many others and then work according to their view. It is an motivator for employees to
perform well and gain high reputation in senior authority eyes. Good image always helps a
employee to get promotion. Hence, this tool is helpful for an individual in their professional
development. This creates well being among employees.
Utilities Feedback- This technique is used to boost up morals and motivation of an
employee who did not perform well (Pugna, Duțescu and Stănilă, 2019). In this technique a
meeting is held between manager who has the performance sheet of every employee and then
managers give feedback to underperforming employees. Managers did not focus on only
negative feedbacks but they also appreciate them for whatever work they have done and also
encourage them to perform more better. Managers help employees to know what are their
strengths and what they can do to make it more strong. This technique must be held on monthly
basis to motivate employees after every 30 days. In context of Waitrose, this technique helps in
motivating workers to know their strengths and the ways of how they can perform more better
for their own profit as well as for organisational profit. This creates well being among
employees. This method also helps in reducing stress in workers mind about firing out of
employees in case of any unproductive activity in organisation which further helps to make their
employees mentally strong.
Employees self assessment- This is the technique in which employees record and prepare
their own performance list and give presentation in front of their manager(Plaček and et. al.,
2020). This technique helps to increase their efficiency by pointing out those areas in which they
are lacking behind by themselves only. It is the way in which employees were asked to present
their strengths and weakness by themselves so they get to know how they are performing. In
context of Waitrose, this technique helps to increase the motivation level of employees because
when a employee prepare their own performance list, it will become more easier for them to
understand what they are good for and what are their weaknesses so from next time they work
more harder to convert their weaknesses in their strengths. Hence, this technique is also helpful
to increase overall performance of workforce within Waitrose.
Role of line managers in performance management-
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Line managers are first who observe performance of their employees and responsible to
distribute resources equally among their teammates(Sulaiman, Ahmed and Shabbir, 2020). Basic
roles and responsibilities of line managers in increasing performance of employees are explained
below-
 Line managers motivate their workforce to perform better in every task which is assigned
to them and a motivated employee always perform better.
 Line managers distribute resources to their employees as per their task and positions.
Adequate availability of resources creates less obstacles to complete a work with full
efficiency. This thing increases total performance of any employee.
 Line managers resolve queries and conflicts among workers which further help to create
a good and positive environment of working and when there is no conflicts and other
issues then every worker work properly and perform their best performance in given task.
Hence, this also helps in increasing performance of employees. Hiring skilled employees for their department is also the function of line manager. Line
manager hire talented workforce with the possibility of having experience of that work
with that employee. A talented workforce reduces the chances of creating obstacles in
their work. Hence, less obstacles impact positive upon performance management and
their performance increases.
Role of legal law in performance management-
legal laws are those laws which is necessarily followed by companies. This laws were
made by governments and if these laws were avoided in any case then company or employer will
be punished. Equal pay act 1970- this act states that payment of employees should be according to
their work and their their positions in an organisation(Tweedie and et. al., 2019). Equal
payment should be given to all workers working under similar position. There should not
be payment differentiation between employees on the basis of their gender, skin colour,
caste, religion and other factors. This act was followed by Waitrose and this act helps in
boosting employees morals and motivation level. Equally paid employees are more
satisfied and good level of satisfaction creates increase in efficiency of performing any
task. Hence, legal laws plays an important role in performance management as they are
made for the benefit of employees.
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 Health and Safety at Work Act 1974- this act states that the employers must focus on
employees health and safety measures(Boon and et. al., 2019). Any company or employer
found to force their workers to work under unhealthy conditions that legal punishments
will be given to that company or employer. Regular health check up of workers from
company's side or on company's expenditure helps to find out unhealthy workers which
are the main reason of underperformance. This act helps in 2 ways to boost up employees
performance like by regular health check up of workers from company's side or on
company's expenditure helps to find out unhealthy workers which are the main reason of
underperformance. Secondly this act helps to increase goodwill of company that the
company is concerning about workers health due to this workers work with happy minds
and perform better in achieving organisation goal on time.
