may 18 ). harley davidson mission statement W r i t i n g
Part I
Performance management is a process that organizations use to ensure the company goals are reached effectively and efficiently. There are multiple perks to having a performance management plan in place for the organization. With this system the job criteria are clarified, increased motivation, clear organizational goals, and increased employee engagement (Aguinis, 2013). GE has adopted a performance method that does not required numeric values to evaluate their employees (Quartz, 2015). They have implemented a method that requires the employees to develop short term goals for themselves. They also conduct check-ins that allow them to manage and discuss the employees progress towards their goals. Their focus is not how many goals they are accomplishing but that they are making progress towards their goals.
The school I work for mission is to promote a safe and orderly environment for the development of life-long learners and ensuring educational success in the 21st century. Within that mission there are many goals and as an employee it is our job to help accomplish these goals. Major goals that we are focusing on include the students producing students who are proficient with computer processes. Also, we are working to prepare the students for college, the workplace, and teamwork. There are also state guidelines that we are required to follow which tell us what to teach the children in each subject and when to teach it.
Currently the school evaluates their staff based on how well their students do on their standardized testing and if they have shown any growth compared to the year before. In addition, they are also evaluated on their efforts inside of the classroom. This consists of the lesson plan, how they teach, student engagement, and classroom management. When evaluating they are evaluated with a set of criteria on a scale of developing, intermediate, and proficient.
Part II
Good Afternoon Everyone!
Performance management is in place from the time a position is needed to fill to the end of an employee’s career with the company. Communication and interaction through performance management follow an employee every step of the way during the employee’s path of life cycle changes. It uses these opportunities to engage the employee and make learning a part of the ever-changing job requirements (Heathfield, 2020, May 18).
Harley Davidson Mission statement:
Harley-Davidson’s mission statement is “we fulfill dreams through the experiences of motorcycling, by providing to motorcyclists and to the general public an expanding line of motorcycles and branded products and services in selected market segments.” (Mission Statement Academy, n.d.).
Harley Davidson Core Values:
Harley-Davidson’s core values comprise “integrity, be accountable, encourage creativity, inspire teamwork, individuality, and diversity.” (Mission Statement Academy, n.d.).
In the mission statement, Harley talks about the company and the influence they have on their customers and points to their continued success as a business in the motorcycle industry. In their core values, they maintain integrity with their employees and point everything back to the mission statement.
Harley has a Vision for their company it is, ” an action-oriented, international company, a leader in its commitment to continuously improve our mutually beneficial relationships with stakeholders. This includes customer’s suppliers, employees, shareholders, government, and society ” (Mission Statement Academy, n.d.). I would appear that the goal of Harley is to find that fine line between making a continued profit and taking an interest in the ideas of the consumers and employees (stakeholders). With this plan of the company and the staff working together Harley will continue to meet their goals and the individual goals of their workers.
Part III
A performance management strategy drives shared responsibilities for business results, focuses on employee behavior, and promotes growth and job satisfaction. This culture enables all levels within the organization’s empowerment to take ownership of their roles in supporting the company mission. No matter the review cycle or tools used to manage performance, ongoing coaching and feedback are critical elements in all company plans. According to Mueller-Hanson (2015), performance management has three crucial goals with a fundamental purpose: to help organizations maximize productivity. They consist of:
- Enable employees to align their efforts in a manner that contributes most to the organization’s goals.
- Equip employees with guideposts to monitor behavior and results and make adjustments in real-time as needed to maximize performance.
- Help employees remove barriers to performance.
In my current organization, both the managers and employees review their performance against the department objectives. Employees have increased autonomy to decide when they need to touch base and seek feedback about their focus. Their priorities are tasks and activities that an employee needs to complete to achieve team or individual goals. Ongoing conversations allow for more transparency and opportunities to communicate current areas of focus. The check-ins are less formal and include discussions about what an individual is working on and the behaviors and habits they are demonstrating to achieve results. Together, the manager and employee decide on the frequency, timing, location, and topics discussed. Additionally, progress towards achieving the goals is reviewed and documented. Feedback is critical to determine if the employee should continue or adjust to moving forward with their actions and behaviors. The manager discusses if their performance is in the right direction and supports their growth development and successful completion of the priorities.
