Performance Evaluation Task Essay Example for Free

Performance Evaluation Task Essay All employees want a fair and accurate performance evaluation. It’s it important that an evaluation reflect each employee’s job duties and how well they have performed. In this scenario, the engineer’s first performance review ended with him being angry over the way in which he was being evaluated. There were three main issues with the engineer’s evaluation. The engineer felt that no one in the company, including the plant manager was qualified to complete his annual review. He felt this way because he is the only trained engineer in the company. As a result, the engineer had little confidence in the way that he was being evaluated and was upset that most of his review was based on relationships with other co-workers and his own personal characteristics. For the second annual review the plant manager is exploring other options when it comes to evaluating the engineer. The three most commonly-used sets of evaluation criteria which should be used in evaluations are individual task outcomes, behaviors, and traits. In this scenario, the engineer could be judged on what he was able to accomplish. For example, the changes that the engineer suggested resulted in considerable savings on manufacturing energy cost and eliminated a significant safety hazard that had been previously overlooked. Behavior refers to not only how the employee works with others but also organizational performance, promptness, and suggestions for improvements. In the scenario, the engineer clashes with other employees and has a poor attitude towards co-workers. However, the engineer’s suggestions have led to positive changes with the company. Traits are referring to the engineer’s attitude, showing confidence, and being dependable. In this scenario, the engineer demonstrates a poor attitude towards co-workers and does not pay close attention when the manager is speaking. When you compare the most commonly used sets of criteria of claim evaluation the manager needs to determine the importance or weight of each category. Is what the employee achieved as important as how the tasks were done or that they got along with the other members of the team? What the engineer achieved is something that can be measured though the completion of tasks.  Behaviors and traits can be more subjective. It could be the engineer’s personality to be standoffish or he doesn’t socialize well with others. This doesn’t necessarily mean the engineer is not a successful employee. In the annual review, the manager should consider the outcome of his tasks as the highest priority. Behaviors should be the next factor, and finally traits. In an effort to get more buy in of the performance evaluation process, the plant manager can include the opinions of supervisors, peers, and subordinates. This is an example of a full 360-degree program. There are advantages and disadvantages to this process. The advantages include the hope to give everyone more of a sense of participation in the review process and gain more accurate readings on employee performance. The use of multiple sources is more likely to capture a variety of behavior more accurately. It also provides employees with a wider perspective of their performance. Some of the disadvantages of the 360 degree evaluation are that it has the potential to be misused. Some corporations allow employees to choose the people who evaluate them which can provide some inaccurate feedback. There can also be issues in handling disagreements and contradictions between those who complete the evaluations. (E-textbook) The plant manager will also need to consider how the engineer would be evaluated. There are several options when considering how to evaluate an employee. The first method that can be considered is a written essay. This is a written narrative describing an employee’s strengths, weaknesses, potential, performance, and suggestions for improvement. The success of this method can be determined as much by the evaluator’s writing ability as by the employee’s level of performance. Another method of evaluation is critical incidents. In this type of evaluation, the evaluator focuses on the behaviors that make the difference between performing a job effectively or ineffectively. It provides an example of what behaviors are wanted and those that are opportunity areas. The third and one of the most popular methods of evaluation is the use of graphic rating scales. In this evaluation method, a set of performance factors such has quality of work; cooperation, attendance, and initiative are noted. The evaluator rates each of the factors on incremental scales. One of the advantages to this method is that  they are less time consuming to complete. They also provide for easy analysis. However, evaluation methods can be biased and have as much to do with the evaluator as with the employee being evaluated. For example, the evaluator unintentionally can inflate an evaluation or even undervalue the evaluation. The evaluator can also be influenced by the assessment of one characteristic. Some evaluations can be biased by the evaluator favoring employees who have similar qualities to their own. Or in some cases, the evaluator can see the process as an opportunity to reward or punish employees. While the evaluation process at times is not perfect there are ways that it can be improved. In the scenario, the engineer feels that no one is qualified to complete his evaluation including the plant manager. He has little confidence in the evaluation process and that the rating themselves focus on personal characteristics and relationships with co-workers. One way to improve the evaluation process is to train evaluators. If no one is qualified then the company needs to make a qualified evaluator. Training someone to be an evaluator can make for more accurate ratings of an employee. This can help to build confidence that the evaluations are accurate and fair. Another alternative is to use multiple evaluators such as in the 360-degree method. This provides an opportunity to achieve more accurate evaluations. The evaluators can review different areas of job performance such as evaluating suggestions for improvements and personal characteristics. A third option is to evaluate selectively. In the scenario, the evaluation would only be done by someone who has some expertise in the area in which they are evaluating. This again can help the engineer have confidence in the evaluations that are being completed. In conclusion, the engineer wants a fair and accurate evaluation. He wants to have confidence in the people who are completing that evaluation and that he is being evaluated on criteria such as improvements to company and how timely and effectively his tasks are completed.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