Role of well-being in performance management-
Well-being is the state of being comfortable, happy and healthy(Angiola, Bianchi, and
Damato, 2018). Activities like celebrating any occasional day or playing any game to fresh
workers mind are helpful in gaining employees satisfaction. Bonus and extra payment for extra
work and some other monetary facilities also create well-being at workplace. In context of
Waitrose, they celebrate occasional days and they give monetary benefits to their workers so
they feel good and satisfy and a satisfied worker always give good performance for their
organisation. Hence, fun activities and monetary benefits boost up employees motivation and
satisfaction level which further helps to increase overall performance of workforce.
3.Give one example of actual practice by a named organisation, ensuring you cite sources, such
as, company wide people practice, company annual reports, academic case-studies, etc to
evidence your work
Work from home is a condition where employees operate business functioning from their
homes. Due to Covid 19 situation many companies opted work from home situations and one of
them is Waitrose. Their IT and accounting sector works from home. They analyse all the
requirement of their market and they mainly focus upon online shopping services.
Following steps are taken by Waitrose to opt for work from home-
1. Analysing- Waitrose analysis the market condition like customer demand and many
others.
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2. Made plan- the mentioned company made plan according to market conditions which was
analyse by their marketing department. Their plan include manpower who is required in
stores and who can work from home.
3. Implement plan- They allow only those workers in store who is needed to handle the
inventories and other who made bills are allowed to work from home. Customers order
their products through online, workers presented in store packed their orders and on the
other hand workers who prepare digital bill, they prepare it by working from home.
Waitrose have to suffer from many issues and conflicts at the starting stage when they opt
working from home and some of them are explained below-
 The workers while working from home has many conflicts majorly related to technical
issues.
 Lack in proper communication is also the main reason behind work from home.
 Due to improper communication in organisation lack of coordination is seen.
 Conflicts arises
 Work is not done on time.
 Increase in complaints from customers.
After considering all this issues, company take few measures to resolve all this issues to work
properly and satisfying their customers by providing them best services. The steps or measures
that Waitrose has taken to resolve this problems are explained below-
 Waitrose hire more IT admins and allow their services to their home based employees.
These IT admins basically solve the problem through mobile phones while telling the
employees what they have to do in specific situation. They are also allowed to reach their
employees home and solve the technical issues faced by that employee.
 To reduce the problem of conflicts company allow counselling sessions for their
employees on timely basis in which they were taught their own importance and the
importance of working together with proper coordination in their organisation (Waitrose
& Partners Employee Reviews. 2021).
 They allow some incentives for those workers who perform better than others to increase
motivational level of employees and also to increase productivity of organisation.
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 Waitrose conduct meeting on regular basis to point out those areas of work in which
employees are not performing good and they also appreciate those departments who work
properly to maintain good working environment for organisation.
All the above activities are helpful in managing employees performance and the explanation of
how these activities increases employees performance are given below-
 Hiring more IT admins help in reducing time wastage by employees with the argument
that system is not working properly (Zheng and et. al., 2019). More time is given by each
employee to their work when their electrical system work properly. Hence, productivity
and performance increases when their technical issues are less.
 Conducting counselling sessions help in boosting moral and motivational values of
employees. A highly motivated employee always perform better for their company.
Hence, counselling sessions help to increase their motivation level which results in
managing performance of company.
 Increase in incentives for those employees who perform good while working from home
is helpful in increasing performance of employees. Employees work more with great
efficiency for earning more money. Hence, productivity and performance of employees
increases with the main motive of earning more incentives(Waitrose & Partners
Employee Reviews. 2021). .
 While conducting meeting on regular basis they are able to analyse on those area where
they are lacking behind so corrective measures will be taken by management as soon as
possible (Verhoest and Wynen, 2018). In this meeting Waitrose managers help their
employees by telling them how they can work efficiently. Management motivate their
employees. This helps in measuring performance of their workers and also to increase in
performance.
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CONCLUSION
It has been concluded from the above information that, various models of performance
management helps to increase overall performance by motivating their workers telling them the
benefits of performing well. It is also concluded that line managers, legal acts and many fun
activities have an important role in boosting performance of workers within an organisation. It is
also concluded that employees can face many issues while working from home but taking
corrective measures help the company to boost up the motivation and performance of employees
as much as possible.
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References:
Books and Journals
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Online
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