The success of an organization depends largely on the implementation of strategies that offer competitive advantages, and this is implicitly related to the personnel who execute them.
The effective performance of the members of any organization will be the product not only of their potential to carry out their functions, but also of the degree of motivation and job satisfaction they have.
Recognition is a tool that must be integrated into the business environment, given that it has been shown that significantly self-esteem, assertiveness, performance and performance; contributing to positive organizational climates, improvements in teamwork and therefore, the operation of the company oriented to quality and productivity.
Performance: Basic Components, Scope, and Impact
The Wikipedia encyclopedia defines Performance in a business context by referring to the desired results actually obtained by each unit that performs the activity, where the term unit can refer to an individual, a team, a department or a section of the organization.
For his part, Eng./Adm. Carlos Mora, refers that the basic components of Performance are the abilities and skills, understanding and knowledge used to achieve a task that has been assigned to a unit.
According to C Mora, the causes that can reduce performance can be individual or group (associated with cohesion in groups). Performance fails when there is an absence of any of the basic components, coupled with a lack of vision in management and / or bosses, a lack of a clear job description, among others.
According to the different authors consulted (see sources consulted), some of the scope and repercussions of organizational performance are:
- Performance scopes:
- Performance is related to meeting specific objectives. It is the result of the sum of the abilities, skills, knowledge and understanding of the activities to be developed. It is sensitive to the lack of any of its components both at the individual level and at the level of groups within an organization.
- Performance implications:
- It has an impact on the quality and productivity of the organization. It directly affects the satisfaction of the organization's clients. It affects the achievement of goals and objectives of the organization.
Performance: Basic components, scope and repercussions
C. Mora, defines Performance as the interpretation of performance, that is, with how the commitment to performance is analyzed.
According to Lusthaus, Marie-Hélène Adrien, Gary Anderson, and Fred Carden, very few organizations have readily available performance data. However, it is generally not difficult to generate this information based on existing data or to develop mechanisms for collecting performance data.
Data collection tends to be mechanical and technical. It is much more difficult to reach a consensus on the merits of certain performance data and indicators. It is even more difficult to arrive at a value judgment regarding the acceptable levels of quantity and quality for each indicator. The important questions are these: How does the organization define good performance? Does good performance help the organization fulfill its mission? The second of these questions is of particular importance to organizations that have a diversity of stakeholders.
When making a diagnosis of the organization and its performance, the number and selection of indicators is critical. “Expert” organizations seek to identify 10-15 performance indicators that can be consistently monitored to assess their own performance. It is also important to establish another set of variables as a control to better understand performance. These other variables may include topics such as staff morale, relevance of financial information, economic indicators, absenteeism, and the number of new donors.
Advantages of performance evaluation
- Improves performance, through feedback Compensation policies: can help determine who deserves raises Placement decisions: promotions, transfers and separations are based on previous or anticipated performance Training and development needs: performance Insufficient may indicate a need for retraining, or untapped potential Career planning and development: guides decisions about specific career possibilities Information inaccuracy: Insufficient performance may indicate misinformation about job analysis position, human resources plans or any other aspect of the personnel department information system Errors in the design of the position:Insufficient performance can indicate errors in the conception of the position. External challenges: sometimes, performance is influenced by external factors such as family, health, finances, etc., which can be identified in evaluations.
According to the different authors consulted (see sources consulted), some of the scope and repercussions of organizational performance are:
- Performance scopes:
- Performance is associated with attitudes, interest and identification with the different assigned activities. The more specific the attitude and behavior, the stronger the bond that unites them. It is sensitive to low self-esteem and / or lack of assertiveness in the members of the organization. It is sensitive to motivation and recognition. It can be measured by performance evaluations. Good performance needs feedback.
- Performance implications:
- It directly affects the organizational climate. It affects job satisfaction and with it, productivity, turnover, absenteeism, among others. It affects personal growth and the realization of the individual goals of each member of the organization. Performance evaluation allows, among other things, to make general human resources decisions: promotions, transfers and dismissals. Performance evaluation allows the identification of training and development needs. Performance evaluations serve as criteria for validating selection and development programs. Performance reviews are used as the basis for distributing rewards. Performance appraisals allow feedback to be given to employees. Good performance helps achieve the mission of the company.
The performance, quality and productivity of the majority of Venezuelan companies have been suffering the consequences of poor performance by some of their members.
An ineffective performance produced by the low self-esteem and lack of assertiveness of its members associated in part with: Lack of motivation and commitment, lack or total absence of recognition of the objectives achieved, insufficient remuneration, among others.
One of the greatest weaknesses that Venezuelan companies face in relation to their performance is the lack of willingness to commit to the training and personal development of their workers, downplaying individual goals for personal and professional growth.
