Report on Employee Development within Pivoine Ltd.

Question

Task: Individual Employee Development Report on - “Development of a plan by meeting the identified personal development needs and expectations of individual employees in a chosen organisation.
Critically evaluate different vehicles such as 360-degree feedback, 540-degree feedback, Management by objectives (MBO), Individual Pay Related performance (IPRP) etc available to your organisation and explain how effective and appropriate they are in identifying and satisfying the development needs of the individual employees to meet both individual and the organisational success.

As for the Professional development plan (PDP), please ensure SMART objectives, refer to the table below

Answer

Introduction
The 21st century business environment is constantly witnessing intense competition in the global market. To strive in the volatile market, leaders are constantly focusing on developing effective employee development strategies that can further meet the needs of the internal and the external stakeholders effectively. Meeting the needs and demands of employees and developing their skills are considered as two core strategies that enhances the effectiveness of an organization. Lack of engagement of employees within the core activities of an organization is termed as a serious and critical issue that is faced by corporate leaders of the organization (Naim and Lenka, 2018). This can be reduced with the help of tools that meet employees’ development needs. The aim of this report is to critically analyze various employee development tools for a chosen organization named Pivoine Ltd.

Case overview
Pivoine Ltd. is an organization that operates in the beauty care and cosmetics industry. This organization has been operating for several years but due to the pandemic the members of the organization are facing several challenges. The primary challenge faced by the members of the firm is rebuilding the trust among clients who used to visit the salon before the pandemic. Therefore, the core objective of the personnel or the human resource team of the organization is to develop the skills, knowledge and abilities of the human capital of the firm so that the organization is capable of providing safe, secured and high-quality services to its clients.

Critical analysis of employee development tools
360-degree feedback
When feedback of any particular employee is collected from their colleagues, supervisors and managers it is known as 360-degree feedback. Moreover, according to this tool employees are also allowed to self-evaluate their performance. This tool is considered for developing employees because it is reliable and provides fair feedback to the employees within the workplace (Bracken and Church, 2013). This tool can be used to develop the skills and abilities of the employees who are working in Pivoine Ltd. Colleagues of any particular employee within the nail salon can be asked to give feedback then it can help the other employee understand the aspects of improving the quality of performance within the workplace. Furthermore, this employee development and performance appraisal tool help employees and managers of the organisation understand the areas where performance of employees are consistent as well as inconsistent (Kouzes and Posner, 2017). If the case of Pivoine is taken into consideration, it can be seen that the pandemic has enhances safety concerns among clients more intensely. Clients want proper sanitisation and cleaning facilities while getting access to services that are related to nails. In such scenario, consistent high-quality care facilities are expected from employees who are working within the salon. 360-degree performance feedback coming from different internal stakeholders of Pivoine can enhance the consistency level of the performance of the employees.

However, 360-degree performance feedback has the ability to create a negative work environment. This can further have an impact on the performance of the employees within the workplace. Employee can get negative feedback from their colleagues because of their competitive nature and this can lead to demotivation among them (Idowu, 2017). Furthermore, managers can also provide biased feedback. This not only have an impact on the employee performance but also decreases effectiveness of an organisation.If the case of Pivoine is taken into consideration, it can be said that to attract customers and gain their trust, employees should decorate the store in an attractive way. Sanitisers and other cleaning machines should be placed in such a way so that it is visible by customers from outside the store. Along with this, it is the utmost responsibility of the employees and other managers to create a positive work environment. This will enhance the quality of performance of the employees and hence customers will be more satisfied. Therefore, in such scenario, 360-degree performance feedback might not be able to bring much effectiveness within the workplace.

540 Degree feedback
When feedback of any individual employee is provided not only by the internal stakeholders of the firm but also by the external stakeholders like vendors and suppliers it is known as 540-Degree feedback. This tool is considered to be effective because external stakeholders especially customers have the ability to provide unbiased, solicited and unsolicited information and feedback about the employee. Since, customers are the major source of revenue for a firm therefore, this feedback can help firms to optimize the generation of revenue in the workplace. This feedback tool also enhances the process of collaboration between customers and employees in the workplace (Yi and Gong, 2013). In Pivoine Ltd. the current mission of the organisation is to rebuild the trust of the customers and monitor their safety and security concerns. To rebuild their trust employees should constantly communicate with the customers. After each and every service, the managers should make sure to get feedback from the customers. This will not only help the managers understand the gap in the performance of their staffs within the salon but will also help them to take necessary actions to fulfil the gap. However, customers or other external stakeholders of an organisation who are not loyal and are not strongly tied with the service provided by the firm might not provide any feedback after availing the service (Umashankar, Ward and Dahl, 2017). This can bring major disadvantages in satisfying the development desires and needs of the employees within Pivoine Ltd. One of the primary missions of Pivoine Ltd. is to introduce new testaments and technologies to enhance the service quality of the nail salon. Once, new technologies and new method of providing service is introduced within the workplace, managers often seek feedback from customers. The feedback helps them understand whether successful implementation of the new process has been done in the workplace or not but customers who have limited attachment with the service of the firm might not provide solid feedback to the managers. In such cases, 540-degree performance feedback might not bring major effectiveness in the working process of the firm.

