Phase 2: Qualitative Study
III. Performance and Engagement Appraisal and Feedback
6.5 QUALITATIVE RESULTS
6.5.1 Theme 1: Management Support
One of the most key themes to emerge from the interviews was that Executive and Senior Manager managerial support is essential. This theme consisted of two sub-themes namely: (1) support from business managers and (2) support from the human resource managers. According to Al Shaar, Khattab, Alkaied, and Manna (2015), the support of top management is essential in achieving and maintaining a competitive advantage. Al Shaar et al. (2015) suggested that management is crucial in accomplishing the synergy between the operations and activities as top management is a critical source in achieving organisational goals.
The interviewees’ responses to the themes and sub-themes are indicated below.
Support from business managers
In the context of this study, management support was provided by both Executive and Senior Management. The role of the business managers was to ensure that all employees clearly understood the purpose and outcome expectations of the BSC, and to provide coaching support to employees. In order to ensure that the BSC was successfully implemented, business
128
managers were tasked with the responsibility of holding BSC workshops and regular monthly meeting with their staff. The purpose of these workshops and meetings was to address any issues and concerns related to the BSC implementation in the business.
The majority of the respondents were in agreement that they received good support from their senior managers. This was evident by; amongst other, the respondents direct line managers making themselves available for meetings, clearly explaining the purpose and outcomes of the BSC, communicating the significance of the BSC as a performance management system.
“My direct manager provides my staff and me with constant support. She has clearly outlined the objectives and purpose of the BSC for performance management. (Interview 2)”.
“I have a great manager. From the time the BSC was implemented she was there for us, explaining and reiterating the purpose and expectations. If it wasn’t for her support, we would all be lost. (Interview 7)”.
Both Interviewee 2 and 7 clearly felt that their business managers provided them with good management support. As highlighted by Kaplan and Norton (2001, p.147), “top management support is important for the successful implementation of the BSC”. The positive responses from both interviewees seem to indicate that some managers took accountability and responsibility for ensuring that their staff was fully informed of the purpose and objectives of the BSC. This, in turn, resulted in the managers feeling comfortable with the implementation of the BSC. Management support is imperative for the BSC to be properly implemented. Top and seniors managers need to ensure that the purpose and objectives of the BSC are clearly outlines, and that the organisations expectations are understood by all employees.
129 Support from the human resource managers
In addition to the support from managers, some of the respondents highlighted the importance the human resource department played in the implementation of the BSC. They indicated that the human resource department played a critical role in explaining and integrating the BSC into the business.
“My Human Resource (HR) Manager has been amazing in helping us translate the BSC to all levels of the staff. She has had a hands-on approach, and works well with our direct managers to ensure the successful implementation of the BSC in the division. (Interview 5)”.
The above narrative highlighted the role of the HR department. It appears that the HR department played a critical role in facilitating the BSC implementation process. It seems that the role of the HR department was not only to support staff from a business and performance perspective, but to focus more specifically on the store managers’ individual needs. While business managers have a critical role to play, the ‘hands on’ approach by the HR department can also ensure that the BSC will be successfully implemented. The HR department adds a
‘peoples approach’, that is, an approach that focuses on the capabilities of the individual, and not only on their performance goals. It appears the support from both business and HR will better enable the BSC implementation process.
Although most of the store managers felt that their managers and human resource managers adequately supported them throughout the implementation of the BSC, some indicated that they received very little support, or no support.
“Although my Executive supported us, my Senior Managers failed to provide sufficient support as they were too busy with other stuff. (Interview 1)”.
130
“Our senior management was only focused on sales and nothing else. They provided me with no support at all, and did not even explain the purpose and objective of the BSC when it was introduced. What disappointed me the most was that when I met my colleagues at our monthly regional and divisional meetings, they spoke in great detail of the support their managers were giving them (Interview 6).”
While the mandate to the executive and senior managers was to provide sufficient support to all employees, it was evident from some of the interviewees that this was not the case. For example, both interviewees 1 and 6 felt that their managers did not provide them with good support. The lack of support may have resulted in the purpose and objective of the BSC not been clearly understood and accepted. This, in turn, may have resulted in managers not knowing what the BSC expectations and outcomes may be. Therefore, it’s important that management support is consistent throughout the organisation, and relevant steps must be taken to upskill managers prior to the implementation of the BSC.
From the above narratives, it seems that the support from senior management was not consistent. For some of the store managers, they received very good support from both their senior managers and human resource managers. However, some of the store managers felt that the support was inadequate, or none at all. A key strategic imperative employed by the organisation was to ensure that senior managers adequately provide guidance and support to their store managers. The human resource department was also contracted to facilitate this process, as well as to roll out workshops to properly explain the purpose and outcomes of the BSC. In order to mitigate this concern, top management and senior executives will need to reiterate and drive this imperative consistently with all their senior managers.