Mr Taha Uppal
Strategies towards betterment for team management The research will be based on the following questions: How can we eliminate the harmful factors of staff management I. E performance appraisal? How can the employee's play an important part for the organizational success? What are the feedbacks usually received by the employer? 1. 1 INTRODUCTION TO MARKS AND SPENCER: Marks and Spencer also popularly known as M is British based clothing and food retailer headquartered in the city of Westminster, London, United Kingdom.
It has more than 700 outlets located all over the United Kingdom while 300+ stores are coated all over the world. Most of them are located in the European countries, like Hungary, Greece, Czech Republic and Romania etc. Marks & Spencer is also trying to expand in the Asian markets with quite a few stores opening in India and China recently. Michael Marks and Thomas Spencer founded M in the year 1884 in a city of England, Leeds.
According to BBC news, Marks and Spencer is doing better in their food department as compared to their general merchandise as the turnover is split in 54% and 46% respectively. Marks and Spencer aims to provide a very high quality DOD to their customers, that is why, it is one of the most successful food retailers in the United Kingdom. The well known brands, which sell their products with the brand name M are Autograph, Indigo collection, Classic collection, Collection and lastly blue harbor. 1. INTRODUCTION TO PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: Performance appraisal or performance review is an analysis of an employee's work habits undertaken at a fixed point in time to determine the degree to which stated objectives and expectations have been reached. Performance appraisal or review is very beneficial and important for the evaluation of the staff and of course for the effective management. Appraisals are of great help regarding organization's employee and also play a vital role in improving organizational performances.
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Formal performance appraisals are conducted every year normally in the last half of the year to review how the organization is performing and what strategies should be undertaken to improve the organizations performance. It is a straight line process for example the staff is appraised by their managers, the managers are appraised by the directors, and the directors are appraised by the Coo's who are generally appraised by the founder or the chairman of the company. 2. 1 TYPES OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: The different types of performance appraisals are formal annual performance appraisals, handwriting analysis, skill or Job related tests, informal one to one review discussions, probationary reviews, survey of opinion of others who have been dealing with the staff, counseling meetings, observation on the Job and assessment centers including observed group exercises and test presentations. 1. 2. PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL PROCESS: Performance appraisal is a process which takes place quarterly or yearly and is the process of interaction between the employees and their managers. In this process the performance of the employee is assessed, with the manager telling or describing the employees their weaknesses and strengths and also identifying the opportunities that how can the employee improve their performance within the organization. Performance appraisal is the least liked responsibility any manager has to perform.
The first step which comes in performance appraisal is review preparation. In this process the manager makes the objectives that the organization wants to meet in the future. An analysis of the employees is then taken out because employees or individuals must know what the organization is expecting from them and how they can work to achieve the objectives stated by the firm. Step two in performance appraisal is the assessment. This step is all about giving the timely feedback as it has proved to be very beneficial for the organization.
For instance if an employee works well to achieve an objective, the positive feedback should be given to them as soon as possible rather than waiting for weeks to let them know as it might have a negative effect on their confidence as well as performance level. Step three is reviewing communication. This is all about reviewing the past and the current performance of the employee and if the performance is not up to the mark the manager should politely explain them that what should be done to improve their performance. Step four in the process is appropriate setting.
Make sure that the atmosphere where the manager is going to deliver the appraisal is very friendly and welcoming. No threats should be given to the employee as this might De-motivate them and as a result they may not be able to perform 100%. Step five in the process is delivering, for instance it Leary explains the appraisal in simple language as the usage of the code words or difficult words might make it difficult for them (staff or employee) to understand it properly and they may have confusion which might proved to be harmful for the employee and also for the organization.
The final step in this process is encouragement. At the end of the process the manager's responsibility is to encourage the employee and boost their confidence by adding words like we have faith in you or we trust your abilities or you are capable. CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2. 0 INTRODUCTION In this chapter the past and the current strategies of Marks & Spencer will be discussed and in the end of this chapter we will also give a brief explanation about how employer can improve their Performance appraisal (PA) process.
