Managing People: Performance Management and Its Aspects in Flight Centre

This report discusses about the notion of performance management and its various aspects through the use of the case study of the organization Flight Centre. The report begins by providing an overview of the organization and also discusses about these issues that the organization is facing currently. The report next conducts a literature of the concept of performance management wherein it first discusses about the concept of performance management and discusses its various aspects like training, effective leadership, training, mentoring, coaching, delegation, organizational culture and others.

Running head: MANAGING PEOPLE
Managing People
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary
This report discusses about the notion of performance management and its various aspects
through the use of the case study of the organization Flight Centre. The organization Flight
Centre is facing various kinds of performance issues at the current moment wherein it is seen
that the employees to meet their monthly targets are taking the help of unethical means. In
addition to this, it is seen that the employees are provided below par salary and also not paid
for the extra amount of time that they spend on their job to meet their monthly targets. The
report begins by providing an overview of the organization and also discusses about these
issues that the organization is facing currently. The report next conducts a literature of the
concept of performance management wherein it first discusses about the concept of
performance management and discusses its various aspects like training, effective leadership,
training, mentoring, coaching, delegation, organizational culture and others. The report then
through the use of evidence suggests that the effective use of reward management, revising
the training, mentoring, coaching, delegation and the use of the strategy of total quality
management would help the organization. Finally, the report concludes by suggesting four
recommendations that the organization can use, namely, the use of reward management, total
quality management, improvement of training, mentoring and delegation and also the
organizational culture of the organization.

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Flight Centre...............................................................................................................................3
Literature Review.......................................................................................................................4
Performance Management.....................................................................................................4
Performance management and its related aspects..................................................................5
Training..............................................................................................................................5
Effective leadership: Mentoring, coaching and delegation................................................6
Reward management and incentives..................................................................................7
Organizational culture............................................................................................................7
Evidence-based Strategy............................................................................................................7
Recommendations......................................................................................................................9
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................11
Appendix 1: Self Reflection on the group process...................................................................13

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Introduction
The notion of performance management has emerged as an indispensible part of the
business world of the modern-era and most of the enterprises are taking the help of diverse
strategies for the effective management of the same (Kearney 2018). At the same time, it is
seen that diverse organizations are taking the help of different strategies like reward and
recognition, extra work-extra pay, incentives, fair wage and others to enhance the
productivity of the workers (Mone and London 2018). However, it needs to be said that not
all the enterprises are following these measures and thus the employees had to resort to all
kinds of unethical as well as unfair measures for the achievement of the Herculean monthly
targets which are given to them (Pulakos et al. 2015). The recent scandal regarding the
Australian travel giant Flight Centre is an important one to note in this regard. The purpose of
the report is to discuss about the concept of performance management in the particular
context of the organization Flight Centre and also to suggest the manner in which they could
improve the system of performance management used by them. The particular context which
the report seeks to describe is the below par wage and incentives provided by the company
Flight Centre. The implications of the report is the fact that the organizations of the modern-
era need to develop effective performance management system for the enhancement of their
overall performance.
Flight Centre
Flight Centre Travel Group (FCTG), founded in 1982 is the largest “retail travel outlet
in Australia” and is headquartered in Brisbane (Flight Centre 2018). The organization mainly
offers flight booking services to the customers from the different parts of the nation and is
known for the cheap flight tickets which it provides to the customers (Flight Centre 2018).
The organization has more than 2800 outlets in the different parts of the world and has

