Sustaining Employee Performance
Baderman Island has been dedicated to providing guests and visitors with unique and great experiences since opening to the public in 2004. “The Board of Directors and operational leaders in the organization, empowers its staff to offer unsurpassed quality of customer service, through individual acts of random kindness and specialty services” (University of Phoenix, 2012).
Exceptional customer service is a top priority of the management and staff at Baderman Island. The resort offers numerous accommodations at prices that are affordable for every budget. Each individual position within this company adds value to the organization as a whole. Of particular interest the visitor center supervisor and wait staff have important duties to customers and the organization. The visitor center supervisor reports to the General Manager of recreation and activities and is responsible overseeing the daily functions of the visitor center.
In addition to daily functions the supervisor must manage all staff members within the visitor center. In conjunction with the general manager the supervisor works of profitability and growth for the organization. The general manager of food services is responsible of the wait staff at all restaurants within the resort. Wait staff are essential employees in ensuring visitors and guests have great experiences in restaurants which will keep them coming back. With such vital roles in the success of the organization it is important to have a performance management system in place.
In addition to competitive compensation and benefit plans; establishing a performance management system that efficiently evaluates each job is beneficial to a company. General Function of Performance Management Systems Boardman Management group manages resort with a mission statement to provide a unique and quality experience for their guests. In an effort to ensure that all employees provide service to their guests aligned with this mission it is critical to implement a performance management system to measure employee skills in providing a unique and quality experience to their guests.
By implementing the function of performance management systems each employee will be objectively rated on their job performance that aligns with the overall mission. When guests first enter a Boardman Management group resort their first impression is given by the visitor center. As a supervisor of the staff that gives the first impression performance management systems need to focus on the customer service provided by the staff. If there is not a performance management system there will not be accountability to the supervisor of the staff providing the initial impression for the guests.
To implement a performance management function there will be a survey given to guests upon their departure with one of the questions focused on their initial impression how they were greeted when they arrived. These surveys will be used to measure the performance of the supervisor in charge of staff of the visitor center. After the guests have arrived there needs to be a focus on quality customer service throughout the stay. When guests dine at the resort the wait staff needs to provide first class service ensuring the guests stay on site for their meals rather than leaving the resort to dine at establishments outside of the resort.
To ensure that the guests have a positive experience while dining in the resort performance management systems need to be implemented measuring the performance of the wait staff. As a way to measure, the resort will track and record who was the waiter for a specific party, and record if they return to the resort restaurants in proceeding days. Since there are other factors that could contribute to guests eating outside the resort the metrics need to be assessed looking at long term trends to fairly measure the success of the wait staff.
Compare and Contrast Compensation Plans At Baderman Island our employees are very important to the company. The visitor’s center supervisor and wait staff are both a very important addition to the resort. All employees are offered an exceptional benefits package. Pay scales are determined based upon the job title with additional contributing factors such as experience and skills. The visitor’s center supervisor is a salary job which scale depends on the person’s amount of education, years of experience, qualification and credentials required for the job.
For the wait staff an hourly pay rate depends on their experience and starts at $2. 13 and goes up to $5. 75 an hour. A benefit package will also be included affordable medical including vision, dental and optional cancer. There will also be paid vacations, sick leave with pay, and maternity programs with onsite daycare provided. A 401K plan will be offered with matching $50 to every five dollars that it put into the plan by the employee. All of the benefits will be offered to all employees here at Baderman Island. Job Evaluation Plans
The evaluation plans most effective for the Visitor’s Center Supervisor would be the appraisal method of behaviorally anchored rating scale and relative standards method of individual ranking. These two are best suited for this position due to collecting the proper data on each job position. The advantage of behaviorally anchored rating scale and relative standards methods of individual ranking is that they can allow for ongoing feedback, combines absolute and relative standards when evaluating the employee, and uses peer evaluation to gather feedback on their coworkers to allow for a better performance assessment.
As for the disadvantages of this evaluation would be similarity errors, low appraiser motivations, central tendency, and inflationary pressures. These can give false statements to the evaluation methods about the employee and can harm their potential growth within the organization. The evaluation method that would be most effective for wait staff would be relative standards method of group order ranking and graphic rating scale.
These two evaluation methods are a great way to evaluate employee wait staff due to amount of employees hired into this position and the turnover rate. The advantages and disadvantages of these two evaluation methods are the same as visitor centers supervisor position. But they also have a leniency error since they will evaluate their own performance before a supervisor evaluates them. Another is called the halo error by either being evaluated either very high or very low on all factors based on one or two traits the employee has shown while being employed.
Also another disadvantage would be low appraiser motivation and how if the appraiser is not motivated or having a bad day it could show an outcome that is not favorable to the employee. Importance of Benefit Plans Employee benefit plans play a vital part in the success of an organization like Baderman Island. Benefit plans show employees that you respect what they do, care about their health, want to retain their services for a long period of time, and that the company can stay competitive with what other companies like them have to offer.
Good benefits for employees build positive working relationships between employees and their employer. They also help boost employee morale, productivity, and motivation. Employees want to make sure their families can see a doctor when they need to, be assured they will be taken care of in the event of their death, maintain some economic security when they are not able to work, and that they can occasionally take time off of work to enjoy themselves. As the Boardman organization expands employee benefit plans like these will be an attraction for recruiting new employees.
As for the employees Baderman Island employs, the company needs to make sure they offer the best benefit plans possible. A visitor’s center supervisor and a member of the wait staff are important positions within the Baderman Company. A visitor’s center supervisor’s job is to make sure the guest coming in the doors want to come visit again and the wait staff make sure that guest have the best experience while they are staying at Baderman Island. Their jobs require them to attentive, informed, and punctual at all times no matter the situation.
The organizations success depends on these individuals and because of that they must make sure that they reward them by offering them a great benefits plan that demonstrates their importance. Baderman Island strives to be the premier resort for travelers and visitors. Employees are valued members of the organization and their responsibilities help with the success of the company. For this reason we offer competitive compensation and benefits packages to our employees. The use of performance management systems ensures that we are able to monitor employee performance and make any improvements when needed.
Evaluation methods are implemented specific to each position allowing leaders an opportunity to effectively evaluate employee’s performance and provide feedback. Attracting and retaining employees is a top priority at Baderman which is made evident by the many attributes this company has to offer.
References
- DeCenzo, D. , & Robbins, S. (2007). Fundamentals of human resource management (9th ed. ).
- Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons. University of Phoenix. (2012). Virtual Organizations-Baderman Island. Retrieved from University of Phoenix, HRM/300-Fundamentals of Human Resources website.