There will also be discussions on the employees and the manager roles that how can they contribute for a better service and reputation of the organization. First of all we will talk about the staff management strategies of Marks & Spencer for instance, how they benefited from those strategies, what were the drawbacks of those strategies and what did Marks & Spencer did to solve those issues or problems arising by implementing those strategies.
Performance appraisal helps in evaluating the employee's performance as it gives a clear light on how an employee can improve their performance and skills. However, performance appraisal in depth will be discussed this chapter. 2. 1 THE EVOLUTION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: Sometime near World War 1, (WAD Scott) has the credit to present the world with what performance appraisal is. However, performance appraisal was known by the mid asses and became very popular in the organization or companies.
McGregor (1957) also played a vital role in discussing about performance appraisal in sass's and ass's. It's a process by which the individual tries to look in the future with some valuable assumptions and to plan what should be done in the future to meet their goals. Performance appraisal helps in goal setting. In the year 1970, this process of performance appraisal became more widespread and many of the firms started using this process in order to gain success however, by practicing this process a large number of legal cases were brought.
In the years sass's and sass's the process of performance appraisal became very popular and according to Williams (1998) it improved the performance up to a certain extent and also generated motivation which is very useful for an organization. According to Fletcher (2008), performance appraisal is conducted differently in the Western and the Asian cultures however; both of these cultures use this process and are benefiting from it despite the fact that around 90% or more staff doesn't like this process. 2. 2 WHY IS PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL SO NECESSARY?
Questions like why performance appraisal is used in companies when it did not exist in the past and the companies were still doing great? Why is it so important to use performance appraisal? Can't an organization run efficiently and effectively without the performance appraisal system? Weiss and Buckley (1998) tried to give an answer for this by stating that performance appraisal is very useful because it gives an idea to the employees how can they improve their performance and also this process helps in rising their commitment towards their organization.
There is great importance of performance appraisal within the firm. The organization whether small or big, private or government or any other type of firm should be exempt from having a formal performance appraisal (PA) program. PA process has benefits like improved immunization within the firm, addressing the problem and tries to resolve them through this process of PA and gives the employee confidence and boosts their morale.
However, while planning performance appraisal process the employer should bear in mind that it is a slow and time consuming process and there might be some obstacles during the process which for some time may make this process even slower than expected. We can see the companies who have introduced this process of performance appraisal are the ones who do the most business in their respected fields such as Ezra, Louis Button, Marks & Spencer, Gucci, Hugo Boss etc.
When employees know that they are an important part of an organization and all their suggestions or ideas are valuable they even work harder so that they can get promotions or there may be an increase in their salaries and this can only be done by performance appraisal process. PA process not only identifies the training needs within an organization or firm but also identifies the hidden talent which may have a very positive effect on the firm's reputation.
For instance if the staff is highly trained they are in a better position to deal with all their customers which plays a very positive role towards the success of an organization. . 3 PURPOSE OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL: The most effective purpose to use performance appraisal is to improve the performance of the employees who are working for an organization. There are two most important purposes for which the performance appraisal is used one of which is maintenance of organization control and secondly to measure the efficiency with which the company's human resources are being used. Cummings 1973) however, there are other purposes of performance appraisal as well for instance it helps in improving the morale of the employees working for the organization, more importantly also identifying when does the staff or employees need training, communication improvements, counseling and setting targets which the organization aims to meet (Britton and Gold 2003-04). As discussed above performance appraisal is used to determine the strengths and weaknesses off the employees and providing them with the best training in order for them to give their best at work.
However, by conducting the performance appraisal process both the organizations and the employees have advantages for example McGregor (1972) in his paper 'An uneasy look at performance appraisal' stated that performance appraisal meets the needs of OTOH the employees and the organization however, the difference is it meets three needs in total one for which is organization and the other two for the employees or the individual. Bowels and Coats (1993) conducted a survey which was sent to 250 West midland companies in the year 1992, where the organization were asked the question on the effectiveness of performance appraisal in the organization.