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employee strength of more than 20,000 working in different parts of the nation for the
organization (Flight Centre 2018). Furthermore, although the organization is operational in
different parts of the world like the United States of America, Canada, New Zealand and
others, yet the major business activities of the organization are centered in the nation of
Australia itself (Flight Centre 2018).
The organization under discussion here has come under much heat because of the
recent findings of the ABC newspaper and also their article which clearly reveals the
ineffective performance management system used by the concerned organization. The article
clearly reveals that concerned organization not only provides the kind of salary which is
below par in comparison to the industry standards but at the same time the employees are
required to overtime for which they are provided extra wages (ABC News 2018). In addition
to this, it is seen that the employees are provided stiff targets and in order to meet these
targets the employees often take the help of unethical as well as unfair means (ABC News
2018). Thus, it can be said that there is a need for the use of effective performance
management system on the part of the organization and also to use adequate reward
management strategies, incentives and others which will help the employees to perform in a
much better manner taking the help of ethical and also fair means.
Literature Review
Performance Management
Performance management is one of the most debated topics within the cannon of the
modern business world and the prominent position that the concept holds can easily be
explained by virtue of its close correlation with the construct of employee performance
(Cardy and Leonard 2014). Employee performance is seen as the building block of an
organization and experts are of the viewpoint that the overall performance of an enterprise

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depends directly on the individual performances of all the individuals who are associated
with the enterprise (Arnaboldi, Lapsley and Steccolini 2015). The tool of performance
management not only provides the much needed opportunity to the various enterprises to
quantify the isolated performances of the employees and thereby measure it but it also
provides them to window of opportunity to actually enhance it in an effective manner (Van
Dooren, Bouckaert and Halligan 2015). This is important since until and unless an
organization does not have the measure or the manner in which its employees are
performance the scope of improving it does not comes into the picture. It is precisely here
that the construct of performance management gains prominence. The prominence that the
concept under discussion here holds can easily be seen in the extensive usage of the same by
the diverse organizations like Woolworths Limited, Amazon, Wesfarmers and others
(Kearney 2018). However, at the same time, it needs to be said that there are various factors
which affects the process of performance management like coaching, training, mentoring,
delegation, effective leadership and others (Buckingham and Goodall 2015).
Performance management and its related aspects
Training
Shields et al. (2015) hold the viewpoint that the individual performance of an
employee depends to a great extent on the kind of training that is given to the concerned
individual. It is with this objective that the various organizations provide on-job and other
kinds of trainings to the employees at the time of their joining the organization. This is done
with the inherent desire to equip the employees with the necessary tools as well as skill sets
which are likely to help them to perform their job roles in an effective manner (DeNisi and
Smith 2014). In addition to these, it is seen that the diverse organizations also provide
upgraded kind of training to the employees so that they not have an updated knowledge
regarding the industry in which they are working but also have the necessary updated skill

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sets to perform better (DeNisi and Smith 2014). Thus, it can be said that the various training
programs by means of providing the required kind of knowledge and skill sets to the
employees is an important part of the construct of performance management.
Effective leadership: Mentoring, coaching and delegation
Leadership has emerged as one of the most important processes of the business world
of the modern-era and is used by the diverse organizations for the improvement of the
performance of the employees (McDonnell, Gunnigle and Murphy 2018). Furthermore, the
primary job role of the leaders is to motivate as well as inspire the subordinates so that they
are being able to achieve the objective or the target which has been outlined for them (Bititci,
Cocca and Ates 2016). In addition to this, the leaders of the present organizations are also
required to mentor as well as coach the followers as well. The mentoring and the coaching
services that the leaders offer to the followers not only boosts the confidence level of the
followers but also helps them to achieve the targets which has been set for him (Bititci, Cocca
and Ates 2016). Moreover, the leaders by means of mentoring and the coaching also inspires
the followers to come out of their comfort zone and do the kind of tasks which they were
initially reluctant to do (McDonnell, Gunnigle and Murphy 2018). This not only helps them
to perform better but also contributes in a substantial manner towards the overall
organizational productivity.
Delegation is another important job role of the leaders of the present times and thus
the leaders are required to understand the competencies of the followers and assign tasks to
them accordingly (Van Dooren and Walle 2016). Recent researches have shown that the
performance of an individual depends greatly on the kind of tasks which are being allocated
to him or her (Mone and London 2018). In this regard, the job role of the leader becomes
very important since the leader is required to understand the strengths and the weaknesses of

