Learning Team A

Read Ch. 11-12, & 16 (pp. 650-57) in Managing Human Resources.

Individual Assignment: Career Development Plan IV – Compensation.

Now that you have created an appraisal system for employees on your new team and a career development plan for each member, it is time to develop a compensation plan. Because InterClean is embarking on a new strategic direction, upper management has asked you to suggest a new compensation plan specifically for your team. Propose your ideas and rationale to the Human Resource Department Manager for approval.

Due Date: 5/7/09

Write a 700- to 1,050-word proposal

Describing a new compensation plan for your new employment team

Explaining why your pay system will work

Describing three components of a total rewards package that would motivate employees to reach peak performance

Describing your compensation plan’s benefits to the individual as well to the company

Note: APA format is not required for this proposal. Use a title page and reference page where appropriate.

Learning Team Discussion: Team Performance Appraisal System – Conversion Summary. Finish discussing, in your Learning Team, how to convert an existing individual appraisal system into a team performance appraisal system. This week, focus on the following aspects:

Individual equity and how it impacts team performance

Strategies to discourage social loafing

Individual employee responsibilities towards the team

I found this in the text and felt that it was worth sharing.

“Another distortion that creeps into decisions in practice is a tendency to escalate commitment when a decision stream represents a series of decisions. Escalation of commitment refers to staying with a decision even when there is clear evidence that it’s wrong. For example, consider a friend that has been dating his girlfriend for about 4 years. Although he admitted to you that things weren’t going too well in the relationship, he said that he was still going to marry her. His justification: “I have a lot invested in the relationship!” It has been well documented that individuals escalate commitment to a failing course of action when they view themselves as responsible for the failure. That is, they “throw good money after bad” to demonstrate that their initial decision wasn’t wrong and to avoid having to admit they made a mistake. Escalation of commitment is also congruent with evidence that people try to appear consistent in what they say and do. Increasing commitment to previous actions conveys consistency.

Escalation of commitment has obvious implications for managerial decisions. Many an organization has suffered large losses because a manager was determined to prove his or her original decision was right by continuing to commit resources to what was a lost cause from the beginning. In addition, consistency is a characteristic often associated with effective leaders. So managers, in an effort to appear effective, may be motivated to be consistent when switching to another course of action may be preferable. In actuality, effective managers are those who are able to differentiate between situations in which persistence will pay off and situations in which it will not.”

EBOOK COLLECTION:  Ch. 5 – Robbins, S. & Judge, T. (2007). Organizational behavior (12th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

The report is 700 to 1,050 words in length

Feedback – How is feedback given to the employee? What opportunities are provided to the employee after the feedback is given?

How will you help the employee reach a higher level of performance?

Are there promotions available, educational opportunities to increase skills, etc.? Explain.

Are there flexible opportunities for dual career parents? Explain.

Explain your adaptation to the diversity of your team in terms of each person’s careers.

How would you handle each member?

Provide a justification for why your report will work; assuming your budget is zero.

Within your explanation, identify expected benefits and types of costs.

The content is comprehensive, accurate, and persuasive

Student creates an appraisal form of no more than 2-pages to evaluate the performance of each new employee of his or her team

Managing for maximum performance (pp. 328-32)

Purposes of performance appraisal systems (pp. 332-38)

Alternative methods of appraising employee performance (pp. 338-45)

Who should evaluate performance? (pp. 345-51)

When and how often should appraisals be done? (p. 351)

Evaluating the performance of teams (pp. 352-53)

Secrets of effective performance feedback interviews (pp. 357-61)

Read Ch. 9-10, 16 (p. 656) in Managing Human Resources.

Individual Assignment: Career Development Plan Part III – Performance and Career Management

For this portion of the assignment, create a performance and career management program for the employees selected for your team.

Due Date: 4/30/09

Create an appraisal form that is no more than 2 pages in length that you may use to evaluate the performance of each new employee of your team.

