Chapter 6 Applied Performance Practices

Chapter Six: Applied Performance Practices Applied Performance Practices at PCL PCL Construction has a highly motivated workforce, driven by enriched jobs and rewards aligned with the company’s success. Alberta Meaning of Money at Work Multiple perceptions/emotions of money • Money ethic • Money as a tool or drug Gender differences –valued more by men • Men -- money is a symbol of power/status • Women -- money is instrumental (exchanged) Cultural differences . • High power distance— money has higher respect/priority • Nurturing cultures — less discussion/display of wealth • Cultural differences in value of saving vs. spending money Membership/Seniority Based Rewards Fixed wages, seniority-based rewards Advantages • May attract job applicants • Less financial insecurity • Less turnover with seniority Disadvantages • No performance motivation • Discourages poor performers from leaving • May act as golden handcuffs . Job Status-Based Rewards Includes job evaluation and status perks Advantages: • Job evaluation – more pay fairness, less pay discrimination • Motivates competition for promotions Disadvantages: • Encourages bureaucratic hierarchy • Reinforces status vs egalitarian culture • Employees exaggerate duties, hoard resources . Competency-Based Rewards Two types of competency rewards • Competency-based pay bands– acquiring/demonstrating competencies assigned to that pay group • Skill-based -- number of specific skill modules learned Advantages • Motivates learning new skills • Multi-skilled, flexible, adaptive employees • Higher product/service quality Disadvantages of competency-based pay • Over-designed (complex) • Potentially subjective • Higher training costs . Performance-based Rewards Individual rewards • Bonuses, piece rates, commissions Team rewards • Mostly bonuses, also gain-sharing plans Organizational rewards • Organizational bonuses, ESOPs, share options, profit-sharing Evaluating organizational rewards • ESOPs and share options create “ownership culture” • Profit sharing adjusts pay with firm's prosperity • Problem: organizational rewards have weak P-to-O link . Profit Sharing at Lee Valley Tools Ottawa-based Lee Valley Tools distributes 25 percent of its annual profits equally to its 850 employees. The profit-sharing plan is valued for aligning employee behaviour with the company’s success. . Improving Reward Effectiveness • • • • • . Link rewards to performance Ensure rewards are relevant Team rewards for interdependent jobs Ensure rewards are valued Beware of unintended consequences Job Design Assigning tasks to a job, including the interdependency of those tasks with other jobs Organization's goal – design jobs that can be performed efficiently yet employees are motivated and engaged . Job Specialization and Scientific Management Improves work efficiency • Less time changing activities • Jobs mastered quickly (fewer tasks to master, more frequent practice) • Better person-job matching Scientific management • Frederick Winslow Taylor championed specialization and standardization • Also popularized training, goal setting, incentives Job specialization problems • Low motivation • Absenteeism/turnover • Higher wages to offset tedium • Affects work quality . Job Characteristics Model . Increasing Task Significance at KPMG To increase task significance awareness among staff, KPMG produced a video documenting the professional services firm’s historic contributions to society. It also displayed posters in which employees explained how their jobs as auditors have had a positive impact on others. . Other Job Characteristics Social characteristics of the job • Task interdependence -social interaction with coworkers • Feedback from others -from coworkers, clients, etc. Information processing demands . • High task variability -- job has nonroutine work patterns • High task analyzability -- Job Rotation Moving from one job to another Benefits 1.More skill variety, may increase motivation and satisfaction 2.Minimizes repetitive strain injury 3.Workforce becomes multi-skilled . Job Enlargement Adding tasks to an existing job • Example: video journalist . Job Enrichment Giving employees more responsibility for scheduling, coordinating, and planning work 1. Natural grouping • Stitching highly interdependent tasks into one job • e.g., video journalist, assembling entire product 2. Establishing client relationships • Directly responsible for specific clients • Communicate directly with those clients . Dimensions of Empowerment Self-determination Employees believe they have freedom and discretion Competence Employees have feelings of self-efficacy . Meaning Employees believe their work is important Impact Employees believe their actions influence success Supporting Empowerment Individual factors • Possess required competencies, can perform the work, can handle decision making demands Job design factors • Autonomy, task identity, task significance, job feedback Organizational factors • Resources, learning orientation, trust . Self-Leadership The process of influencing oneself to establish the self-direction and selfmotivation needed to perform a task Includes concepts/practices from goal setting, social cognitive theory, and sports psychology . Elements of Self-leadership (1 of 2) 1.Personal Goal Setting • Set goals for your own work effort • Apply effective goal setting practices • Requires a high degree of self-awareness 2.Constructive Thought Patterns • Self-talk – increases self-efficacy • Mental imagery a) mentally practicing a task and anticipating obstacles b) visualizing successful task completion . Elements of Self-leadership (2 of 2) 3.Designing Natural Rewards • Finding ways to make the job more motivating 4.Self-Monitoring • Keeping track of one’s progress toward a selfset goal • Using naturally-occurring feedback • Designing feedback systems 5.Self-reinforcement • “Taking” a reinforcer only after completing a self-set goal . Predictors of Self-Leadership Individual factors • Higher levels of conscientiousness and extroversion • Positive self-evaluation (self-esteem, self-efficacy, internal locus) Organizational factors • Job autonomy • Participative and trustworthy leadership • Measurement-oriented culture .