Management by Objectives (MBO)
This strategic tool has been invented by an eminent personality in the management field whose name is Peter Drucker. The objective of this strategic tool is to focus on implementing series of goals and these goals should be followed by the employees for enhancing the level of satisfaction of the customers. MBO is a strategic tool that is primarily based on bilateral communication. This bilateral communication primarily takes place between employees and managers in the workplace (Ka?mierczyk and Aptacy, 2016). One of the main advantages of MBO that can be aligned well with the activities of Pivoine Ltd. is it helps the company to formulate measurable goals. The pandemic has affected the operation of Pivoine Ltd. Previously, members within the salon were not putting effort on health and safety but currently this has become one of the measurable goals of the firm. Initiation of MBO can help employees understand the importance of achieving this goal and how this goal can help Pivoine recover uncertainties of the global market. However, it is found that MBO often creates problem in coordination (Aksoy and Bayazit, 2014). The current goal of Pivoine is to enhance the quality of service by ensuring safety of the clients. This can only be done if employees of several departments have effective coordination and planning among themselves. Therefore, in such scenario, MBO might not be able to bring major effectiveness. In addition to this, MBO is one such strategic tool that helps in efficient utilization of human capital within the workplace. In the current business scenario, effective utilization of human capital is important because it helps the firm to gain competitive advantage (Javalgi and Todd, 2011). Currently, the objective of Pivoine Ltd. is to ensure professionalism within the workplace. If MBO as a strategic tool is used by the members of the organisation then, professionalism, positive workplace and effective communication can be implemented in the core activities of the firm. MBO can help Pivoine utilize the existing human resources to highest potential. MBO can also help in developing employees by enhancing awareness among them. As per the current situation the employees who are working in the nail salon should be aware of the negative impact of pandemic and how constant monitoring of the health of customers and employees are necessary. This will not only help the firm accomplish its goals but will also help Pivoine to overcome losses that the company has incurred during lockdown. However, the process of implementation, evaluation and constant monitoring of MBO tool is time consuming and this is marked as one of the major disadvantages of the organisation (Islami, Mulolli and Mustafa, 2018). An organisation can only be effective if the employees, managers and other internal stakeholders are capable of manging time effectively. In case of Pivoine, the HR leaders and other managers should make quick decisions that can further help the firm strive in this global pandemic. Leveraging MBO as a strategic tool might not help the human resource team of Pivoine in this factor. Therefore, in this case MBO becomes ineffective.

Individual Pay related performance (IPRP)
The objective of this strategic tool is to establish relationship between employee performance and employee reward. This strategic tool is important because it helps in reforming public related activities (Wenzel, Krause and Vogel, 2019). One important objective of Pivoineis to enhance the effectiveness of employee performance. Employee performance can be enhanced by motivating them. This can be done effectively with the help of IPRP. Both monetary and non-monetary rewards motivate employees. Employee motivation has a positive correlation with the performance of employees. Thus, if employees in the nail salon are rewarded on the basis of their performance therefore, it can enhance the effectiveness of the organisation’s performance as a whole. However, pay dispersion is also related to IPRP (Yanadori and Cui, 2013). High performing employees are often provided with high monetary and non-monterary. Furthermore, if one employee in the same team gets more reward than other colleagues, then it can enhance grievances among other team members. With the increase in grievance the performance of employees might be affected.

Pivoine Ltd. aims at gaining competitive advantage by increasing market share and enhancing competitive advantage. It can only be possible if each and every employee are capable of providing high-quality performance but if grievances increase among a greater number of employees then it can ultimately affect the performance of Pivoine Ltd. Therefore, in such scenario, IPRP can play a negative role.

Furthermore, this technique is termed as a tradition and conventional one. According to this tool the performance of employees can only be enhanced if they are provided with rewards but the current business environment has changed. Currently, managers often focus on motivating employees using other techniques. Training employees is considered as one such techniques. The objective behind conducting training in the workplace is to develop the performance capability of the employee (Sekhar, Patwardhan and Singh, 2013). The HR team of Pivoine Ltd. needs to develop the skills of the employees so that they are capable of restoring the faith of clients who are visiting the salon for availing service. Therefore, in such scenario, also IPRP tool also does not come into action.

Professional Development plan
The objective behind this plan is to discuss the actions required to be undertaken for developing the needs and desires of employees within the workplace. This plan also helps in promoting employee growth in the workplace (Rubens, Schoenfeld, Schaffer and Leah, 2018). The following table emphasizes on objectives and steps that are taken into consideration for developing the needs of employees working in Pivoine Ltd.

