Strategic performance management

Strategic performance management
Introduction
Every company and organization has goals that are set by the company policy makers within their working environment. The company is supposed to use the employees to attain these goals effectively and lead the company into making profits, which is the lead requirement of a profit oriented company. At all times the managers should ensure that the company’s activities are in line with the objectives that are set so as to attain the long term and short term goals.
There has been an international drive for the reform of the public industrial sectors that has focused on the evaluating of a company’s activities as a measurement of the goal attaining capacity so as to be in the interest of investors. (Zaffron et al 2009, ). For instance many of the local governments have taken a keen consideration on the evaluation of the delivery of the offices’ primary objectives as spelled out in the job descriptions of the various offices rather than focusing on the secondary objectives.
The continued complexity of the working and external market environment , as suggested by a number of literature resources has led to a lot of diversity the performance evaluation and hence makes a relationship between the strategic plans of any organizations and the steps they use in measuring the performance of their staff.
Apart from the management of how the normal daily activities are undertaken in the company, managers have additional tasks to ensure that the activities suffice to be solutions to what the company is hoping to solve for its clients and customers. This is where performance management comes in. Performance management is a collection of activities and tools that are used by managers to make sure that the objectives of a given organization are constantly being towed to by the employees and that the production activities are directly related to the set strategic plans of the organization. The activities do not only insist on the attainment of objectives but also in an efficient and effective manner as to give weight on the importance.
Performance management can be deployed in various areas of an organization with no limits as to the areas that cannot be assed. Such area include the entire organization, a single department, a single employee or a single process in the product production activity. Performance management skills involve having the tools and the ability to implement strategies and deliver exemplary performance of staff in a better way within the organization
There are a number of tools that can be applied in performance management that help in guiding the course of the evaluation. For instance, success mapping helps the organization in clarifying its objectives and gaining continuous commitment to attain these objectives. He correct use of performance review tools such as feedback capturing processes, action prioritization and strategy challenge are among the top considerations.
The objective of this report is therefore to produce a strategic performance evaluation result of the company that is involved in this study, Ooredoo in Kuwait which is a telecommunication company in Kuwait. The report will focus on the company’s ability to undertake the various performance management activities and also evaluate the current situation in the company concerning performance evaluation.
The report will provide the results of the performance management analysis alongside a discussion on the same throughout the body o the script. This will encompass a discussion on how the company is ensuring the effectiveness of their activities and the relevance to the set objectives and goals.
Oredoo in Kuwait – about the company
The Ooredoo Group of companies that was formally known as the Qatar Telecommunications of Qtel was started early in the year 1949 and has traded in various names especially after its expansion when its monopoly was lifted by the Oman in Qatar. The company has grown wide in its acquisitions that spread across the Palestinian territories, Qatar, Tunisia, and Maldives among other Middle Eastern countries.
The company has since become a wide provider of varied mobile services, including wireless mobile services, content provision services. Ooredoo currently commands a wide range of share in both the domestic and international telecommunication markets within and without the formal territory and in the business and residential mobile telephony markets.
In the year 1999 the Ooredoo grouped did the first commercial launch as a privately owned company in Kuwait. In 2007 the company acquired shares in the Wataniya Telecom company with a percentage of 51% and on a later date persuaded the shareholders at Wataniya Telecom taking their share holding all the way to 92.1% when the company’s name was changed from Wataniya to Ooredoo.
The company is committed to the provision of mobile, broadband internet as well as corporate managed services that they have tailored to the needs of customers and businesses that are loyal to their services. The company is guided by its vision that is aimed at enriching the lives of the Kuwait community and its belief that it is able to stimulate human growth by leveraging communications in order to assist people achieve their full potential in various sectors including business, entrepreneurship among other areas of need.(Ooredoo Website)
In a bid to ensure that they have the right people on board, the company employs passionate and forward thinking personnel in its management and production services, This is to ensure that the company produces measurable services that surpass those of their competitors who are Vodafone, Zain and Saudi Telecom Company. Moreover since the company has acquisitions in many countries, in the year 2014, the company took an initiative to equip five of its employees with international qualifications of Certification in Human Resources Practice (“CHRP”) from the British Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (“CIPD”) in order to serve the company better and enhance the attainment of its objectives. The study of the five employees is expected to be complete by the end of the year 2014.
In the foregoing study, the company will be evaluated using the performance analysis management and feasibility questionnaire which was administered to the employees of the company to help in collecting information regarding the objectiveness of each activity in the company and additional information on the personal view of the employees and top managers of the company at various levels of job description.
Performance management feasibility study
The feasibility study was undertaken and a number of results were generated concerning the company’s administration as far as performance management is concerned. The employees were asked various questions concerning their relationship with the management and whether there was proper administration of the performance evaluation and actions being taken by the management.
