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key performance indicators that will helper me to achieve my volume, availability and pricing. Those are the things that will help achieve the business strategy (Participant 6).
Another respondent have the following to say with respect to setting performance gaols:
I have targets as well, and every Tuesday we have meetings, then he is going to take us through as a team to see what we have done and what we have not done, and to see what we can do to close deficits if we have them (Participant 7).
However, another respondent chronicled that it is difficult to set performance goal, yet what they do is to ensure there is no gap in communication. In his explanation:
It is difficult to set a goal there basically what we ask of our reps for consistent communication between the managers and down to packing staff merchandising team, so we do measure that, it is part of the guys goals in the goal setting that we do annually.
Merchandising pricing, my goals for my guys pricing must always be above 90%, effectively they have to have 90% of their trade in line with the pricing requirement or below what the pricing requirement is (Participant 12).
Put together, majority of the respondents agreed that in order for them to meet the company goals, they need to adhere to the targets set by the company. Although, it is sometimes difficult to set a goal, yet it was reported that all the performance gaol related activities are strictly adhered to in order to realize the expected performance threshold.
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Performance is measured in weekly KPI meeting, monthly one on ones and also performance review that happen twice a year (Participant 1).
Another respondent shared a dissimilar view on the measurement of performance. For this respondents, the measurement of performance has to do with the integration of report from all districts of the East Coast region of the organisation, and such can be measured on a daily basis.
The respondent report below:
They measure performance through many reports that they do, we have a district analyst who provides us with feedback on a weekly bases and sometimes on day-to-day bases, for instance something like our availability report they track daily (Participant 6)
The above sentiment shared by respondents clearly explains the process of measuring performance in the organisation of study. While few of the respondent make a case that the measurement of their performance are done twice a year, others alleged that their performance are measured infrequently on a day-to-day basis.
4.6.1 Instruments Used to Measure Performance
Several performance measurement tools have been reported in the literature. The constant changing trend has overtime engendered different measurement tool that can be used to measure the performance of employees on the job. An overwhelming number of respondents interviewed explained that their performance are measured with tracking system that report the progress of work achieved against set targets. The above comments were rehearsed by one of the manager in the following line:
Manager uses the tracking systems that are in place to report on the progress against the set target and this is updated on the daily basis to give a clear indication of performance (Participant 1).
Again, one of the manager explained that aside the conventionally tracking system in place, other measuring tools such as retention, volume reports and the main being the scorecard are all used to assess and measure the performance of employees against their sets targets. The following quotes captures these claims:
It is the availability report, retention reports, volume reports, tracker reports and mainly the scorecard. The scorecard is
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national, but it is broken down to regions. It is what is given to me by the management, the reports from the district analyst. That is what I use to measure my own performance and to see if I am on the right way (Participant 5).
Almost all participants agreed that a PM instrument used by management includes the tracking system, retention reports, volume reports and mainly the scorecard. The scorecard is national, but it is broken down to regions to assess the performance of employees against their set targets.
4.6.2 Instruments Employees use to Track/Measure Performance
Having exude what instruments are utilized by managers in the measurement of subordinates performance against their sets target, this heading seek to explain the instrument used by employees in tracking their performance against their sets targets. Majority of the respondents interviewed make a case that they measure their performance from the progress recorded from sales, personal and the constant check of their overall progress in terms of meeting with the objectives and targets of the organisation. One of the employees reported in the following lines:
There is not much difference; it’s pretty much the same standard of measurement that we use from the individual point of view. From a personal point of view what I ... is personal progress, sales team progress, from month to quarter to half year, to see how we have moved in terms of our total KPI and measurement set by the business (Participant 10).
Aside taking records of progress made with respect to sales and personal progress, other respondents reported that some of the instrument used in measuring their performance include constant feedback from both the HR and sales managers. Accordingly, they use these tools to measure any gap in their target, and how these can be addressed. The following comments reported by one of the respondents captured the above lines:
A lot of it comes down from HR, in terms of what my achievements are, I rely heavily on downward feedback from my district manager, my HR manager or sales manager. I use those tools then to measure what my successes are, what my gaps are and what I need to work
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on. That’s probably my biggest one, downward feedback because they are the ones that are overlooking as well (Participant 8).
Inferring from the above, it was revealed that employees access their performance against their targets against two unrelated measures. For instance, while some explained that the instrument applied in the measurement of their performance includes the progress attained from personal and sales progress, others revealed that among others, the instrument utilized to access their performance against sets target includes constant feedbacks from both the HR and sales managers to gauge against any loopholes with respect to their sets targets.