However, in the results they found out that the performance appraisal plays an effective role to improve the communication skills of the employees and also improves the communication between the employees and the employer which has many benefits costly in favor of the organization. On the other hand it was very useful for when and how the training is needed for a number of employees to improve their skills. However, around 90% of the employees did not favor the performance appraisal process and commented it has certainly no use and is time wasting.
Many organizations want to become the best in productivity or simply want to produce more and quality products so in order to achieve all of these objectives organizations choose and introduce performance appraisal process within the organization as this is the most successful way of achieving goals such as higher productivity or lean reduction. This process of performance appraisal gives a clear direction that where the organization is heading towards or what are the goals the organization or the firm.
As discussed before, it not only measures a firm's employee's performance but also gives a clear picture of an organization's performance. The example to illustrate this is performance appraisal measures the work done by the employees and also the organization on a weekly or quarterly basis. An organization can have all the information of their employees and their productivity by using this process. Another useful purpose of performance appraisal is that it gives a clear picture to the employees that where do they stand and what are they supposed to do in order to improve their skills and position within the organization.
This way the organization can have a full advantage of their work force because if their employees need training, they train them and as a result the work force becomes very useful and experienced which in the long run is very beneficial for the organization as well as the employees. 2. 4 BEHAVIOR MAINTENANCE MODEL (CUMMINGS AND SWABS): The IBM model which was presented by Cummings and Swabs attempts to show owe the employees are motivated and opt to perform well within the organization.
In their model they tried to explain the IBM model in four different steps. The first step in this model is goal aspirations which lead to goal attainment. When the goal attainment is achieved by the employee it gives them a sense of Job satisfaction and they become more focused on their Job and try to work even more hard. However, when the employee is satisfied with their Job they become automatically motivated towards their work which is very effective for the organization. 2. A BRIEF EXPLANATION OF PERFORMANCE APPRAISAL IN MARKS AND SPENCER: performance appraisal give Marks & Spencer all the required information about their employees as it helps M&S to help improve their skills through training and making sure that they are capable enough for the Job they are being trained for. As most of the big companies or retailers conduct performance appraisal once or twice every year, Marks & Spencer is also one of the British companies known for conducting performance appraisal twice every year.
In this process the employees get feedback from their managers about their performance and if the performance of the employees is not up to the mark they are suggested with different strategies to adopt n order to improve their performance as it is believed that the employees play the most important part in an organization's success and thus are the most important and effective assets of any organization like Marks & Spencer. The performance records are encouraged to use by the employees as it plays an important factor in setting up the personal objectives that support their continued development.
Whenever an appraisal system is carried out at Marks & Spencer (normally takes every 12 months to conduct an appraisal) discussions are being made about the current progress of the company as well as the employees and a lot of new ideas are narrated about how to improve the concerned areas within the organization. These meetings are always done by the managers who work in M regarding their employees and are kept confidential. If any of the employees or workers at M do not perform well they are given more training and make sure that they understand how the organization works and operates.
Rewards are given to the employees who prove that they are working best and the organization is benefiting from their efforts which are being put in. For instance in Marks and Spencer if the sales exceed the expected number or are higher than expected all the employees are given a bonus and also receive a bonus gift voucher of 20% which in fact plays a vital role in staff motivation. Also according to the research on motivation conducted by Frederic Taylor money is the only motivator and the only reason due to which the employees work hard to achieve their and the organization's objectives they work for.
According to Taylor "If the workers were paved per item made, they would want to make more and work harder. " Marks and Spencer uses Tailor's theory by providing their employees or staff with handsome salaries as they think to keep the staff motivated paying them with bonuses and retreating them with some discount cards would be beneficial for the organization and as the staff will put in their efforts to make M a success by providing their customers a better service and by creating a friendly atmosphere in the stores which obviously every customer likes.
On the other hand, M also uses Herbage's two factor theory by paying them with handsome salaries but more important to note according to Herbage's theory is that M make their employees feel special and important in the business as the upper management ask for suggestion from all the employees and also providing them with the best working environment to motivate hem.
