Performance incentives
Performance incentives in most organizations and their workers come from major sources, including competitive pressure, accountability, performance benchmarks, setting targets, and internal pressure. Managers know that to build and conserve resources within an organization is an essential step- where these include employees, intangibles like the support of stakeholders or investors, and the company’s reputation. Resources are thus a necessary foundation of organizations. The purpose of this paper is to analyze an organization, look at its existing deficiencies and performance issues.
Description of an Organization
An organization I am familiar with and choose for analysis in this paper is Walmart. The company is an American corporation, a large retailer with a number of stores across the globe. Sam Walton founded Walmart in the year 1962, and its headquarters are in Bentonville city- Arkansas. The corporation offers a wide range of merchandise as well as services at low prices while operating through business segments like Sam’s Club, Walmart international, and the Walmart US. Walmart’s fiscal revenue is about $ 524 billion. Over 2.2 million associates re empl0yed worldwide, and the company continues to lead in sustainability and employment opportunity.
Company’s Issues and Problem
Given the expansiveness of Walmart, issues of management concerning diversity, worker satisfaction, and leadership are bound to affect the organization’s behavior. Employees’ dissatisfaction, low wages, authoritarian leadership, diversity, and discrimination are highlighted by research as a central problem facing the company. Walmart has recruited about 2 million employees, which makes its workforce one of the most significant in the world. Yet, according to studies and comparative analysis perspectives with similar corporations, wage rates are low. Meyn (2018) points out that Walmart’s workers depend on governmental aid to sustain bills like rents and other costs of living. As a result, the dissatisfaction of workers is manifested in employees who feel less appreciated. Since the company was formed, it has been opposed to the formation of unions, and some stores have seen closure in an attempt for such establishments.
Walmart utilizes a centralized management style. Usually, workers have less time and opportunities to give out their contributions to workplace issues and other problems related to leadership. Such is a consequence of an authoritarian leadership approach. Furthermore, it has been reported that communication among managers and their subordinates is a critical problem as employees feel overworked and underrepresented in the management. In that way, there are issues with poor talent development, innovations, and challenges to advancement. As noted earlier, Walmart discourages the formation of workers’ union and is well known to punish employees by shutting down operations when they attempt to establish labor unions. The indication points further the authoritarian culture ingrained in Walmart.
Discrimination resulting from authoritative leadership in Walmart is a critical issue in the company. The unethical practice takes the form of bias based on sex and gender. Recently, the company has seen some lawsuits concerning gender-based discrimination. According to the Guardian news article, nearly a hundred employees filed gender discrimination against the company in 2019. Although women represent a large number in the organization’s workforce, the majority are underpaid than men. The lack of motivational factors like recognition and job satisfaction among the majority of employees has caused low performance. Another issue beyond sex and gender biases is diversity, which has adversely affected the company. Issues like prejudice on race and religious affiliations are inevitable since the company is a multinational firm.
Potential Growth Areas-Opportunities
Despite the issue or workplace challenges facing the company, Walmart’s opportunities are majorly about expanding and improving business operations. The potential growth abilities are tied to the global economic situation. The company has opportunities to grow and thrive in developing countries, improve its human resources operation, and excel in a competitive labor market. Also, Walmart has a chance to improve quality standards. Enhancing HR practices will result in the company’s high-quality employees relative to retailers. The opportunity is directly linked to criticism of the organization’s employment routine. The potential to advance quality standards will address the concerns of consumers. Among the opportunities available for the company’s growth, improving human resource practices is the most essential to solving major problems facing employees and their performance. The company can significantly benefit from an employee performance development program.
Worker Performance Development Program
The key objective of the employee performance development program (PDP) is to enable workers and managers to work together to set performance and career development goals. While in this program, participants regularly discuss progress, and employees receive coaching, support, mentorships, recognitions, and necessary tools to carry out tasks. Issues facing Walmart company could benefit from a PDP bringing members together, identify needs, and decided on approaches to meeting those requirements for the better of the overall organization’s picture. One essential of a PDP is aligning performance with the company’s objectives- which will see the creation of a positive work environment central to organizational behavior. Alignment is a bit complex than it sounds, and this will require buy-ins and a culture of collaboration. Typically, employees are more likely to collaborate well within an environment where they are recognized, acknowledge, and appreciated. From studies, organizations that report having processes well aligned with business objectives have increased employee engagement and retention. Good organizational behavior will enhance the performance of the company.
The company’s deficiencies, like underpays, can be better addressed through a work performance development program, where the needs of workers are identified and acknowledged through an effective reward system. Walmart can decide to adopt a standardized salary that fully satisfies the psychological needs of workers as the wage is a crucial motivator. Such an objective can be meet after analyzing the standard wage requirements in respective geographic of operation. Under A PDP, workers have an opportunity to air their views, suggestions, ideas, opinions, or make negotiations. Consequently, Walmart’s managerial style will shift to an inspirational one that ensures clear communication between subordinates and seniors. Doing so will enable the company to instill inclusivity and extend the development of workers even further.
Another essential for PDP is ensuring managers are well equipped to succeed in the era of performance communication and coaching. Walmart’s management can focus on training managers and workers on how communication can be enhanced between one another, primarily in various cultural settings. By so doing, this approach will solve the issue of diversity-related to discrimination or prejudice. Consequently, organizations members work in harmony with respect and support one another as one team purposed to fulfill the organization’s mission, vision, and goals.
In conclusion, this paper has analyzed issues or problems related to human resource practice in Walmart company and also noted the potential growth. Significantly, research has supported that worker performance development program helps polish issues facing employees and guide leaders in the right path to better treatment, to induce satisfaction, morale, and motivation of attaining overall corporate goals.