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the individual and allocate the right kind of tasks to them so that they are being able to
perform in a much better manner (Mone and London 2018).
Reward management and incentives
The kind of reward and incentives that an organization offers to the employees so
decides to a great extent the performance or the productivity of the employees (Bourne et al.
2014). The net result of this aspect is the fact that the various business enterprises of the
present times like Amazon, Tesco and others have developed effective incentive and reward
policies wherein they not only reward the employees who are working hard to meet the
expectation of the organization (McDonnell, Gunnigle and Murphy 2018). In addition to this,
monetary incentives are being provided to the employees with the inherent desire to motivate
them to give their best performance.
Organizational culture
Pulakos et al. (2015) have opined that the culture which is predominant within an
organization to a great extent determines the productivity of the employees. In this regard,
Hertzberg’s Dual Factor theory becomes important to note which discusses about the positive
and the negative factors within an organization that affects the productivity of the employees
(Cardy and Leonard 2014). The goal of the organization thus should be enhance the
effectiveness of the positive factors and to reduce the adverse effects of the negative factor.
Furthermore, it is seen that the creation of a congenial culture within an organization wherein
the employees are able to work in a collective manner so contributes in a significant manner
to enhance the job productivity of the employees (Cardy and Leonard 2014).
Evidence-based Strategy
The use of effective reward management system wherein the employees who work
hard for the organization would not only get appreciation but also monetary rewards would

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be really helpful for the organization Flight Centre. This would not only help the organization
to mitigate the problems that it is facing at the current moment but also to enhance the job
productivity (DeNisi and Smith 2014). Furthermore, the revising of the monthly targets
which are provided to the employees would at the same time help the employees to achieve
the targets in a quality manner rather than taking the help of the unethical and unfair activities
that they normally resort to for the achievement of their monthly targets (Shields et al. 2015).
In addition to this, providing extra pay to the employees who work outside their shift hours
should also be incorporated within this reward management policy that the company should
follow. Moreover, revising the salary that they pay to the employees and making it on par
with the standard ones paid by the other organizations would also help them to deter the
employees from taking the help of unethical practices.
The organization would have to revise the existing the training and coaching it
providing to the employees (Bourne et al. 2014). In addition to this, alterations in the
delegation of the tasks would also help the organization in a substantial manner to overcome
the problems that it is facing. The use of the strategy of total quality management would also
help them to maximize the job productivity of the individuals and thereby improve the
individual performance level (Kearney 2018). The effectiveness of the strategies of reward
management and total quality management is being revealed through the extensive usage of
these strategies by the various enterprises of the present times like Microsoft, Amazon and
others (McDonnell, Gunnigle and Murphy 2018). This would however require the
organization to provide effective training, coaching and delegation services to the employees.
Thus, it is likely that the effective use of these strategies would help the organization to
overcome the problems that it is facing currently.

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Recommendations
The measures that the company Flight Centre can use for the resolution or the
mitigation of the issues that it is facing at the current moment are-
 The introduction of effective reward management wherein the deserving employees
who are performing as per the expectations of the company would be rewarded not
only in terms of monetary rewards but also through intrinsic rewards as well.
 The use of the strategy of total quality management which will enable the
organization to help the employees to give their best performance and thus would not
have to depend on the use of unethical and unfair means for the achievement of their
monthly targets.
 Providing effective training, coaching and mentoring to the employees would also be
beneficial not only for the employees but also for the organization as well. This will
not only help the employees to get the required skills to meet their monthly targets but
would also motivate them as well.
 The integration of a congenial organizational culture within the organization would
also help the organization in an effective manner. This would help the organization to
create the kind of environment within the organization wherein the employees would
not feel the need to take the help of unethical and unfair means for the improvement
of their performance rather they look for fair means for the improvement of their
performance by learning from others.
Conclusion
To conclude, the machinery of performance management has become an important
one within the modern day business world and helps the organization to manage and also
improve the performance of the employees. This becomes important from the perspective of

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the organization since it is seen that the overall productivity of an organization depends to a
large extent on the individual performance of the employees. However, there are various
factors which determine the performance or the productivity of the employees like the
training, coaching, mentoring, delegation and others. Thus, to improve the performance of the
employees, an organization would have to take into effective consideration these factors.

