Human Resource Management: Coles' Performance Management Report

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Coles' performance management policies, focusing on the crucial role of human resource management within the organization. It delves into the purpose of these policies, which include setting appropriate appraisals, strengthening the bond between managers and employees, and ensuring legal compliance. The report examines the scope of the policies, highlighting the involvement of the National Office of Australia in investigating employee performance and the interconnection between internal and external environments. It also outlines the policy statements, activities, and accountabilities, including employee performance valuation activities, such as role responsibilities, individual goals, and behaviors, along with the company's accountabilities in maintaining effective performance evaluation techniques, training, and employee development. The report concludes by summarizing the key aspects of Coles' performance management, emphasizing the importance of regular review, employee development, and the establishment of a high-performance company culture.

Running head: HUMAN RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
Performance management policy of Coles
Name of the student:
Name of the university:
Author note:

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Table of contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Purpose............................................................................................................................................2
Scope................................................................................................................................................3
Policy statement...............................................................................................................................4
Activities..........................................................................................................................................6
Accountabilities...............................................................................................................................8
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References and bibliography.........................................................................................................11

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Introduction
Human resource management is one of important parameters of a company and
organization. Delving deep into the aspect, the resources, which the personnel use for the
managing the business activities connotes the true essence of human resource management. This
is a very broad topic, which includes within it various and wide-ranging aspects (Tyson 2014).
This assignment specifically deals with the policies implemented by Coles personnel for
managing the performance of the employees. Policies can be correlated with the aspect of
management in terms of moulding the employees into the organizational requirements. Detailed
approach of the assignment enhances the clarity of the readers regarding the specifications of the
performance management policies in companies like Coles.
Purpose
The policy taken into consideration is Performance Evaluation by National Office. The
main purpose of this policy is to set appropriate appraisals for the efforts put in by the
employees. Inspection of the performance by the members of the National Office helps the
managers of Coles in valuing the efforts of the employees (Coles.com.au 2017). In other words,
the major drive behind introducing the policies of performance management is to extract the best
out of the employees. In other words, the main reasons for abiding by this policy are to
strengthen the bondage between the managers and the employees. Policy in this direction reflects
the legal touch on Coles in terms of safeguarding the Cole personnel from the illegal activities.
Herein lays the appropriateness of hiring the National Office personnel regarding inspection of
the performance of employees (Coles.com.au 2017). This policy is exercized in coles through the
following objectives:

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 Measuring and regulating the performance of the employees. The National Office
members assist the personnel of Coles in this evaluation process. This evaluation includes
consideration of the attributes exposed by the employees towards the execution of the
allocated duties and responsibilities. Within this, the Officers take special note of the
outcomes of the levied orders and instructions on the employees.
 Along with the evaluation, one of the other purposes of the policy is to ensure that the
employees and the other personnel are updated about the performance objectives and
their results. This awareness helps the employees of Coles in direct initiation of the
allocated duties and responsibilities after two or three training sessions (Coles.com.au
2017). Within this, the managers make it a point to check the reliability and accessibility
of the identified and the specified goals. Along with this, the policy also helps the
managers to excavate the need for training by evaluating the initial phases of completing
the allocated responsibilities.
 Motivating and encouraging the employees for exposing consistent performance is one
of the other purposes of this policy. The managers of Coles apply effective management
techniques for regulating the performance of the employees. This is done by setting
goals, objectives and key performance indicators for the employees (Coles.com.au 2017).
Scope
The members of the National Office of Australia investigate the performance of the
employees of Coles. The managers are a medium in this process, who intimates the recent human
resource management activities in the workplace. These activities reflect the interconnection
between the internal and external environment of Coles. Social media connects the workplace of
Coles with the external agencies (Coles.com.au 2017). The funds for this policy come from the

