In the early parts of the history performance management system has not got prominence but since of late it has captured its significance and importance to business world. Thereby management is much more concern of performance of performance of individuals, teams and groups. All employees have to perform effectively to achieve business strategy of the organisation.
There are many viewpoints have put forward to describe what performance is. Performance can be determined and thereby it always linked with a measurement. There are no single criteria of measuring one's performance or group or team or organization. That is to say performance depends on many factors.
Performance Management has been developed to coordinate several features especially target, training, appraisal and payment in order to deliver effectiveness. Due to the Strategic Human Resources Management policies and practices are adapted to improve and maintain standards of Employees' performance. Particularly remuneration, training and development and performance management systems policies and practices are adopted as a strategy to improve the performances of the employees.
Furthermore strategic human resources management has identified working environment also impacts on employees' performance. Hence Human Resource (HR) policies and practices are adopted to create a good working environment. This dissertation is to attempt to investigate the factors influencing employees' performance. According to the hypothesis of the research the main aim of the dissertation is to attempt to explore remuneration, employee development, working environment and performance management system as factors influencing on employees' performance.
This research proposes an investigation of the factors influencing employees' performance in British Petroleum Limited (Bp). BP HR department is fully committed to develop employees. For too many years BP's human resources lexicon contained words and phrases like 'confrontation', 'strike' and 'walkout'. A turnaround began when it made a conscious effort to understand personnel issues and address employees with commitment.
3. Rationale for the Chosen Topic
In this research it is decided to research on the above topic according to my working experience as a part time employee in Bp in United Kingdom. BP is one of the world's largest energy companies, providing its customers with fuel for transportation, energy for heat and light, retail services and petrochemicals products for everyday items. While fuel retailing, convenience store retailing they are also providing a high quality food and hot drinks with their food serving section to many motorists and other customers. Their connect stores has got almost all the needs to meet the needs of the modern consumer. So the customers rely on their ability to provide quality services and products whatever the time of the day.
They are committed to delivering quality services that meet and where possible exceed the needs and expectations of all their customers and other interested parties. In order to meet these objectives they recognize the importance of involving everybody in the development, monitoring and review of their various quality initiatives. In addition they have recognised that the provision of quality services is clearly reliant on good leadership, positive management and well trained highly motivated employees.
Human Resources has responsibility for energizing, developing, retaining and attracting truly talented people all around the world. And with almost 100,000 people working for the company, covering 180 markets throughout the UK, so that one can imagine how challenging, yet fulfilling, a career with Bp could prove.
4. Research Questions
Basically this research proposed the examination of one basic question: how successful are the factors that influencing employees' performance in British Petroleum Limited (Bp).
5. Research Objectives
The main objectives of this research as follows,
To investigate what are the factors influencing employees' performance.
Check whether factors such as remuneration, employee development, working environment and performance management system etc are influence their performance.
To find out up to what extent these factors will influence performance management.
6. Literature Review
The concept of the management has been one of the most important for the human resource management and industrial relation management. Performance management is strategic and integrated process that delivers sustained success to organisations by improving the performance of the people who work in them and by developing the capabilities of individual contributors and teams.
Performance management is, of course about performance. But what is meant by that word? It is important to clarify what it means, because if performance cannot be defined, it can't be measured or managed. Bates and Holteon (1995) have pointed out that 'performance management objective is to assess performance outcome or behaviour.
There are different views on what 'performance' is. It can be regarded as simply the record of outcomes achieved. On an individual basis, it is a record of outcomes achieved. On an individual basis, it is a record of a person's accomplishments. Kane(1996) argues that performance is something that the person leaves behind and that exists apart from the purpose'. Bernanadian et.al (1995) are concerned that 'performance should be defined as the outcomes of work because they provide the strongest linkage to the strategic goals of the organisation, customer satisfaction economic contributions'.
The research found out that performance management had a negative impact on performance because it led to 'demoralisation and demotivation of employees on one hand and bureaucratisation on the other' (Bevan at el., 1992).Models found in strategic human resource management literature which suggests that performance related pay brings about high levels of commitment and performance. However, this is still a contested issue and there is no clear link between performances related pay and high commitment (Wood, 1996).
