Research Apple and Well Fargo Performance Management (Essay Sample)

Apple and Well Fargo Performance Management
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Apple and Well Fargo Performance Management
Apple Inc. and Wells Fargo are some of the companies listed in the Fortune 500 companies due to their excellent performance management of employees through provision of internally and externally motivating management practices. These two companies have effective strategies for managing their human resources and retention of their employees. Performance management has become a very crucial aspect in managing capital where Apple and Wells Fargo have created platforms to ensure overall success of the organization. Indeed, these companies have established strategies that align individual performance to organizational objectives through ensuring that departmental, systems, workforce and financial structure supports their strategic objectives (Fortune, 2015). Performance management is ensured through planning, coaching and appraising employees in order to help an organization achieve their stated objectives. Nonetheless, Apple Inc. and Wells Fargo utilize different performance appraisal techniques in order to ensure that employees understand their position in the organization as it will be shown in this study
Apple Inc.
Apple Inc. unlike other companies does not encourage employees to take their responsibilities seriously in order to enhance their production, but encourages employees to work towards enhancing their own career development. This does not mean that the company has not implemented strategies to care for their employees, but has created a career-development program where employees are motivated to come up with innovative programs. Apples’ career management strategies have seen employees identify their skills and abilities that have made them ready for future career development opportunities. However, career development strategies at Apple Inc are not managed through leaving employees to use their skills and knowledge, but training sessions are implemented to ensure that employees acquire skills needed to enhance success of the company. Moreover, employees are not assigned to a certain manager where they have to report on their job progress, but are allowed to report to any line manager in order to ensure that all leaders are involved in innovation programs.
Different types of evaluation techniques utilized by Apple Inc
360 Degree Assessment
At Apple Inc., employees’ evaluation is done through an appraisal program that is on-going in that forward and backward feedback paths have been established. Moreover, appraisal program at Apple creates platforms for feedback process for both the employees and the leaders’ involved in the appraisal program to create opportunities for motivation, salary reviews, benefit programs reviews and personal counseling. Apple Inc employees are also accessed based on organizational objectives, results, and tasks that have been agreed by employees and all other leaders. This is to mean that employees’ production is accessed and appraised through a review of goals that were set prior to start of a certain projects and how the goals have been achieved. Moreover, Apple employees are evaluated and appraised according to good performance and the number of innovative ideas given by each employee (Baruch & Lambert, 2007). Such appraisal system at Apple allows the human resource department to identify various challenges faced by employees in addition to shortage of skills to enhance production.
Therefore, Apple considers employees personal and responsibilities in addition to expected performance standards, and then evaluates how the employees are performing and challenges being faced. In addition, Apple considers organizational objectives, workflows, and results achieved, and compare such measures with employees’ performance and required results in order to evaluate performance of employees. Upon considering such factors, Apple Inc leaders provide training sessions to enhance motivation and ensure performance standards are met. Nonetheless, Apple as earlier stated rewards employees based on their impacts and contribution to the company’s success.
Rating Scales
Apple Inc also evaluates employees’ performance through rating scales that allows leaders to evaluate employees’ specific job skills, teamwork, flexibility, reliability, and communication skills. Apple encourages their entire employee fraternity to develop better communication skills where employees are banned from using certain words like ‘problem’ instead of saying a ‘condition’. Leaders at Apple move round the organization in a bid to conduct surveys and seeking to understand employees how employees communicate with each other and methods of enhancing effective communication (Nair & Leng, 2012). Moreover, Apple evaluates specific skills possessed by employees and teamwork skills in order to implement an effective appraisal programs. This is to mean that rating skills at Apple are based on work responsibility. For instance sales personnel at Apple receive more benefits based on their communication skills while employees in the engineering department receive benefits based on their technical skills.
Rationale whether Apples’ evaluation techniques measure employee performances subjectively
Apparently, rating scale and 360 degree assessment are effective methods of evaluating employees since the company has been able to perform effectively. Ensuring that benefits to employees are not based group responsibility but personal career development has seen the company emerging successfully since employees work to enhance their skills and knowledge. Furthermore, these evaluation programs create feedback platforms that ensure employees do not perform duties blindly. This is the reason why Apple Inc has been able to remain one of the best performing companies across the world.
Wells Fargo
Wells Fargo is a diversified company offering financial services like banking, mortgage, investments and commercial finance. Wells Fargo values all employees just as their assets where they invest much in ensuring employees life succeeds in all aspects. Indeed, each employee at Wells Fargo has comprehensive set of benefits package that is designed to protect their financial health and enhance future success. Furthermore, Wells Fargo has established platforms that create effective communication strategies that ensure employees, leaders, and stakeholders consult with each when making certain decisions. Finally, Wells Fargo encourages all their sales personnel to satisfy all customers with exceptional services through provision of rewards for serving and attracting more customers.
Employee performance evaluation methods at Wells Fargo
Use of measurable goals
In essence, employees’ evaluation at Wells Fargo is through the assessment of the number of customers that have been served by employees since most of their operations involve serving customer. Therefore, employees’ performance is based on the number of customers that have been served in addition to consumers’ feedback on services provided (Pride et al. 2010). If an employee meets and exceeds their sales monthly, such employees receive some benefits to appreciate them for their good work. Nonetheless, employees who fail to meet their target and fail to provide efficient services to employees undergo more training to enhance their performance. Leaders and manager also evaluate employees based on their ability to provide honest services to customers and other employees across the organization.
Assessment of time management skills
Wells Fargo also evaluates their employees through assessment of how they organize the current workload to ensure that they meet deadlines. This is done through observing how employees serve customers within a certain period and whether sales target are met. In addition, managers in the organization evaluate their employees’ through checking whether they have logged on previous works with the aim of may be committing a fraud case (Rowley, 2003). Employers who log on previously works are perceived as poor time managers since they are mostly trying to finish some unfinished job responsibility. Understanding the time taken by employees’ to finish a task helps managers to develop timely goals and objectives
Rationale whether Wells Fargo’s evaluation techniques measure employee performance subjectively
Assessment of time management skills using measurable goals is an effective employee evaluation technique since it has seen Wells Fargo record higher profits. Setting measurable goals is an effective method of evaluating employee performance since it provides platforms for communicating to employees on various goals and objectives. Indeed, this is reason why Wells Fargo has been successful employees understand their roles and responsibilities in addition to planning on effective methods of meeting the goals. Managers at Wells Fargo push employees to excel through the named employee evaluation strategies, where the company has been able to maximize their profits and enhance skill development of employees for future prosperity. Therefore, time management skills and setting of measurable goals measures employee performance subjectively since managers can understand areas where employees face problem when working to achieve organization goals and objectives.
References
Baruch, Y., & Lambert, R. (2007). Organizational anxiety: applying psychological concepts into organizational theory. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 22(1), 84-99.