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References
ABC News. 2018. Flight Centre accused of 'ripping off' customers, underpaying staff in 'cult'
workplace. [online] Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-08-22/flight-centre-
accused-of-ripping-off-customers-underpaying-staff/10051474 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].
ABC News. 2018. Flight Centre accused of underpaying staff, workplace bullying. [online]
ABC Radio. Available at: http://www.abc.net.au/radio/programs/am/flight-centre-accused-of-
underpaying-staff-workplace-bullying/10186340 [Accessed 9 Oct. 2018].
Arnaboldi, M., Lapsley, I. and Steccolini, I., 2015. Performance management in the public
sector: The ultimate challenge. Financial Accountability & Management, 31(1), pp.1-22.
Bititci, U., Cocca, P. and Ates, A., 2016. Impact of visual performance management systems
on the performance management practices of organisations. International Journal of
Production Research, 54(6), pp.1571-1593.
Bourne, M., Melnyk, S.A., Bititci, U., Platts, K. and Andersen, B., 2014. Emerging issues in
performance measurement. Management Accounting Research, 25(2), pp.117-118.
Buckingham, M. and Goodall, A., 2015. Reinventing performance management. Harvard
Business Review, 93(4), pp.40-50.
Cardy, R. and Leonard, B., 2014. Performance Management: Concepts, Skills and Exercises:
Concepts, Skills and Exercises. Routledge.
DeNisi, A. and Smith, C.E., 2014. Performance appraisal, performance management, and
firm-level performance: A review, a proposed model, and new directions for future
research. The Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.127-179.

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Flight Centre. 2018. Home. [online] Available at: https://www.flightcentre.com/ [Accessed 9
Oct. 2018].
Kearney, R., 2018. Public sector performance: management, motivation, and measurement.
Routledge.
McDonnell, A., Gunnigle, P. and Murphy, K.R., 2018. Performance management. In Human
Resource Management(pp. 262-279). Routledge.
Mone, E.M. and London, M., 2018. Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.
Pulakos, E.D., Hanson, R.M., Arad, S. and Moye, N., 2015. Performance management can be
fixed: An on-the-job experiential learning approach for complex behavior change. Industrial
and Organizational Psychology, 8(1), pp.51-76.
Shields, J., Brown, M., Kaine, S., Dolle-Samuel, C., North-Samardzic, A., McLean, P.,
Johns, R., O'Leary, P., Robinson, J. and Plimmer, G., 2015. Managing employee performance
& reward: Concepts, practices, strategies. Cambridge University Press.
Van Dooren, W. and Van de Walle, S. eds., 2016. Performance information in the public
sector: How it is used. Springer.
Van Dooren, W., Bouckaert, G. and Halligan, J., 2015. Performance management in the
public sector. Routledge.

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Appendix 1: Self Reflection on the group process
I would like to take the opportunity to shed some light on my experience in working
within a group for the completion of this group assignment. Firstly, I would begin by saying
that all the members of my group were not only very supportive but at the same time worked
really hard for the completion of this assignment. This assignment required us to apply the
concepts which have been taught to us in the class in the real life case of the company Flight
Centre. Thus, it is obvious that the assignment was a bit different as well as difficult for us
since first we needed to understand the concepts related to the various aspects of performance
management and then undertake a detailed analysis of the case which has been presented to
us. After finding out the key issues at stake within the case we were not only required to
apply the concepts of performance management to the case but also to come up with relevant
recommendations that the organization could use for the mitigation of these problems. Thus,
we began by segregating the entire assignment into smaller sections and allocating each
section of the report to the members of team on the basis of their comfort level. Finally, after
each of the members had completed their part of their assignment we assembled the different
sections of the assignment in a complete one. I would like to say that the group activity that
we indulged in for the completion of this really helped us in the completion of this
assignment.