Prepare a 700- to 1,050-word report on a career management plan for your new employees. Be sure to answer the following in your report:

Feedback – How is feedback given to the employee? What opportunities are provided to the employee after the feedback is given?

How will you help the employee reach a higher level of performance?

Are there promotions available, educational opportunities to increase skills, etc.? Explain.

Are there flexible opportunities for dual career parents? Explain.

Explain your adaptation to the diversity of your team in terms of each person’s careers. How would you handle each member?

Assuming your budget is zero, provide a justification of why your report will work. Within your explanation, identify expected benefits and types of costs.

Note: APA format is not required for this report. Use a title page and reference page where appropriate.

Learning Team Discussion: Team Performance Appraisal System – Conversion Summary. Choose an individual appraisal system that you, or one of your teammates, have worked on this week. You do not need the feedback from your instructor to have this learning team discussion. You need only the individual appraisal system itself. Discuss, as a group, how to convert this individual appraisal system into a team appraisal. In your discussion, be sure you consider the following points:

Differences between the two appraisal systems

Difficulties of evaluating team performance

Unique needs of a team appraisal system

Team motivations and expectations

Ooch…he really graded me hard on the week two paper…I’m not sure I know what he wants…

Read Ch. 8 & 16 (pp. 641-45) in Managing Human Resources.

Individual Assignment: Career Development Plan Part II – Development of a Training and Mentoring Program.

For the second part of this assignment, create a training program for the employees selected for your team.

Due Date: 4/23/09

Prepare a 1,050- to 1,400- word report explaining the following:

The new training and mentoring needs

Objectives of the training and mentoring program

Performance standards

Delivery methods

Content for training and mentoring

Time-frame

Evaluation methods

Feedback

Alternate avenues for those who need further development

Note: This report does not need to be in APA format. Use a title page and reference page where appropriate.

Assignment Specifics – What to Include

Job Analysis

Conduct a job analysis for new salesperson positions in InterClean.

Identify the analysis method (s) you feel appropriate.

Describe 4 to 5 main job duties and specifications that will pertain to the new sales department. Be specific.

Workforce Planning System

Create a workforce planning system on sales development for your team.

Review both the hard and soft skills (talent inventory) of employees.

Identify the business needs – the types of positions needed on your team.

Identify the number of employees needed for your team (between 5 and 7)

Outline an action plan for the selection of employees, training, placement, promotion, development, and compensation.

Identify goals for the team based on the company’s new direction.

Selection

Review the talent inventory from your workforce planning system.

Determine a staff selection method (Ch. 7) appropriate for your team.

Use this method to assess each employee’s present knowledge, skills, abilities and career motivations.

Select 5-7 employees from the list of candidates for your team.

Read Ch. 5-7 & 16 (pp. 638-40) of Managing Human Resources.

Individual Assignment: Career Development Plan Part I – Job Analysis and Selection.

InterClean has just merged with EnviroTech and, as a result, has taken on a new strategic direction. The company will no longer sell only cleaning products, but will also provide full- service cleaning solutions for organizations in the health care industry. As a midlevel sales manager, select new members for your sales team and create a development plan to help your team succeed with the company’s new strategy. There are 4 parts to complete for this assignment, continuing through Weeks Two, Three, Four and Five.

In the first part, conduct a job analysis, outline a workforce planning system, and select the new members for your team.

Due Date: 4/16/09

Review the InterClean – EnviroTech Merger Scenario on your rEsource page.

Read the Week Two – Student Road Map found on your rEsource page for specific information you must include in this assignment.

Read Employee Profiles on your rEsource page for information on the potential employees from which you can choose for this assignment.

Write a 1,050- to 1,400- word report:

Explaining your job analysis information.

Describing your workforce planning system.

Identifying your selection method (including advantages and disadvantages).

Identifying the 5-7 employees you chose to represent your team and explain why they were chosen. Include their knowledge, skills, abilities, and what role you think they will play with your new team.

Note: APA format is not required for this assignment. Use a title page and reference page where appropriate.