Firstly there was the need to know if a performance management system was in place in the company and the outcome was that the company had established a team of experts to engage in making sure that all the activities of the company are objective driven. The next step was to inquire if the system is doing its work efficiently in measuring employee effectiveness or performance. It was evident that in spite the establishment of the department, there was still laxity in the commitment of the system in attaining its functions. According to P. Rausch, A. Sheta, A. Ayesh (Eds.)(2013), the major function of a performance management system is to provide employees with sufficient support that they need in order to accomplish the objectives of the company. This is what determines their overall efficiency. Inadequate direction leads to more problems such as change of focus of an employee.
As suggested by most of the staff, the organization is stable and there is proper coordination of activities going through the organization. To some extent, the company had sectioned the departments and each department given a set of objectives to deliver to the company in a specified period of time. The stability of the company is its ability to sustain a continuous flow of service and product provision while maintaining or increasing its number of customers in its business niche.
Employee performance is directly affected by the working environment and their ability to use the available resources in performing assigned tasks that eventually lead to the attainment of objectives of the company. A stable working environment is that which provides the necessary resources to perform set job description without intervention of difficulties regarding resource allocation.
Usually in a company that has the performance management system initiated, the analysis of employee performance should be a periodical exercise that is supposed t o be used to find the trends in the company’s ability to satisfy the customers as well as make the investors and share holders happy. In the company that we are studying, there is no set times and dates when there should be a performance management improvement.
Like discussed in the introduction, performance management can mean a collection of tools that are used in employee evaluation. These tools vary according to the level and scope of performance management that is to be undertaken by a given organization on its employees and departments. Ooredoo has equipped the performance management system with various equipments and materials that enable them to carry out the analysis if the staff performance.
The role of the management in the improvement of the performance management projects are well defined as the spear heading of the process and helping in reference to the objectives of the company. The management at Ooredoo is actively involved in improving the effectiveness of the performance management department of the company.
Most of the Ooredoo employees were taken from the initial Wataniya telecom company, who also had a similar system that involved the evaluation of employee performance. Therefore a number of them already had an exposure to the performance management tests and strategies that were used in the initial company. The pre-exposure to such a system, as indicated by the few gave them easy work and confidence when facing performance evaluation panels.
The company has well organized informational team that constitutes marketing team and public relations team. Both the teams work hand in hand to assist the internal employees to know the current status of the company as perceived in the outside by the consumer and other competitors. For this reason, all the employees aware of the company’s position and strategies that are set and the requirement for the attainment of the goals.
As stated in their “about us” statement, the company is driven by their mission and objectives. The objectives are encompassed in their strategic plans that are subdivided into smaller sections that are given to specific departments to administer. The goals and the strategies guide the operations of the company in a direction relevant to their business environment and geared towards profit generation.
Thomas, William and Carl (2005) in their handbook of performance management indicate that the exists a close relationship between the business processes a company can be involved in and the structure of the organization. The structure here refers to the modeled way of doing things within the environs of the company. The employee at Ooredoo has a somewhat similar operation where each of them recognizes this relationship and its significance in attaining their set goals and objectives.
Finally in the feasibility analysis of the company is the communication flow in the company. The company has a clear set of structures that determine what employee reports to which one. This ensures a smooth and flawless top to bottom and bottom up communication reliability that aids in collaboration and performance assessment in the long run.
Discussion from the foregoing analysis
Although there are various performance measurement analysis systems and procedures that are available in the market, a company like Oooregon may decide to develop their own model of the performance evaluation that they thing is more relevant and reliable to them. The basis of this need is that companies in the same niche may not have similar objectives, a factor which creates a difference between a successful company and an unsuccessful one. In most cases, the owners or the policy makers use various standards in the evaluations such as education, experience and knowledge of business tasks and processes.
The process of performance management encompasses both qualitative and quantitative analysis both of which are important when arriving at the final deductions about the performance of the employees. For instance, the quantitative analysis may involve the use of the balance score cards which is a strategic performance assessment system in which the owners or managers of a given organization outline their financial objectives, business activities, customer satisfaction levels, and company growth perspectives. The results of this analysis are used by the policy makers to shape the operations of the company and improve output and performance.
When the company would like to know the amount of expenditure that incur on the activities of the business, they will undertake an activity based costing that will give a clear picture of the expenditure model in the company. Activity based costing helps the organization to know the relevance of each of its product lines or departments as a contribution to the profit making. At Ooredoo, there exist many product lines that range from intangible services to tangible products such as smart phones. Each of the product lines can be evaluated in terms of revenues and expenditures and the statistics recorded for a given period of time to give the trend of operation. In normal conditions, a company is supposed to experience an upward mobility in the revenue generations from various product lines. In Ooredoo for instance, the line of smart phone and mobile phone sales should be able to produce stand alone revenue that does not depend on another services that is offered by the company.