As seen in the table below Marks and Spencer has got the highest reputation in the recent years as compared to their rivals such as Sad, tests, Morison, Ginsburg and Waitress and that's only done with the fair and proper selection of the employees for the Jobs through interviews and as well as the tests. By going through the process M&S makes sure that the right candidate is selected for the Job and the organization can benefit from them. 2. STRATEGIES THAT MARKS AND SPENCER USED IN THE PAST: Marks and Spencer in the past have tried a lot of strategies to improve their staff performance. The strategy which Marks and Spencer used in the past was to sell its products on discounted prices or higher sales which at one point gave rise to the sales but on the other hand when people realized the clothes designs are the same and not changing their sales fell dramatically. M&S did not emphasize on innovation but they tried to grab shopper's attention by advertising and give them great deals and high discounts on their products.
Another strategy that M favored was expansion overseas as the top management thought it's the biggest opportunity to expand abroad because in that way M&S will see a rise in their sales. The main focus f M&S was to target the European markets specially Germany because in the recent years the population of Germany increased from 65 million to 80 million and also is the biggest exporter after USA with a lot of potential and industrial strength.
However, firstly M&S planned to expand in Germany in the asses but later dropped this strategy because the property costs were too high at that time but the main reason to drop this strategy was the recession of the German economy in asses. However in the late in asses the market position of Germany looked attractive and impressive which therefore forced M&S to expand in to the German market. Marks and Spencer also played a vital role regarding waste as an estimate states that the waste all over the United Kingdom is around 400 tones which comes from different parts of the industry such as construction, households or discharged packaging.
The waste that comes out is not recycled properly and the result is landfill sites which takes many years to decompose and is also very harmful for the human health. However, the strategy that Marks and Spencer put emphasis on is that in the recent years 2010-2011 they have tried to achieve a recycle rate around 90% and also they have tried and achieved the reduction in waste by around 20%. Marks and Spencer in the year 2006-7 had 133 million clothes hangers and instead of throwing or recycling them the company used around 80% of the hangers again. 2. . 1 OPPORTUNITIES FOR IN THE GERMAN MARKET: M&S focused on expanding in the German market because the GAP of Germany is about three times higher than the United Kingdom with a staggering El 5000 billion. German consumer has a 50% higher expenditure than the Auk's market also 22% higher than France which is the second biggest market in the Europe. Inflation rate is under 2% in the Germany which attracted the Marks and Spencer management the cost to expand in the German market with expectation of higher sales which M was lacking in the United Kingdom.
According to the research conducted by the well known news channels CNN and BBC M had examined the customers need in Germany for instance what exactly did the customer want and catered accordingly. 2. 7 MARKS & SPENCER CURRENT STRATEGIES: The current aim of M is to become the world's most sustainable brand by the year 201 5 and for that they are following a plan called plan A. The plan A consist about many things about how to make world a better place to live with a few things which ops the list in plan A are cut carbon emissions, reduce waste and importance on health and well being.
As the world is getting more educated day by day which means people are aware of what should be done to make this planet a better place to live in and also become very conscious about environmental and also for the natural issues. This is the reason for which M&S launched plan A in the year 2010. The primary focus in this plan is to change the climate and also reducing the waste. 2. 8 EVALUATION: As discussed in this chapter that Performance appraisal is very useful for any type of organization but there are always some exceptions.
For example, if the managers fail to grade their staff according to their performance there are quite high chances that the company or the organization could land in hot water. So it is very important that the managers should not grade their employees on personal assessment but should only grade them according to their performance which would only help the firm to achieve success in the future. CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY 3. 0 INTRODUCTION: Methodology is a set of practice to regain information about something. In other rods it is a choice about what data and information to gather.
The information that will be obtained will also be used in the outcome and also be compared to the literature review In order to have an appropriate evaluation. One should keep in mind some factors when developing a successful methodology. I tried to contact the Marks and Spence's business and management analyst but it was too difficult to have a decent reply from them. Developing a methodology is not at all an easy task and requires different types of techniques and hard work in order to gather some useful information. 3. 1 TYPES OF DATA COLLECTION:
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