There also has been very difficult to substantiate the link between HRM improve company performance Company performance is linked to other complex factors such as labour and product market, government policies and economic environment. Studies have revealed that profitability create scope for HRM rather than vice versa (Guest et al. 2003).
Performance management has been viewed by some as a new form of 'Taylorism'.The performance management procedures involves a continual monitoring of employee objectives against organisation business plan, performance tracking and performance review, appear to suggest that is an essential tool for controlling labour process (Winstanley, 2000)
According to the above discussion it is revealed that there are different opinions about performance management. The aim of this research is, investigate whether remuneration, career development, working environment and performance management systems are influencing on employees' performance.
7. Methodology
In this research it is decided to use a case study approach to investigate what factors influencing on Bp retail managers and customer service assistants' performance. Here the research question focuses on the topic of performance management. Generally, what factors influence on Bp employees' performance? Target group of the case study is retail managers and customer service assistants.
Case study approach is defined by Bell (1999) as "a particularly appropriate for individual researchers because it gives an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth within a limited time scale".
The disadvantages of a case study according to Bell (1999) are that "generalization is not always possible, and question the value of the study of single events. Those who disagrees with this normally states that reliability of a case study is more important as it has got generalisability.
Problems associated with the case-study approach include questioning the value of study of single events and the difficulty for researchers to cross-check and gain full access to information (Kitay and Callus, 1998). Other concerns include the possibility of selective reporting and the resulting dangers of distortion. A major concern is that generalizations are not always possible. However, Kitay and Callus (1998) also point out that case studies are appropriate for individual researchers as they provide an opportunity for one aspect of a problem to be studied in some depth. Indeed, according to Kitay and Callus "though theoretical and methodological fashions have changed in industrial relations over time, the case study remains to be widely used" . Triangulation also assists in cross-checking data produced by the multiple techniques employed. Within the case study the key issue for the researcher had to decide which research methods are appropriate in order to gather empirical evidence to answer the research question as certain methods are more applicable to certain research topics. Whatever procedure used for collecting data is selected, researcher examined critically to assess to what extent it is likely to reliable and valid and, if possible, free of bias.
Researcher used the three main research methods in this research. These methods are documentary analysis, interviews, observation and attitude surveys. It was important to select the appropriate research method in order to gain the necessary information and the necessary balance of information to answer the research questions.
Bell (2005) points out that "reliability is the extent to which a test or procedure produces similar results under constant conditions on all occasions". As such, a research tool must be reliable if the results are to be trusted. Further he states that a research tool must also be valid. Validity is an indication of how sound the research is, and concerns both the design and method of research. Validity is one of the main concerns with research and "any research can be affected by different kinds of factors which, while extraneous to the concerns of the research, can invalidate the findings" (Seliger & Shohamy, 1985).
A final factor is bias. According to Bell (2005) bias "can occur in many ways, deliberately or unwittingly" Bell points out that issues such as selective review of literature, and inappropriate language indicating a researcher's "strength of feeling" regarding a topic can all have an effect on the way research findings are interpreted. One possible solution to bias is triangulation. Hence researcher used three sources of data to cross-check findings. These three sources are internal and external documents, interviews.
There are three approaches to research techniques. Qualitative approach to research is "any social science research that produces results that are not obtained by any statistical procedures or other methods or quantification". Quantitative approach to research implies "that measurement plays an important part. In some cases both methods can be used"(Bouma and Atkinson, 1995). They also state that some subjects are suitable to research using quantitative research techniques where as some subjects are more suitable for qualitative approach. Hence the researcher used qualitative and quantitative methods in this study to gather reliable and valid information without avoiding bias.
Meanwhile documents are divided into primary and secondary sources. Primary sources are those which came into existence in the period under research. Secondary sources are interpretations of events of that period based on primary sources (Bell, 2005)
In this research, primary sources and secondary sources are used to verify the findings of the research. Researcher used external documents to analyse critically and built up a reliable and valid conclusion.
