Managing Poor Performers

Managing Poor Performers

Introduction

Effective management is accomplished through the four functions of management; planning, organizing, leading and controlling. Managers should apply the four functions pertaining to staffing, physical resources and information technology. These four functions of management impact the operations management theory which deals with the entire operations within an organization. (ACOST, 2000, 78)

Planning is selecting priorities, results, goals and objectives and how these results will be achieved. Planning typically includes identifying the goals, objectives and methods that are needed to be carried out. This step decides what has to happen in the future, then generates the most suitable action plan. Management needs to first decide the resources that are needed to ensure the objectives are met. Planning can be the most difficult step, but in the end can save time and money. Some examples of planning include project planning, staff planning, advertising, promotions and business planning. (Sandra, 2000, 167)

Organizing consists of distributing and configuring resources to accomplish the goals and objectives that were established in the planning process. In this process organizational charts or other various methods may be used to outline the practical responsibilities and a drawing of the resources needed. Organizing makes the best use of the available resources required to successfully carry out the plans. Management monitors and oversees the progress of each functional group and the allocated tasks. Example of organizing include; organizing work spaces, staffing and processes within the organization. (Ang, 1991, 13)

Leading consists of establishing command and influencing people to follow and pursue the decided direction by the manager. The manager will determine and track the functional teams and ensure his or her tasks have been carried out with accordance to the organizational goals. Within the leading role, management must necessitate the skills to motivate their employees and encourage high- performance. (Sitarz, 2002, 174)

This is the coordinating, monitoring and adjusting the resources and processes to achieve the set goals and objectives in an operational and professional manner. Managers will track to ensure the necessary tasks have been implemented in accordance to the organizational goals. They also need to communicate with all employees the goals and strategies of the organization in order to keep them motivated and focused. (Bank of England, 2004, 25)

Operations management deals with all the operations within an organization. The management includes a wide range of action and involves; quality control, logistic, evaluation, managing purchases, inventory control, product design and production control. Operations management is defined as the management system or processes that create good and /or provide service. It implements the policies and tasks needed to meet an organizations customers, employees, and management (Dictionary). (Birley, 1999, 107)

In order for an organization to be successful it must focus on the outcome, depending on the service provided and the product, it can largely vary. In healthcare, for example the product is the patient, making this service available in the market should be affordable and with high quality and high standards, this will win over patients. Primarily the organization should work towards designing ...