Years ago there was a traveler who came upon an old-fashioned pump from which he would have to pump the handle in order to retrieve the water. Beside the pump there was a pitcher full of water, and on the pump there was a sign. The sign instructions were to prime the pump with the water in the pitcher, pump the water for use, and then refill the pitcher. The thirsty man looked at the pitcher, the pump and the sign. He thought to himself, "If I pour this water down the pump, and it doesn't work, I will have no water to drink and it will be wasted. But, if I drink the water, I will be satisfied, but the next traveler will have nothing. We as graduates are like this traveler and we have decisions to make. We have the potential to be contributing members of society -- we are the doctors, nurses, farmers, servicemen and pastors of tomorrow. We can use the water in the pitcher that is like the education and resources this country has given us, and we can prime the pump for others, providing them with the opportunities that we have already been given. We can give back to society with our...

Buyer Power of Coffee Industry Essay

Buyer bargaining power refers to the pressure consumers can place on the industry, influencing companies to provide better products, service, and lower prices. One determinant of bargaining power is the number of buyer available. For the US coffee and snack industry, the large number of buyers is a big advantage. According to National Coffee Association, 54% of American adults drink coffee. Another key driver that gives buyers leverage is if they can do without the product for long durations. If so, the seller incurs losses when customers discontinue use of the product over long periods. However, coffee drinkers are high frequency buyers, purchasing the drink multiple times throughout the week, if not more often. To these people, coffee has become an integral part of their everyday lives. Because they cannot do without coffee, coffee shops can depend on repeat customers. Switching costs are another element to consider when gauging buyer bargaining. If switching costs are high, buyers are least likely to change over to a competing product. Unfortunately for the US coffee and snack industries, there are absolutely zero costs associated with changing to a different product. Similarly, no cost is incurring when switching to another company. Thus, this makes coffee shops have to constantly improve their product lines, drive down costs, improve service, and other aspects to keep customers choosing their shops over someone else’s. The buyer’s per capita consumption also players a role in determining attractiveness of an industry. During recessions, disposable income generally becomes lower and spending of consumption is cut. When consumer spending is lower, people are less likely to spend on snacks and coffee. Overall, due to the high number of users and the high volume of purchases, from the buyer perspective the coffee and snack industry can be considered attractive.

advabtages and disadvantages of electronic media - 829 Words

ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF ELECTRONIC MEDIA: Electronic Media is a rich resource of services, supplies, creative and innovative solutions to everyday domestic and professional demands. We are living in the era of electronic media. None can avoid and escape from it. It is prevailing profound effects on advertisement, education, information, politics and other social activities. If we look around us what is there that is impossible to? It is none other than this electronic media that has made our life far more comfortable and luxurious. Obviously this enhancement in technology would have its banes and boons as well. As far as the advantages of this advancement is concerned so they are outnumbered. Electronic media has granted†¦show more content†¦This social network is also one of a great source of electronic media it not only connects us to several peoples but also helps in advertising or much social and political news are also conveyed to us. The international politics are greatly influenced by the electronic media. Nothing in this world is ideal or perfect therefore when this bestowment of science has provided us with its advantages it surely has several disadvantages in it as well. No doubt it’s a source of entertainment but people are rather waisting a lot of their precious time through this. Internet the greatest help of us today is also a good help to huge number of frauds and theft on internet. One’s personal account can be hacked and their personal details can be viewed which is obviously dangerous and ofcourse no one would want that to happen with them. Research evidence has accumulated over the past half-century that exposure to violence on television, movies, and most recently in video games increases the risk of violent behavior on the viewer’s part just as growing up in an environment filled with real violence increases the risk of violent behavior. Furthermore there is huge amount of contents of vulgarity either in form of such vulgar games or in form of such s oftware, CD’s or websites which can lead to crimes and bad mentality of