Table 1 – Professional Development Plan for employees of Pivoine Ltd.

Recommendations
In the above section of the report, the benefits of using employee development tools have been mentioned. The objective of this section of the report is to provide constructive recommendations to the employees of Pivoine Ltd that will further enhance the productivity of the firm amidst this pandemic.

• It is highly recommended to the managers of the organisation to enhance the level of customer engagement. Customer engagement is positively correlated with customer loyalty. Moreover, high quality services and increase in customer satisfaction can enhance the level of customer engagement. Once, employees and other senior managers are capable of engaging customers within the core activities of the firm then they will provide constructive feedback. This will not only help the firm understand the needs and demands of the customers but will also help employees develop their individual needs.
• Technology has become one of the core part of current business environment. Therefore, performance of employees can be evaluated with the help of online performance evaluation tool like Kallidus, IntelliHR and many more. These tools are capable of providing unbiased performance feedback of employees and the result can be further leveraged by individual employees to develop their skills, knowledge and abilities.
• In the above section, several employee developments tools have been discussed. All these tools aim at collecting feedback from employees. Apart from this it is recommended to the senior HR manager of the organisation to collect feedback from social media platforms. There are several online platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and many more. These platforms can be used to understand the expectations of customers and prospects. Thus, these platforms are informative and can be used for developing needs and demands of individuals.

Conclusion
The aim of this report was to discuss the need for employee development within the workplace. An organisation named Pivoine Ltd. has been taken into consideration. The report concludes that skills and knowledge of employees should be constantly monitored and developed within the workplace because it can help the members of the firm overcome required challenges.

Pivoine Ltd. is one such organisation that has been constantly facing challenges amidst the pandemic. From the report it can be found that gathering feedbacks from staffs and external stakeholders of the firm can help an employee evaluate their skills and abilities. This increases awareness and help the employee advance their skills and knowledge so that the volatility in the workplace is faced. Moreover, the report states that rewarding employees on the basis of their performance can also bring success and enhance effectiveness in the workplace. Finally, in the report several negative aspects of this tool have also been analysed and it can be found that these negative aspects can create disruption within Pivoine Ltd.

ReferenceList
Aksoy, E. and Bayazit, M., 2014. The relationships between MBO system strength and goal?climate quality and strength. Human Resource Management, 53(4), pp.505-525.

Bracken, D.W. and Church, A.H., 2013. The" new" performance management paradigm: capitalizing on the unrealized potential of 360 degree feedback. People and Strategy, 36(2), p.34.
Idowu, A., 2017. Effectiveness of performance appraisal system and its effect on employee motivation. Nile Journal of Business and Economics, 3(5), pp.15-39.
Islami, X., Mulolli, E. and Mustafa, N., 2018. Using Management by Objectives as a performance appraisal tool for employee satisfaction. Future Business Journal, 4(1), pp.94-108. Javalgi, R.R.G. and Todd, P.R., 2011. Entrepreneurial orientation, management commitment, and human capital: The internationalization of SMEs in India. Journal of Business Research, 64(9), pp.1004-1010.

Ka?mierczyk, J. and Aptacy, M., 2016. The management by objectives in banks: the Polish case. Entrepreneurship and Sustainability Issues, 4(2), p.146. Kouzes, J.M. and Posner, B.Z., 2017. The value of 360-degree feedback. The Leadership Challenge, pp.1-5.

Naim, M.F. and Lenka, U., 2018. Development and retention of Generation Y employees: a conceptual framework. Employee relations.40(2), pp.433-455.

Rubens, A., Schoenfeld, G.A., Schaffer, B.S. and Leah, J.S., 2018. Self-awareness and leadership: Developing an individual strategic professional development plan in an MBA leadership course. The International Journal of Management Education, 16(1), pp.1-13. Sekhar, C., Patwardhan, M. and Singh, R.K., 2013. A literature review on motivation. Global business perspectives, 1(4), pp.471-487.

Umashankar, N., Ward, M.K. and Dahl, D.W., 2017. The benefit of becoming friends: Complaining after service failures leads customers with strong ties to increase loyalty. Journal of Marketing, 81(6), pp.79-98.

Wenzel, A.K., Krause, T.A. and Vogel, D., 2019. Making performance pay work: The impact of transparency, participation, and fairness on controlling perception and intrinsic motivation. Review of public personnel administration, 39(2), pp.232-255. Yanadori, Y. and Cui, V., 2013. Creating incentives for innovation? The relationship between pay dispersion in R&D groups and firm innovation performance. Strategic Management Journal, 34(12), pp.1502-1511.

Yi, Y. and Gong, T., 2013. Customer value co-creation behavior: Scale development and validation. Journal of Business research, 66(9), pp.1279-1284.