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expenses of the National Office of Australia, which is tracked regularly. As a matter of
specification, the personnel are to send drafts regarding the utilization of the funds in executing
the activities related to the implementation of the performance management policy.
The related policies are Code of Conduct, Statement of Corporate Purpose and
Managing Unsatisfactory Performance. For effective evaluation of the employee performance,
adherence to the code of conduct is a crucial element. Sending drafts about the outcomes can be
considered as the Statement of corporate response, as it is sent to the National Office staffs
(Coles.com.au 2017). In case of the achieving negative outcomes, the managers of coles need to
apply effective management techniques for restoring the lost productivity. Herein lays the
importance of the performance management systems.
Viewing it from the other perspective, all the related policies are set by the National
Office staffs, which the personnel of Coles are entrusted to follow. Out of the three related
policies, code of conduct is the most important, as it indicates the behavior, which the employees
and the managers are to expose in the workplace environment. Code of conduct can be
considered as the solution for managing the unsatisfactory performances exposed by the
employees. In terms of the serious cases, the law officials are hired, who take serious actions
against the employee (Coles.com.au 2017).
Policy statement
Statement acts as a document for the companies and organizations in terms of
safeguarding themselves from the illegal instances. These statements are the proof in terms of
validating the policies introduced. This framework is an integral part of the Performance
Management Policy of Coles. This policy is designed for assisting the managers in terms of

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regulating and evaluating the performance of the employees. The forms of this assistance are
developing the accountabilities, key performance indicators and training resources for achieving
excellence.
All the departments of Coles possess the authority to implement the policy according to
the identified and the specified objectives (Coles.com.au 2017). This is according to the
estimated plans and time frames for reviewing the exposed performance and the additional
requirements needed to reach to the benchmark level of performance. The managers, staffs and
Board of Directors are to comply with the agreements, terms and conditions. The Directors
should negotiate with the stakeholders and shareholders within February/March of every year.
After 6 months, that is in June/July, evaluation of the reviews need to be executed.
One of an important aspect of the policy is the signed agreement within 2 months of
being allocated a duty or being posted to a position (Coles.com.au 2017).
Ombudsman Approval
_____________________

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Activities
Employee performance valuation activities of Coles Company identify the major
objective behind process of performance valuation. In addition, performance evaluation activities
of Coles also offer general guidelines in carrying out the performance evaluation (Azzopardi and
Nash 2013). Considering several human resource performance benefits, Coles Company has
decided to certain performance evaluation activities through establishing performance
management procedures and policies that has facilitated the company in attaining organizational
goals.
Coles has two types of functions including evaluative and developmental function. To
evaluate the effectiveness of training and reward programs on the performance of employees, the
company has existing policy of carrying out performance appraisal, individual performance
evaluation and develop an evidence based collection process (Chen and Fong 2015). Evaluation
process of Coles Company regarding a job performed by employees includes regular review of
job activities along with maintaining performance standards with anticipated results and
documentation of an employee performance plan. Performance valuation activities of Coles
company also includes performance feedback strategies that include formal and informal
feedback. Informal feedback process of Coles is on-going along with constant flow of formal
feedback before the final performance evaluation or appraisal (Coles.com.au. 2017). Employee
performance evaluation activities followed by Coles are explained below:
 Role responsibilities- Coles also makes sure that performance of employees are
evaluated based on responsibilities that are relied on the aspects included in job
description and other assigned duties. Moreover, performance evaluation activities of

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Coles is also relied on the extent took which employees performed satisfactorily on
regular duties of assigned job (Hunter and Nielsen 2013).
 Individual goals- Performance evaluation of Coles also focuses on analysing individual
employee responsibilities that is relied on employee adherence to the aspects of job
description and several assigned duties. Moreover, performance evaluation is relied on
the extent to which employees perform satisfactorily in their regular duties of assigned
job (Nielsen and Hunter 2013).
 Behaviours- Performance of an employee is evaluated by Coles through analysing the
ways in which employees act on performing responsibilities and attaining organizational
goals. Employee behaviour is evaluated based on measuring and focussing on the ways in
which works are achieved and based on behaviours listed in Coles Company Behaviour
Guidelines (Parker et al. 2013).
 Overall evaluation- The Company conducts overall employee performance evaluation
through tracking how well an employee performed based on his/her yearly track record
on behaviour, personal goals and role responsibilities. Overall evaluation activities of the
company are supported by proper documentation and comments and are reviewed with
employee after approval of the manager.
 One-On-One meeting- Another performance evaluation activity followed by Coles is
face to face performance discussion with employees. Open and frequent communication
all through the year along with regular review of employment program and collective
bargaining agreement is carried out by the company for analysing performance of
employees.

