Case Study: O'Meara Electronics Performance Management

The case study examines the performance management system of O'Meara Electronics, highlighting the company's declining profitability and market position. It discusses the existing performance management strategies, identifies issues, and provides recommendations for improvement. The report emphasizes the importance of effective performance evaluation, employee motivation, and the need for transparent remuneration policies. It also compares different performance management systems and suggests actionable steps for enhancing organizational performance.

Running head: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Performance Management
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author note:

1PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Executive Summary
The aim of the report is to study the performance management system of Omeara electronics.
The performance of the company is declining and has become an issue that is concerning the
management. In this report there is a critical discussion of the existing performance management
system has been given. Recommendations are also provided for the organization. The
organization is in a condition where the organization is running in loss, they are declining in
terms of profitability. The organization is planning to revise their performance management
strategies. The current strategy for performance management is position based remuneration
system. In position based remuneration system, the employees are remunerated based on the
position they hold in the organization, the salaries of every position is based on the policies of
the organization.

2PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Theory..............................................................................................................................................3
Effective performance management methods.............................................................................3
Performance evaluation-..............................................................................................................3
Performance appraisals................................................................................................................4
Remuneration...............................................................................................................................5
Training and development...........................................................................................................6
Work environment.......................................................................................................................6
Tasks and Individual skills..........................................................................................................6
Motivation....................................................................................................................................7
Action Plan..................................................................................................................................7
Mentoring....................................................................................................................................7
Management by objectives..........................................................................................................7
Comparison between two performance management systems....................................................8
Diagnosis of the issues...................................................................................................................10
Recommendations..........................................................................................................................11
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

3PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Introduction
The performance management of the organization is mostly based on the requirement of
the customers, the individual performances are on the ad hoc basis and there are very less scope
to manage it, is basically unorganized, it is not measured. This system is not good for the
organization; if the performances are not measured and evaluated it would be difficult for the
management team to manage the performance of the employees it is very important. The
organizational goals should not be linked with the individual goals. Often employees have
personal goals as well. Motivation plays a very important role in improving the performance of
the employees, if the staff members are not motivated they will not perform efficiently. So the
employees are needed to be motivated so that they can achieve the desired performance. One of
the good thing about the performance management system used in the organization is that, they
have two teams one, is permanent work team and the other is temporary work team, incorporated
when there is high demand from the customers. The teams include members from different
departments, it includes, engineers, staffs from production department and marketing experts as
well (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).
Theory
Effective performance management methods
For performance management there are certain steps that needs to be taken
Performance evaluation-
Performance evaluation refers to the method by which the performances of the employees
are evaluated, it is a very important step in performance management. It helps in determining the
selection of promotion and reward for the employees. The evaluation of the performance of the

4PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
employees can be done by assessment of the jobs of the employees. Humana resource policies
of the organization should be effective and effectively the performance of the employees needs
to be monitored. There should appropriate policies and practices for all the human resource
functions like, recruitment, selection, training and development. Evaluation is that method by
which the value of something can be measured, in this reference the value of the performance of
the employees can be evaluated, this way the value of employees can also be measured.
Performance appraisals
The next step that needs to be taken in the performance measurement is performance
appraisals. Appraisals in an organization is done for the promotion, compensation and also the
termination of the employees, performance appraisals are criteria to position the existing
employees to a position they deserve according to their performance. Raters must be used to
evaluate the information related to the employees; raters are very important tool for performance
evaluation and appraisal. There are certain elements that need to be considered for performance
appraisals they are, discussions of with the employees, it is very important to consider the times
the appraisal can be done, annually, every six months or any other time frame that can be used
for performance appraisals. There has to be documentary evidences of appraisal meetings and
decisions taken for appraisal. The employees are needed to be provided with clear objectives.
The feedback of the supervisors, colleagues are important for appraising any employee, feedback
is taken so that the managers can reach to a firm decision for promotion of the employees (Mone
& London, 2014).
There are various methods for performance appraisal. Omeara electronics does not follow any
contemporary methods of performance appraisal, the most widely used performance appraisal
methods are,

5PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Ranking- Ranking is one of the most common methods that are used for performance appraisal,
this method is a very subjective in this method the employees are compared based on their
performances and they are given ranks.
Rating scale- Rating scale is the method in which the employees are rated based on the quality
of the work, their attitude, dependability and cooperation.
Critical Incident technique- In this method the superiors are evaluated.
Assessment centre- In this method tests are conducted so that the employees are promoted based
on the results of the tests (Micheli & Mari, 2014).
For appraisal of the employees there are certain criteria that needs to be considered, there
should be transparency in the approaches of the performance appraisal of the employees, they
should be well aware of all the criteria. All the employees should be given chance to improve
their performances. They should give feedback about their experiences. The performance
appraisal is a tool that should only be used for evaluation and not for finding faults, the is to take
corrective actions and reward the employees who have been performing well in the organization
(Landy, Zedeck & Cleveland, 2017).
Remuneration
Remuneration policies of the organization needs to be very transparent and fair, it
motivates the employees and directly impacts the performance of the employees and it is
improved (Armstrong & Taylor, 2014).

6PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Training and development
Providing training and development to the employees is an effective technique that is
used for the management of performance of the employees. In an organization it might happen
that the employees are finding difficult to cope up with any new technologies. It is therefore very
important to provide training and development sessions, it is a very effective method to improve
the performance of the employees when it is know that what are areas in which the employees
are finding difficulty (DeNisi & Smith, 2014).
Work environment
The work environment of the employees often acts as hindrance for their effective
performance management, for instance if the workshop of the employees is very hot and there is
no fans, it will become difficult for the employees to work in the hot environment. So it is very
important that the management ensure a work environment for the employees that enables
effective performance.
Tasks and Individual skills
There has to be synchronization between the skills required for a particular task and the
skills required for any task and the skills of the employees. If unskilled employee is made to a
highly skilled task then the results will never be positive therefore there has to be a strategy for
task allocation based on the skills of the employees and the skill required to perform a particular
task (Certo, 2015).

7PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Motivation
Motivation is also important for performance measurement, if the employees are not
motivated enough, their performance will not be good. The HR managers needs to motivate the
employees so that they are encouraged to perform well in the tasks that are allocated to them.
Action Plan
All the above measures requires an action plan, there must be a planning before deciding
which would be the most effective method that can help in performance management of the
employees. The issues are needed to be identified first and then planning should be done
(Buckingham & Goodall, 2015).
Mentoring
Without the help of the mentor it is not possible to provide guidance to the employees so that
they can lead the employees to reach the goals of the organization. Mentoring will also help in
career development and training of the employees (Bernardin & Wiatrowski, 2013).
Management by objectives
Management by objectives have been the method by which the performance of many
organizations are managed by the organizational leaders. In this approach the management sets
certain objectives, this objectives and goals are SMART, specific, measurable, achievable,
relevant and trackable. Once the goals are set it is very important to set standards for the tasks
that will be undertaken for achieving the goals and objectives of the organization. The
performance of the employees will be compared with the set standards and deviations will be
found out. Once the deviations are found out, corrective actions will be taken for improvement.

8PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
MBO is one of the most common techniques as well as an effective tool for performance
management (Buckingham & Goodall, 2015).
Comparison between two performance management systems
Performance management
System
Balanced Score card Kanji business excellence
measurement system
Strong points In this vision there is clarity in
the vision
It is a multi-perspective view of
performance, it is a combination
of financial and no-financial
measures that is used for
assessing the different
stakeholders (Mone & London,
2014).
There is consistent monitoring of
the strategy.
It is linked to the values and
strategies of the organization,
which are based on critical
success factors (Mone & London,
2014).
The communication process is
cross-disciplinary and hierarchy
traversing.
It is a universal model and is
used for calculation overall
indices for making comparisons.

9PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
The performances measures are
integrated for operational
objectives at an appropriate level
(Morrow et al., 2015).
The scope for improvements is
highlighted and provides
suggestions for the improvement
of the strategies so that the
resources are utilized in the best
possible way.
It acts as an instrument of cause
effect relationship for
management.
It helps organization to develop
It cascades and implements the
strategies of an organization.
Weak points It does not show interests of all
the stakeholders
It is basically designed for the
senior managers so that they can
be provided with the overall view
of performance (Mone &
London, 2014).
There is no long-term
commitment and leadership for
the management (Mone &
London, 2014).
It does not provide guidance for
the development and
implementation of performance
management system effectively
(Van Dooren, Bouckaert &
Halligan, 2015). .
There is development of metrics
that are unattainable.
It is more a controlling tool and

10PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
less improvement tool.
There is no employee awareness
also there is failure in
communication information to
the employees (Certo, 2015).
There is no relationship
quantification.
It is not appropriate for bench
marking (Armstrong & Taylor,
2014).
Diagnosis of the issues
The performance management system of the organization is based on customer relations.
There is lack of processes and activities for the management of performances. According to the
employees that the supervisors of O’Meara Electronics do not work in coordination with the
staffs as there seems to be lot of issues between them. There has been lot of criticism about the
position remuneration system, where the workshop level employee who works for eight hours
standing whole day is paid less compared to his supervisor who has to put less effort than the
workshop level employee does (Koufteros, Verghese & Lucianetti, 2014).
If the existing performance management approach used by the organization is seen that it
would be found that there are many limitations. The remuneration system is not good, the
evaluation of performances are not effective. The employees are not satisfied with the existing
performance appraisal system used by the organization. The dissatisfaction of the employees and

11PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
the declining profitability of the organization give the clear indication that the performance
management approaches of the organization are not effective (Van Dooren, Bouckaert &
Halligan, 2015).
Recommendations
The organization needs to implement strategies and methods for performance
management so that it regains its position in the market. Omeara electronics can consider
implementing the Kanji business excellence system. As per the comparison, there are very few
negative points for this approach so the organization can use the method. Management by
objectives is another technique that can be used because it combines the organizational goals
with the individual goals. Both KBEM and MBO are the techniques that provide scope for
improvement and are not just based on controlling. Apart from that, the organization can use a
combination of other methods as well; it will be more effective for the organization. They can
use effective remuneration policies are needed to be implemented so that employees are
motivated to work, performance evaluation and performance raters and 360 degree feedback
techniques should be used for appraisal. The employees needs to motivated and their workplace
should have a healthy environment for work (DeNisi & Smith, 2014).
Conclusion
Thus, it can be concluded that the performance management system used by Omeara
electronics are not effective and hence needs to be improved. There are some limitations in the
systems as well as in the case study where very less information about the management
techniques used are mentioned. Which provides a impression to the reader that the performance

12PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
management is not effective and has been the reason for declining level of performances.
Performance evaluation is not with the help of effective tools.

13PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
References
Armstrong, M., & Taylor, S. (2014). Armstrong's handbook of human resource management
practice. Kogan Page Publishers.Bernardin, H. J., & Wiatrowski, M. (2013).
Performance appraisal. Psychology and Policing, 257.
Buckingham, M., & Goodall, A. (2015). Reinventing performance management. Harvard
Business Review, 93(4), 40-50.
Certo, S. (2015). Supervision: Concepts and skill-building. McGraw-Hill Higher Education.
DeNisi, A., & Smith, C. E. (2014). Performance appraisal, performance management, and firm-
level performance: a review, a proposed model, and new directions for future
research. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), 127-179.
Koufteros, X., Verghese, A. J., & Lucianetti, L. (2014). The effect of performance measurement
systems on firm performance: A cross-sectional and a longitudinal study. Journal of
Operations Management, 32(6), 313-336.
Landy, F., Zedeck, S., & Cleveland, J. (Eds.). (2017). Performance measurement and theory.
Taylor & Francis.
Micheli, P., & Mari, L. (2014). The theory and practice of performance
measurement. Management accounting research, 25(2), 147-156.
Mone, E. M., & London, M. (2014). Employee engagement through effective performance
management: A practical guide for managers. Routledge.