Free Accounting Dissertations - Evaluation Of The Current Performance Measurement System Of Royal Mail And An Evaluation of the current performance measurement system of Royal Mail and a recommendation of how to improve its performance measurement.
Introduction
There is an old management adage ‘You can’t manage what you don’t measure’, which very simply puts into perspective the purpose, usefulness and importance of measuring performance in any organization. The origins of strategic performance management can be traced to the concept of management by objectives (MBO). Performance Management System (PMS) is a technique to establish individual performance objectives which are tangible, measurable and verifiable. It must be noted that Performance Management is more than a process involving objectives and reviews and appraisals and other mechanistic tools. The increasingly competitive and constantly changing economic environment firms find themselves tapping into this critical asset which is a key to achieving sustainable competitive advantage.
Performance measurement is a key function of the human resource (HR) function. With the HR function gaining strategic importance, the importance of establishing effective performance management systems has gained considerable importance. The following paper will analyse and critically evaluate the performance measurement systems at Royal Mail. It will also provide recommendations of how the performance measurement systems can be improved at Royal Mail.
The PMS focuses on the contribution which each individual makes to the work of the organisation/department and the emphasis is on management rather than appraisal - managing development and careers so as to improve the chances of achieving success. It is based on clearly identifying roles and the range of competencies. The system is designed to give each person: clarity in terms of role, objectives and career expectations control in terms of participation, development and results, and contribution in terms of the business plan and the part they play individually and as a member of a team.
According to Bevan and Thompson (1992) the features that distinguish PMS from any other system is the fact that the organisation’s visions and objectives are conveyed to all employees, not only departmental targets but individual targets are set as well, formal reviews of progress are conducted to achieve these targets, following the review training and development needs are identified and employees are encouraged to develop the needed skills and finally evaluation is carried out in terms of improving organisational effectiveness and supporting the use and value of human capabilities.
It would be important to highlight that the key elements and their respective purpose of performance management system is to have a have a process that establishes objectives that determine performance targets and goals. Secondly, it also requires organisations to se accurate measures of performance for achievement.
