If you have a manufacturing facility, it is important to appreciate that unexpected occurrences can happen, impacting staff physical and mental well-being. Because of this, managers adopt strategies meant to help employees improve the performance of their staff. Professionals in human resources management recommend staff motivation and HR development to boost the performance of employees in manufacturing.
Before you can get started with HR development or employee motivation, the first step is staff assessment. This is an evaluation of staff to establish their levels of performance and productivity. Managers use the evaluations to determine things such as promotion, compensation, performance improvement needs, and terminations. Keep reading to learn more about the main methods of staff performance assessment.
Management by Objective (MBO)
This is one of the commonest methods of assessing staff. It is used to help managers and their staff to organize, plan, and communicate the core objective of the assessment. Furthermore, the management and staff look at the progress for the use of the method and the ways of controlling the objectives.
As Iskander Makhmudov posits, this method of staff assessment is recommended when targeting to ensure that an organization’s mission and staff objectives are aligned. For example, it works best when targeting to assess intangible goals, such as staff’s interpersonal skills and commitment to their work. The recommended period for MBO is 4, 6 or 12 months, and the employee has to be gauged based on the results achieved within this period.
360-Degree Feedback Assessment Method
This is another common strategy that is designed to gather feedback from a wide range of parties, including managers, supervisors, customers, peers, colleagues and a reporting member of the business. Every respondent answers to a questionnaire developed to gather information about the specific staff under assessment.
The primary benefit of using 360-degree feedback assessment is eliminating bias. Suppose there is a supervisor who goes ahead to provide negative feedback about the staff under consideration because they do not get along well. In that case, this will be easy to detect from feedback given by other staff members. You need to adopt a good method of conflict resolution to address the issue. It might also be a good idea to shift the employee to a different section.
Some examples of 360-degree feedback method of staff assessment include:
- Manager reviews.
- Self-appraisals.
- Client reviews.
- Peer reviews.
- Subordinate appraisals.
The Assessment Appraisal Method
If your manufacturing organization targets to fill a high-functional position, the first two methods we have looked at, MBO and 360-degree feedback, might not be the best. Instead, you should consider working with the Assessment Center Method, which aims to dig deeper into reviewing the abilities and personality traits of the candidate under consideration. The staff under review is required to complete individual and group exercises designed to simulate various scenarios.
This method of staff assessment was developed early in the 20th century but has undergone regular improvements to make it suitable for modern businesses. The method allows employees to understand how others view their work in the companies they work for. By identifying a candidate’s behavior, it becomes pretty easy to predict his/her potential.
As a manager or entrepreneur of a manufacturing facility, it is vital to make staff assessment part of regular operations. It allows you to understand staff’s challenges at work and improve efficiency in the organization’s operations. It also comes in handy in helping you to draw staff motivation strategies and reduce staff turnover. So, make sure to select the best method for your company.