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Accountabilities
Coles Company is accountable in constantly reviewing employee performance evaluation
policies and practices to make sure that these remain consistent with the business strategy of
company in adherence to business objectives and strategy along with values and culture. The
company also maintains the responsibility of maintaining appropriate performance evaluation,
management, and succession planning and development activities to establish a high
performance company culture (Pollitt 2013). Employee performance evaluation responsibility is
well addressed by Coles Company as a part of performance management process. This is for the
reason that this serves as an effective tool that can support employee development and
improvement.
Being accountable in performance valuation of employees, Coles Company carries out
regular short meetings along with recording and discussing milestones successes and
accomplishments. Fulfilling these accountabilities facilitates Coles Company in monitoring
progress on performance goals and offering development programs as required. Moreover,
carrying out short meetings decreases excessive effort that is required for preparing and carrying
out yearly employee performance reviews. This is because the company has been accountable in
tracking performance and progress along with offering necessary feedback when it is highly
valuable (Wang et al. 2016).
Coles Company considers it to be its accountability that in maintaining appropriate
performance evaluation techniques it ensures performance standards and expectations to the
employees. This facilitates the company’s employees in differentiating among unacceptable and
acceptable behaviours in performance along with decreasing certain misunderstandings. While
carrying out performance evaluation Coles Company makes sure that:

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 It coaches its employees in a manner that makes two-way communication effective along
with reinforcing desired behaviours
 Employees professional and career development are supported by the company in order t
make them highly accountable for it
 The company takes the responsibility to make sure that employee performance evaluation
reviews are submitted by assigned deadline
In developing proper employee performance evaluation activities, Coles Company considers
itself accountable in:
 Developing effective practice performance management process (Wang et al. 2016).
 Setting realistic deadlines in completing every step within performance evaluation
process
 Developing and explaining performance evaluation rating scale along with analysing
distinct performance levels and the ways in which the company expects such ratings to be
used
 Offering training to employees and managers regarding the performance evaluation
process along with explaining the steps involved, related responsibilities along with
benefits attained by all that addresses specific performance valuation needs considering
job responsibilities of employees
Conclusion
The objective of this paper was to evaluate the performance management and evaluation
policies of Coles Limited Company. From completion of the paper it is gathered that To evaluate
the effectiveness of training and reward programs on the performance of employees, the

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company has existing policy of carrying out performance appraisal, individual performance
evaluation and develop an evidence based collection process. The company also maintains the
responsibility of maintaining appropriate performance evaluation, management, and succession
planning and development activities to establish a high performance company culture.
Evaluation process of Coles Company regarding a job performed by employees includes regular
review of job activities along with maintaining performance standards with anticipated results
and documentation of an employee performance plan. Moreover, employee performance
evaluation responsibility is well addressed by Coles Company as a part of performance
management process. This is for the reason that this serves as an effective tool that can support
employee development and improvement.

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References and bibliography
Azzopardi, E. and Nash, R., 2013. A critical evaluation of importance–performance
analysis. Tourism Management, 35, pp.222-233.
Chen, L. and Fong, P.S., 2015. Evaluation of knowledge management performance: An organic
approach. Information & Management, 52(4), pp.431-453.
Coles.com.au (2017). About us. Available at: https://www.coles.com.au/ [Accessed on 7th
November 2017]
Coles.com.au., 2017. About Coles. [online] Available at: https://www.coles.com.au/about-coles
[Accessed 7 Nov. 2017].
Hunter, D.E. and Nielsen, S.B., 2013. Performance management and evaluation: Exploring
complementarities. New Directions for Evaluation, 2013(137), pp.7-17.
Jackson, S.E., Schuler, R.S. and Jiang, K., 2014. An aspirational framework for strategic human
resource management. Academy of Management Annals, 8(1), pp.1-56.
Kramar, R., 2014. Beyond strategic human resource management: is sustainable human resource
management the next approach?. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 25(8), pp.1069-1089.
Marchington, M., Wilkinson, A., Donnelly, R. and Kynighou, A., 2016. Human resource
management at work. Kogan Page Publishers.