Secondly, training and tools provide employees with education on the process. They also have the opportunity to create an individual development plan (IDP). The guideposts that monitor behavior include the regular check-ins and online tool via employee questionnaire and manager questionnaire. This mechanism provides an opportunity to reflect and comment on their recent performance and development. For example, what went well in the past quarter, opportunities to improve outcomes or behaviors, and any new responsibilities added for the upcoming quarter. The frequent check-ins help to identify obstacles and allow for more agility and flexibility for course direction. This ensures that employees continue working toward productive goals and helps managers provide support when needed.
The third critical goal is to help employees remove barriers to their performance. The manager’s role is to collect feedback from key stakeholders to provide a clear and complete picture of its performance. Specific examples to support the discussion are vital. By holding an open discussion, employees can elaborate and provide their view of what went well and what they anticipate accomplishing in the near future. If barriers exist, the employee is involved in problem-solving to improve their performance. The online tool includes two sections; employee input on their execution and the manager’s insights. Additionally, the document can be edited throughout the quarter to capture changes in business needs. Some positions have limited access to computers, so the organization streamlined the process by only requiring two formal check-ins on the system but encouraging ongoing conversations throughout the year. In either situation, the company follows the same process as outlined by Mueller-Hanson (2015), “using performance check-ins during the year to monitor progress, to provide feedback in between goal setting and performance evaluation, and to course-correct before the year-end.”
As the check-ins are a new strategy for managing performance management, time will determine what changes and improvements are needed for implementation. Human resources can easily monitor the completion of conversations and documentation. The challenge is by having only two measurements, continue and adjust, and the documents lack specifics for potential litigation. According to Aguinis (2013), “one of the purposes of a performance management system is to make decisions about employees’ compensation.” The company’s pay for performance philosophy may pose some difficulty as the manager’s differentiated percentages of merit increase since they only have two categories to use as a guidepost.
Part IV
Currently, Medtronic uses Performance Reviews and these are done annually. These reviews are just as Muleller-Hanson and Pulakos (2015) describe with the evaluation including a self-assessment and a supervisory assessment, with includes numerical ratings on competencies, performance objectives, plus a narrative description of the performance. I have had several of these reviews and I could not tell you what Medtronic’s company goals are. When inquiring about goals the supervisors point to the goals set on the review and how well you did or did not reach them and give either a small pat on the back to keep up the good work or coaching in areas needed. With this evaluation, I am left feeling like nothing has really been accomplished and I am waiting for the next companywide email to tell us what is the next product launch. I feel a part of my department and what we do but with the company as a whole, I do not feel connected at all.
However, I do feel that Medtronic, in the CSC department at least, assists with removing barriers to accomplishing each person’s tasks to complete. There has developed over the last year more open communication than ever before and this has assisted with removing the barriers. If an employee is struggling or making many errors it is not months or a year down the road that it is noticed it is usually within a week or two and is addressed immediately. When it is addressed it is not done in an accusing manner any longer but in more of an open-ended question with regards to how the supervisors or others can help the individual improve or understand etc. This also has been a barrier removed that has opened the lines of communication up.
Medtronic’s mission statement is as follows: “To contribute to human welfare by application of biomedical engineering in research, design, manufacture, and sale of instruments or appliances that alleviate pain, restore health and extend life” (Medtronic, n.d.). It is clear as an employee of Medtronic that the upper leaders take this mission statement very seriously. However, when the mission is talked about it is the last part (alleviate pain, restore health, and extend life) that is usually referred to. Nevertheless, I would not just promote to the employees the last part of the statement but the entire mission statement and explain the meaning. It is common knowledge if you have a business you are in it to make a profit to keep the business going and grow but to not have everyone on board with the importance of making a profit and growth, you do not fully have the company on board working totally together to accomplish this goal.
As the HR manager, I would send out the mission statement and have the company send in what they think this statement stands for and how they feel their job relates to the mission statement and reaching that goal. It would be my first objective. Making sure everyone understands the mission of the company and how it relates to them. Once that understanding is in place making changes to the annual performance reviews can take place.
