MMH231 Managing Performance: Qantas Airways Case Study Report

This case study examines the performance management practices at Qantas Airways, focusing on the period after its privatization in 1995. It discusses the various methods used by Qantas to monitor employee performance, including customer opinions, observation, and annual performance appraisals. The study evaluates the effectiveness of these practices, noting the impact of performance management on employee motivation, skill development, and overall organizational revenue. It also addresses challenges such as bias in appraisals and controversies surrounding employee rating systems. The analysis highlights how Qantas Airways has leveraged performance management to improve revenues, reduce employee turnover, and maintain a competitive edge in the airline industry, despite facing significant competition and operational changes. The company's focus on leadership development and employee training programs is also emphasized as a crucial component of its performance management strategy. This document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

Running head: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Background information of Qantas Airways.................................................................2
Performance management based practices in Qantas Airways......................................2
Evaluation of the performance management based practices........................................4
References......................................................................................................................6

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Background information of Qantas Airways
Qantas Airways has been able to acquire the topmost position in the airlines industry
of Australia. The airlines organization was owned by the government of Australia at the time
of its initial operations. The efficiency and profits based on the operations were not given
much importance when the company was owned by the government. The changes in
operations had however taken place in the year 1995 when the company was privatised. The
human resource management department of the organization has thereby made many
different changes in its operations after privatisation based activities (Qantas.com 2018). The
company thereby needs to overcome different types of influences which are based on internal
and external changes which can affect the operations. The management of performance in an
effective manner is an important part of the activities which have been organized by the
human resource based department.
Performance management based practices in Qantas Airways
Qantas Airways has used three different ways based on proper monitoring
performance of the employees in the organization in an effective manner. The processes
which are thereby used by the organization in order to manage the performance effectively
mainly include, customer opinions, observation, performance appraisals. Observation is
based on the ways by which the personal habits of employees are managed in an effective
manner. The disruptive behaviour of the employees is managed with the help of proper
observation. The opinions that are provided by the customers is able to play a vital role in the
proper assessment of the performance which is depicted by the employees (Buckingham and
Goodall 2015).
The customers are able to form an important part of the operations of the
organizations. The effective performance of the employees is based on the ways by which the
customers can be provided with effective levels of services. The performance appraisal based
process is performed on an annual basis. The major objective of the process is based on the
examination of the contributions which are made by the employees to the organization. The
evaluation of performance is based on the ways by which the employees are able to increase
their skills and their levels of growth in an effective manner. The appraisal based activities
are thereby able to affect the motivation levels of the employees in a huge manner (Cardy and
Leonard 2014). The levels of bias in the organization can however affect the appraisal based
activities which are performed by the organizations in an effective manner. The appraisal

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based process is also used by the managers in Qantas Airways in order to terminate the
employees who are not competent enough.
The performance management based process is also used in Qantas Airways in order
to ensure their proper levels of development in an effective way. The performance based
levels are thereby able to depict the ways by which the employees are able to grow in the
industry in an effective way. The high-impact based employee training which us provided in
Qantas Airways is able to affect the development of revenues of the organization as a whole.
The proper identification of skills of the employees is possible with the help of performance
management based systems (DeNisi and Smith 2014).
The process which is used for the rating based activities of employees is also based on
the performance levels that are depicted in different parts. The rating process has become
quite controversial in nature in the operations of Qantas Airways. The process of rating is
however considered to be quite inefficient in nature. The employees who are provided with
high ratings are motivated and those who are provided with low ratings become jealous and
their work process is disrupted in a huge manner. The usage of rating scales has always been
quite tricky in nature for Qantas Airways (DeNisi and Murphy 2017).
Qantas Airways had to face major levels of competition in the airlines based industry.
The organization thereby had to make immense amounts of changes in the operating
processes in order to manage the human resources in an effective manner. The company had
been facing major issues in the process of proper management of the employees and their
performance based levels as well. Qantas thereby had to implement some major sustainable
strategies in order to operate in the airlines industry in a profitable manner (Ewenstein,
Hancock and Komm 2016).
The visible levels of leadership and transparency had been able to play an important
role in the proper operations of Qantas Airways. The entire sustainable strategy which was
thereby implemented by Qantas Airways in an effective manner was related to the culture and
performance levels which was a part of the organization. The training which was thereby
provided to the employees and programs related to leadership development had thereby
proved to be an important part of the ways by which performance management functions
were performed in Qantas Airways (Kroll and Moynihan 2015).

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Evaluation of the performance management based practices
The feedback which is provided to the employees in Qantas Airways is qualitative in
nature and is effective for improve the overall performance of the organization in the highly
competitive airlines industry. The outcomes that are thereby received by the staff of Qantas
Airways based on the performance review are mainly related to the improvement of
performance or even termination related actions. The feedback based performance
management in the organization is provided by the valuable customers related to the services
which are provided by them (McDonnell, Gunnigle and Murphy 2018).
The major benefits which have been derived by Qantas Airways based on the
implementation of performance management systems are related to the ways by which it is
provided with effective revenues and is able to develop competitive advantage in the industry
of its operations. The company has always received positive results based on the usage of
performance management in its operations. This effect is based on the increase in revenues
and reduction of the employee turnover based issues which had been a major problem of the
company with respect to its operations (Mone and London 2018).
The culture of the company has been able to underpin the major changes which have
been made in the performance management based activities. Qantas Airways has thereby
gained a lot from the ways by which performance management has been conducted in the
organization. The most important part of the performance management based operations are
related to the ways by which organization has been able to maintain its effective employee
based with help of proper management of their performance and providing them with
effective opportunities of growth as well (Kroll and Moynihan 2015).
According to me, although Qantas Airways had faced some issues in its operations,
the company was able to improve its revenues and profitability with the help of proper
management of the performance of employees. The implementation of proper performance
management systems has been able to play a major role in the success of the company in the
industry.

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References
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.
DeNisi, A.S. and Murphy, K.R., 2017. Performance appraisal and performance management:
100 years of progress?. Journal of Applied Psychology, 102(3), p.421.
Ewenstein, B., Hancock, B. and Komm, A., 2016. Ahead of the curve: The future of
performance management. McKinsey Quarterly, 2, pp.64-73.
Kroll, A. and Moynihan, D.P., 2015. Does training matter? Evidence from performance
management reforms. Public Administration Review, 75(3), pp.411-420.
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.
Qantas.com 2018. Qantas Group Corporate Information. [online] Qantas.com. Available at:
https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-group.html [Accessed 9 Sep. 2018].