Theme 1: Job Performance: What is it and what is considered good job performance?
We start our discussion this week with job performance. Understanding our own performance behavior is important to every employee and understanding the performance of an employee within their unit or division is critical for managerial success.
Job Performance is formally defined as the value of the set of employee behaviors that contribute either positively or negatively to organizational goal accomplishment (Coquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2013). Defining good and bad performance this way suggest behaviors in the workplace that are within employee control while defining those that are not acceptable. For example, if you were a waiter at a restaurant that prides itself on service and you texted your boyfriend during your break that behavior is not relevant to job performance. However, if you were texting in the kitchen resulting in the delay of food going to the customer’s table the behavior would be performance-related (Coquitt, Lepine & Wesson, 2013).
This week we examine job performance behaviors and what constitutes good job performance. Generally, relevant job performance behaviors fall into two categories: task and contextual performance. Task performance is easily observed and measured. Contextual performance, however, involves the citizenship behavior which contributes to the success of an organization positively and counterproductive behavior which affects the organization negatively. Reflected on one’s attitude, it is a qualitative component of behavior that is more difficult to assess and measure. It influences the engagement and performance of others and impacts that of the organization as a whole. Identifying both task and contextual performance behaviors, and their relevance to organizational effectiveness, explains why job performance is considered one of the major outcomes in the study of organizational behavior.
Several of the most popular tools used by management to collect relevant performance information are Management by Objectives, behaviorally anchored rating scales, 360-degree feedback, forced ranking, and social networking.
Theme 2: What is Organizational Commitment and how does it relate to employee behavior?
Employee commitment is the bond employees experience with their organization. Employees who are committed to their organization feel they fit in and understand the goals of the organization (Hoek, 2016). The value of these employees is that they tend to be more determined in their work, show relatively high productivity, and are proactive in offering their support to organizational endeavors.
The importance of employee commitment to a successful organization is increasing all the time. The pressure that globalization and disruptive technology has placed upon the organization and employee has resulted in fierce competition for customers and talented employees (Hoek, 2016). Notions of employers having lifetime employees and employees who want to stay with a company a lifetime has become outdated.
In addition to the increased competition in the global environment, employees have a stronger sense of individualism. Employees want to look at themselves as an individual within the organization rather than subordinate to the organization (Hoek, 2016). Hence, the once expected commitment to the organization is much less of a certainty and makes a committed employee even more important.
This theme examines the importance of committed employees to an organization’s success, the types of employee commitment, and the difference between employee commitment and engagement.
Beyond being supportive of the workforce, companies can create activities that seek to focus on the three areas of commitment, affective, continuance, and normative. Affective commitment is when the employee wants to stay. Companies like Ben and Jerry hold monthly “joy events. During these events work to stop, and the staff holds parties, contests, games, etc.”. Monsanto has people teams that put together employee-bonding activities like “snowshoe softball”. Leaders suggest this why they have a voluntary turnover rate of only 3 percent (Colquitt, LePine & Wesson, 2013, p.80).
On the continuance commitment front creating a salary and benefits package that makes people financially compelled to stay is a priority. Continuance commitment is when an employee needs to stay. Studies suggest that pay level and benefits are the strongest predictors of voluntary commitment coming in close is advancement (Colquitt, LePine & Wesson, 2013, p.81).
In the case of normative commitment, or when an employee ought to stay, an employer who provides training and encourages personal development opportunities creates a sense of fealty among employees. For example, IBM keeps a data bank of employee skills and uses half of its training budget to target individual employees for professional development (Colquitt, LePine & Wesson, 2013, p.83).
Reading:
https://bizfluent.com/info-7856570-definition-job-performance.html
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/global/Documents/About-Deloitte/central-europe/ce-global-human-capital-trends.pdf
https://learn.umgc.edu/content/enforced/500603-M_001135-01-2205/1-Gen%20Z%20Engagement%20Paradox%20at%20Work.pdf?_&d2lSessionVal=zEJeFldprRd3mUXNGAQz98WUW
Sonnentag, S. & Frese, M. (2002) Chapter 1: Performance Concepts and Performance Theory. In Psychological Management of Individual Performance. Edited by Sabine Sonnentag. 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/291062476_Performance_Concepts_and_Performance_Theory
https://www.effectory.com/knowledge/what-is-employee-commitment/
Keeping Job Performance and Commitment High
The CEO wants you to understand that as a new hire, your major concern amidst Virginia Meats’ (VMI) changes is how you might keep job performance and commitment to the company running smoothly. Using the same Memo Format as in Week 1, answer the follow-up questions for the CEO.
Directions:
1. By SATURDAY, complete the following:
- Explain your understanding as to what job performance is and why it is important to a sustainable organization.
- Given your knowledge of the company history and current status from the company profile, identify three areas that the future of the workplace might pose as challenging for keeping the organization moving efficiently.
- Explain your understanding as to what job commitment is and why it is important to a sustainable organization.
- Given your knowledge of the company history and current status from the company profile, identify three areas that the future of the workplace might pose as challenging for keeping employees at VMI. (Be sure to address in detail other examples of employee commitment besides retention.)
- Discuss how your role as manager relates to job performance and job commitment. How will this role be challenged in the future workplace? Give three examples.
- You must use course material to support your responses and APA in-text citations with a reference list.
