Abu Dhabi Health Authority, also referred to HAAD (Health Authority – Abu Dhabi), aims to regulate health practices in Abu Dhabi. The HAAD official web page states that HAAD also has to ensure that proper, affordable and high-quality health care for all citizens of the Emirates region of Abu Dhabi. In order to achieve this, the organisation has to craft and design a suitable strategy, or strategies. The company policy generally arises from the company’s mission and vision statements. Apart from these, the company also needs performance management systems that allow the managers to evaluate their projects. This essay discusses the contribution of performance management systems to achieve the overall organisational goals.
The performance management systems normally remind the staff of the things they are supposed to value. The measures take note of the company values, mission statement, vision and strategy in order to make a scale for the evaluation.
Goel (2008) defines performance management systems as ways of measuring and evaluating the successes and failures of an organisation. There are numerous ways of evaluating a company and its projects. In many organisations, this task is left to the monitoring and evaluating department. However, it suffices to mention that each department can and should, be measured from time to time.
The first way in which performance measurement systems help attain company goals is through enhancing employee performance. As mentioned, there are numerous ways of evaluating performance. Harvard Business School Press (2009) asserts that employees often reward their employees in order to motivate them to perform better. Performance measurement systems allow the employees to find out which employee worked best, in order to rightfully reward the involved. In addition to this, ensuring that performance management systems work efficiently and without bias allows the company to know which employees are dragging their feet. In turn, important decisions on hiring and firing can be made. Performance measurement systems also motivate the employees to work better.
For instance, if a company introduces a performance measurement technique, the employees will be somewhat forced to improve their performance levels. In fact, as Attorney (2007) observes, many employees are of the opinion that performance appraisals are meant to determine the people who will be fired. To some extent, the employees are scared of losing their jobs, so they work better. The hard and improved performance level help the company achieve some of its goals.
In addition to this, performance measurement systems also help the company in restricting their projects. There are performance measures that aim at checking the projects that have been done, the ones that have not been done and how successful or unsuccessful these projects were. For example, HAAD has invested in programmes that create and increase awareness and acceptance of healthy living standards among the citizens of Abu Dhabi. Such programmes can be evaluated using a series of monitoring and evaluation surveys. HAAD (n.d.) can then decide which programmes can be extended and which ones cannot because of failed strategies.
This also allows the organisation to decide on future strategies for the same programmes. For example, if the programme is creating awareness in schools, then HAAD would have to come up with strategies on rolling out the programme. During evaluation, the company will be in an enlightened position to pick out strategies that worked, and remove those that did not work. This would help shape up their strategies for similar programmes in the future.
In the same vein, performance measurement systems help a company achieve its organisational goals by reminding the stakeholders of what why they are working. Northouse (2010) confirms that losing focus on what is on the line can make the employees and the stakeholders, in general, relax. They will then lower their performance levels, in turn reducing profits. HAAD might not be looking to make profits; however, for the organisation to succeed in its projects, it has to have some resources.
Performance management systems also allow the managers in HAAD to recognize some of the essential skills that their employees need. For example, in HAAD the employees have to be computer literate, patient records are recorded in digital formats; thus, anyone who is not computer literate will slow down the pace. The company can find such loopholes from performance management systems. Ray and Chakraborty (2014) argue that these systems also allow the employees to make better suggestions during meetings. For example, employees that feel they do not have sufficient training in one field can suggest a training session for all employees in that section. The only way the company will know the advantage of such training is through a performance appraisal
It suffices to mention that many performance management systems crop up from the company strategy. As mentioned, in order attain successful management in any company, managers have to ensure that their mission, vision and company strategy are aligned. For example, the HAAD mission statement is to ensure reliable excellence in healthcare for the community (HAAD, n.d.). Its vision is to have a comprehensive health care system accessible to all citizens in Abu Dhabi, driven by excellence through continuous improvement.
From the two statements, one can already conclude that the company strategy will involve ways of increasing accessibility of quality healthcare to the citizens. In turn, this points out the goals of the company. For example, one goal is to ensure that all citizens get access to affordable and high-quality health care. Therefore, everything else comes up together to ensure that the goal is realized. Monitoring and evaluating performance allows the company to know exactly where they are in terms of achieving their objectives. Additionally, it gives a clear indication of what needs to be done and what has to stop in order to achieve the set objectives and influence the company strategy.
In conclusion, performance management systems offer a company several ways of bettering their services and products, while giving a clear roadmap on how far the company has progressed. The importance of performance management systems cannot be overstated. Managers have used it in the hiring and firing of staff, while the process gives staff motivation. For example, employees know that performance appraisals lead to rewarding. Many of the employees become competitive and increase their performance levels in order to be rewarded. Moreover, the employees that are not performing well are shunned as they reduce company profits. Needless to say, no one wants to be avoided in the workplace due to fear of losing their job. Performance management systems also help companies achieve their goals by fusing the vision, mission and business strategy together. The unity of these three crucial components of any organisation influences the types of decisions made as they influence the end game.
References
Attorney, D. (2007). Performance appraisal handbook. Berkeley, CA: NOLO. Web.
Goel, D. (2008). Performance appraisal and compensation management: A Modern approach. New Delhi, India: PHI. Web.
HAAD (n.d.). About HAAD. Web.
Harvard Business School Press (2009). Performance appraisal: Expert solutions to everyday challenges. Boston, MA: Harvard Business School Publishing. Web.
Northouse, P. G. (2010). Leadership: Theory and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. Web.
Ray, N., & Chakraborty, K. (2014). Handbook of research on strategic business infrastructure development and contemporary issues in finance. Hershey, PA: IGI. Web.