BSBWOR501 Manage Personal Work Priorities And Professional Development

Report on Current Issues within the Organization

As a newly appointed Team Manager for the organization, I have made a deep analysis of the ongoing situation of the company identifying the key issues and some solutions to overcome the situation in an effective manner as per the requirement of the General Manager. The General Manager is therefore requested to kindly go through the report and take necessary steps in order to ensure the smooth functioning of the organization in all aspects.  

The organization only has a total of 35 employees out of which 3 employees belong to the administration team for whom consistent complaints are received from the customers, suppliers and others regarding their behavior and poor standard of work. All of these three employees are good at performing one task while being bad at some another. Their negligence is leading to extensive delays and dispatching of incorrect goods to the customers.

Issues faced by the Administration Team

While going through the situation, I identified that administration team suffers from major issues and problem of lack of morale due to non-receipt of proper appraisal for work at their workplace. Moreover, the team is not aware of proper descriptions of their jobs which put them in dilemma regarding the kind of work they are supposed to do and what is expected of them. This has resulted in diversion of their minds from the work and therefore they have started taking their work for granted due to non-recognition of their efforts for a long time.

Value of Different Models and Approaches

Various models and approaches can be adopted for the purpose of recovering the administration team which may proof to be valuable in this situation.

Priority Matrix-

Firstly, the organization needs to make the administration team understand that every task has two dimensions i.e. urgency and importance. The tasks are sort on the basis of their priorities and will help in reducing the workload of the administration team members and help them in providing the best quality work (Nguyen, 2013). This tool will enable the organization in effectively managing time and making an efficient use of it. These factors will allow both the individuals and the organization to analyze their activities.

Training Need Analysis-

Training need analysis will help the organization in finding out the gap in employee training and associated training requirements (Smith, 2011). It helps in determining whether the training will actually serve the identified problem. Therefore, in order to improve the performance of the administration team, training must be provided such that they acquire various skills, concepts and adopt a positive attitude to deal with the circumstances within the organization. The proper analysis of the requirement of training will lead to the building of an efficient workforce.  

SMART Goals-

SMART goals specify the criteria which are required to be conformed i.e. specific, measurable, assignable, relevant and timely (Chevalier, 2007). This method is also valuable as it will help in providing a clear purpose to the administration team and lead them towards successful completion of their goals in a stress-free manner within time.

Key Performance Indicators (KPI) –

 KPI act as a measureable metric which enables an organization to achieve its specified goals and objectives thereby indicating the efficiency of the company (Mind Tools, 2017). The targets are set on the basis of the key performance indicators which makes the organization aware of its weak points and can accordingly take steps to overcome such weakness.  

Solutions and Training/Development Strategies for rectifying the situation

Be specific with facts in hand

It is has become a necessity to confront the employees regarding their respective performances with consistent records regarding arriving late at office, intensity of absenteeism. This is to be done without being rude and using harsh statement as it will affect the self-esteem of the employees (Silberman, 2013)

Consider the needs of employees

Employee’s carelessness is not the only reason for their poor performance. The reasons vary from person to person and must considered in order provide solutions accordingly. The genuine reasons must be considered and counselling sessions must be provided to get them back on track.

Offer rewards and recognition

Since the organization has never focused on providing proper appraisal techniques for the performances of employees, therefore, it must do so in order to gain instant and consistent improvement (Frost, 2017). The motivation for getting rewarded will motivate them to give their best in workplace.     

Training/Development Strategies to be considered

Induction Training 

Induction training performs a great role in the introduction of new employees and helps them in adopting themselves to the work in a new profession. Induction training enables the organization to provide smooth entry to the employees into the business and create a positive atmosphere with a feeling of belonging and creating awareness regarding of the policies, procedures and culture of the organization.  

It is important that the skills of the employees are properly matched with the job duties otherwise it results in poor performance and low job satisfaction, engagement and morale (Mayhew, 2017). The skills of the employees must be determined in advance and then need to be matched with their performance. Accordingly, the need of training arises where the requirement for the enhancement of skills is recognized. The enhanced skills will therefore result in the professional development of the employee.

Reason for the selection of Training/Development Strategies

The following training and development strategies are selected after taking into consideration the following facts.

Induction Training

The administration team suffers from lack of awareness regarding what is expected of them and lack of adaption to the work of organization as they are unaware of the company’s policies, procedures and culture (Harrison, 2017). Induction training will benefit the employees by making them feel respected and valued and make them aware about the necessary information regarding company, its norms, culture and policies and their expectations from the employees.

Skills Training and Professional Development

The jobs performed by the administration team do not match with their skills therefore they do not perform well in their given tasks. Mary Smith must undertake more of taking orders on phone as it is best performed by Mary and hand over the task of typing to John Peters as he is good in typing but makes the use of some incorrect forms which can be improved with the help of proper training. Michael Newman is overall a good worker but needs some interaction with others in order to obtain help from others. Skills training will enhance the skills they are already good at and further improve their other skills in order to make them all-rounder.        

Recommendations

The organization should take into consideration the following recommendations in order to ensure that core skills are built and maintained in future.

• Communication of clear expectations and goals to the employees such that they feel a sense of belonging to the work environment of the organization (Rick, 2011).
• Constant support to the employees in their work and growth through proper leaning opportunities and interactions in order to upkeep personal development of employees.
• Encouraging administration team to take responsibility and solve their issues and problems on their own not relying upon the manager to fix it (SQA, 2017).
• Appreciation for the performance of employees with the help of adequate incentives to keep them engaged and motivated.
• Constant feedback by the way of recognition to boost employee morale and enable better performance in future.

Conclusion

The greatest asset of a medium-sized organization is its employees, therefore their skills must be utilized effectively and efficiently. The consideration of above recommendations will contribute towards the overall goal of the organization. The performance of the employees will significantly improve leading to the overall satisfaction of customers and suppliers when they will be motivated through monetary incentives and recognition for the work done.

References

Chevalier, R. (2007). A Manager's Guide to Improving Workplace Performance. AMACOM Div American Mgmt Assn.

Frost. S. (2017). The Importance of Training & Development in the Workplace. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/importance-training-development-workplace-10321.html

Harrison. (2017). 5 REASONS INDUCTION PROGRAMS ARE ESSENTIAL. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://www.hhr.com.au/5-reasons-induction-programs-are-essential/

Mayhew, R. (2017). Methods to Improve Employee Performance. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://bizfluent.com/list-7390467-methods-improve-employee-performance.html 

Mind Tools. (2017). Performance Management and KPIs. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTMM_87.htm

Nguyen, H. (2013). Priority Matrix Helps Improve Small Business Productivity. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://appfluence.com/productivity/priority-matrix-helps-improve-small-business-productivity/

Rick, T. (2011). 20 TIPS TO IMPROVE EMPLOYEE ENGAGEMENT AND PERFORMANCE. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://www.torbenrick.eu/blog/performance-management/20-tips-to-improve-employee-engagement-and-performance/

Silberman, J. (2013). How To Deal With Poor Employee Performance. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://elearningindustry.com/how-to-deal-with-poor-employee-performance

Smith, J. (2011). Training Needs Analysis - What You Need to Know: Definitions, Best Practices, Benefits and Practical Solutions. Emero.

SQA. (2017). About Core Skills. Retrieved December 3, 2017 from https://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/37801.7292.html