Companies like Ooredoo that offer services to customers have a high responsibility of ensuring that they develop a reliable customer services as well as perfect consumer products. This is where total quality management as a performance management system scope takes a lead. This focuses performance management of product quality and the level of customer services offered by the company.
Graphical analysis of the survey questions
The survey questions that were administered can be divided into different themes and the results summarized per theme as shown below in a nut shell, a many of the surveyed employees rated their performance management systems as average with high interest of the management in the results of the performance.
i) Rating of the Performance management system

ii) Overall evaluation of theme groups of the survey questions

Determination of a performance improvement zone
An organization may not be perfect in their achievement of their goals. At any one time one or more objectives go unmet due to a number of circumstances. The function of the performance management system is to determine areas or departments win which some objectives were not met in order to initiate the corrective measures in the following period of financial analysis.
This brings us to the thought that the determination of the appropriate performance improvement zones in an organization is done by the comparison between the desired outcomes and the actual outcomes of a business period. This comparison will easily identify weak points in the organization and hence point out to areas that need performance improvement. This further outlines the structure of performance management as a cycle that surrounds the activities of the organization. The cycle consists of: performance planning, where the actual goals and objectives are established as well as their key indicators. Depending on the attained performance levels, the managers give a appropriate feedback and perform adjustments, a process called performance coaching and finally performance appraisal in which the overall performance is documented and feedback delivered.
Should there be a gap or discrepancy between the desired results and the actual outcomes, a performance problem is said to exist and thus calling for appropriate performance adjustment policies and strategies.
Causes of the performance problem
Erica Olsen indicates that many organizations, even those that have well set objectives and strategic rules fail to attain or implement their strategies. She says that the problem does not lie with the objectives but rather the ineffectiveness in employee management and the direction of the employees towards the achievement of the goals. This flaw happens even after such companies have spent a lot in data collection, analysis and even acquisition of expensive performance management software.
Another cause of failure in spite all the resources is the failure to determine the appropriate performance management cycle. The cycles are of three different types, which can be chosen by an organization depending on its ability to fund and carry out. There is the long-cycle which is carried out after one year, very ideal for very large companies that compile their appraisals annually. The other is short-cycle which can be done in a few months, or weeks. Micro performance management is administered where there is need and can be done any time.

Recommendations to Ooradoo Telecommunications and other companies
The process of performance management is a crucial at the same time complex process that needs expert skill in detecting, correcting or adjusting performance scale. The company is to be able to maintain a specific pace of development in order to satisfy their consumers at the same time making sure that the share holders are satisfied with the progress of the company. For this reason, Ooredoo and other companies may find the following recommendations useful in offering performance management appropriately to their employees to ensure that company objectives are met in an efficient way.
a) Choice of short-cycle performance management system.
– Performance is a fluctuating variable of the employee sector that is affected by several factors that include working conditions, personality, coping capability of new employees and even the level of motivation. In order to get the clear picture and notice the areas of improvement, periodical check up on the level of performance is necessary and the best choice would be short cycle as the micro one will be too pressing on the employees.
b) Customer assessment.
– Performance is a direct factor affecting customer satisfaction and a reliable way to evaluate it is the collection of customer feedback concerning the various services of the company, where the statistics can then be compiled for different product lines hence departments and thus detecting the appropriate areas of improvement.
c) Motivation on good performance.
– Each and every employee likes to be appreciated. This is to call upon the companies to issue appreciation for improvement in performance such as promotions, increase in allowances or salary increase. This will further act as an adjustment policy that will make employees work hard.
Conclusion
In conclusion, this paper has in the forgoing discussion proved that performance evaluation is an important determinant in the success of an organization with a close consideration to Ooregoo, a telecommunication company in Kuwait. When done in the right way, it periodically assess the levels, and appropriate actions taken to adjust and recommend changes, performance management is a key contributor to the meeting of the strategic goals of a company.
Bibliography
Olsen, Erica. “Performance management”. M3 Planning. http://mystrategicplan.com/resources/section/glossary/ Reteirved 17th December 2014
Zaffron, Logan, Steve, David (Feb 2009). Performance Management: The Three Laws of Performance: Rewriting the Future of Your Organization and Your Life (1st ed.).
Oredoo Official Website “Company overview” http://www.ooredoo.com.kw/en/About-Us/CompanyOverview Retrieved 17th December 2014.
Nielsen, Poul A. 2013. Performance Management, Managerial Authority, and Public Service Performance. Journal of Public Administration Research and Theory. Published electronically on June 2. doi:10.1093/jopart/mut025.
Thomas C. Mawhinney, William K. Redmon & Carl Merle Johnson.(2001) Handbook of Organizational Performance, Routledge.
P. Rausch, A. Sheta, A. Ayesh (Eds.)(2013) “Business Intelligence and Performance Management: Theory, Systems, and Industrial Applications,” Springer Verlag U.K., 2013, ISBN 978-1-4471-4865-4.