I agree with C. Mora, when he says and I quote “… one of the most important factors lies in the insistence of many SMEs to try to receive the homage of a protectionist State. While it is true that the State can help in part to improve the performance of these companies, it should not fall under its full responsibility. It is necessary to become independent of the idea that 'Papa Estado can save me if I fall into crisis or before any eventuality for which I am not prepared', and instead try to worry more about its own solidity and increase in quality and productivity throughout the world. national territory, this will help create a truly rising and not fictitious economy… "
And even more so when this same author cites that nepotism has also contributed to the increase in weakness in some SMEs. Giving preference or placing family members in key positions for the mere fact of being family neglects their true capabilities and suitability levels, leading to the demotivation of the rest of the staff, as well as a drop in their performance levels, which contributes to low productivity and quality of production.
- Relationship between performance, productivity, achievements, and demotivation
According to SP Robbins, motivation is the sum of processes that account for the intensity, direction and persistence of an individual's effort to achieve a goal.
Thus, demotivation affects performance since an unmotivated worker is not going to give his best, he is not going to offer his best effort, nor is he going to use all his abilities and skills to the fullest, since he simply does not feel committed to the activity that he performs, either because he knows or senses that he will not be recognized or remunerated as he would like, or because he does not feel part of the group, or others.
Demotivation affects productivity since feelings of job dissatisfaction are generated, for which the worker does not take care with the quality or production levels or with the delivery times of the results expected of him. A demotivated worker is not proactive, and can generate negative climates that affect the entire organization.
And finally, demotivation affects achievements, since at the same time that the worker does not perform well, it hinders the achievement of organizational achievements and goals.
- Suggestions to the Venezuelan company to guarantee good performance
The Venezuelan company should give preference to the optimization of productivity, since this is the one that will allow it to achieve its objectives effectively, and in this framework the quality, and the positioning of its products and / or services and even more so today, when we are all immersed in an unstoppable process of globalization.
Productivity is an included package, and is achieved through the good performance of all members of the organization.
To guarantee good performance, Venezuelan management must study the individual needs, interests, and goals of the members of their organizations in order to establish recognition and compensation methods that keep staff motivated. A motivated worker is more productive and is satisfied and identified with his organization.
Job satisfaction will bring positive organizational climates: cohesive groups and good interpersonal relationships, and these groups and individuals by being in affinity with the objectives of the company will do their best to achieve them.
Management should see training and development as an investment and not as an expense, it will help individual and group growth and with it a good performance and organizational performance.
Recognition is a powerful motivator
To maximize motivation, people have to perceive that their effort brings them a favorable evaluation, which in turn brings the rewards they appreciate.
Robbins, defines the Theory of expectations in the sense that "… the strength of a tendency to act in a certain way depends on the strength of the expectation that said act will be followed by a certain attractive result for the individual."
Thus, according to the expectations motivation model, when employees lack confidence that their efforts will earn them a satisfactory assessment of their performance or if they believe that the organization will deliver insufficient reward when they achieve their performance objectives, it can be anticipated that these will work below their means.
Among the most common negative repercussions are negative organizational climates, apathy or lack of motivation in workers, ineffective performance, lack of proactivity and creativity, low self-esteem, stagnation of personal growth, bad interpersonal relationships, job dissatisfaction, among others; which in turn are manifested in the quality and productivity of the organization.
Tips for optimizing performance based on recognition:
In relation to how recognition should be handled in organizations, I agree with the ideas suggested by K. Blanchard and S. Johnson, in their book "Executive to the Minute",
- Adapt rewards to the needs of workers, considering individual goals Tell workers bluntly that they will be given feedback on the progress of work (in order to generate expectations) Give recognition immediately when the worker deserves it Communicate to the workers the satisfaction for the excellent work done and explain to them how this benefits the organization and others who work in it Encourage the workers to continue proceeding in the same way Shake the hand of the person or some Patting on the back can reinforce and make it clear that management supports the worker's success in the organization.
At the same time, I suggest to business leaders, use recognition and feedback as a tool to reinforce and optimize self-esteem and assertiveness in the members of their organization.
Sources consulted:
• Organizational Communication. Author: Stephen P. Robbins. Prentice Hall. 10th edition. Year 2004.
• The one minute manager. Authors: K. Blanchard and S. Johnson. Mondadori. 1982.
• “SMEs require a new management” Author: Carlos Mora (http://www.degerencia.com/articulo/las_pymes_requieren_una_nueva_gerencia)
• Improving the performance of organizations. Authors: Charles Lusthaus, Marie-Hélène Adrien,
Gary Anderson and Fred Carden)
• Performance evaluation. Summary Text of Personnel Management and Human Resources - William B. Wrther, Jr. and Heith Davis - Ed. Mc. Graw Hill)
• Weaknesses of SMEs in relation to quality and productivity. Author: Carlos Mora (http://www.monografias.com/trabajos21/gerencia-interactiva/gerencia-interactiva.shtml)
• Wikipedia on-line encyclopedia.