Documents are included internal documents such as company human resources and policies. Further secondary sources such as journals of HRM, Company annual reports, company website and other related documents are used to identify remuneration, employee development, working environment and performance appraisal system influence on the relevant group performance of Bp.
According of the Bryman (2001) the advantage of documents is that they enable the researcher to get closer to what happened and why. Written sources are more likely to be accurate about dates, for example than are oral sources (e.g. interviews, which are reliant on peoples memory). As such, researcher hopes tocome across reliable and valid data in the research.
There is also a need to critically analyse documentary sources. Apart from the issue of document authenticity, the credibility of documents needs to be assessed. Another possible problem lies in the validity of documents as research tools for this particular project. It is important to ensure that the documents selected, while meeting the above criteria of bias and authenticity, are also relevant to the topic under consideration.
Questionnaire
The reliability and validity of using documentary evidence is improved by using them together with other sources of data, a key component in the case-study approach. One such method is a survey. A survey is a "systematic collection of information from large study groups usually by means of interviews or questionnaires administered to samples of units of population" e.g. employee attitude survey (Hartley and Barling, 1998). According to the JILL and Jones (1997) surveys must be piloted in order to ensure that the questions were worded accurately in order to ensure validity and ideally should be piloted before being administered to the main target group. Futher they state surveys can be conducted through deduction, induction, and mixed (questionnaires and interviews). Researcher is planned to used questionnaire and interviews. Accurately worded questionnaires have the advantages of being a quick and cheap method to gather a large amount of data. Wider coverage can reach respondents more easily than other methods. They are stable consistent and uniform measure without variation, thus increasing reliability. In addition, they offer greater assurance of anonymity together with reducing bias or errors caused by the presence or attitudes of the interviewer Adams and Schvaneveldt (1985).
However, questionnaires are not without limitations. According to Harley and Barling (1998) questionnaires can be superficial and may not allow for probing, prompting and clarification of questions. They do not offer opportunities for encouraging survey participation. They identity of the respondent and the conditions under which the questionnaire was answered are not known. Has the right person answered the questions and interference/pressure? As the researcher is not overseeing the process, partial response is possible. Self-administered questionnaires could be a problem for those workers whose learning and writing are an effort.
In order to overcome these limitations, it is important to ensure that the design of the questionnaire is both reliable and valid. According to Bell (2005), questions need to be unambiguous and precise, lack presumptions, and not lead the respondents. In order to ensure validity, questions must be targeted directly at the research question and reliability can be maintained by consistency over all questionnaires.
Researcher is planned to design the questionnaire to investigate whether the remuneration, employee development, working environment and Performance appraisal systems factors influence on executives and managers performance. Most of questions will be short. Therefore participants could did not want allocate more time on the questioner. Therefore respondent rate is very high. Researcher will ask direct and indirect questions to ensure the reliability, validity and avoid bias of the information.
Again, in order to improve the validity and reliability of questionnaires, responses need to be analysed further interviews and then use to analyse the results of questionnaire
Interviews
Group of employees will be interviewed to gain a clearer picture of the findings provided by the questionnaires. Bell (1999) points out that one 'major advantage of interview is its adaptability'. A skilful interviewer can follow up ideas, probe responses and investigate motives and feelings, which the questionnaire never do'. Bell (1999) points out that 'the flexibility of interviews enables the researcher to open up new dimensions of a problem or to discover clues that connect its different elements'. She also quotes from Moser and Kalton (1971:271) 'the survey interview as a conversation between interviewer and respondent with the purpose of eliciting certain information from the respondent'. In order to ensure the validity and reliability of the interviews, preparation will be quite similar to the preparation of the above questionnaires. According to literature, there are three types of interview methods which I have identified and they are structured, semi-structured and unstructured. Structured interview works best with closed questions but open questions may be only partially answered. So the advantages of a structured interview s are that the interviewers can control the content of the interview and consistency of questions can be maintained because same questions are asked without deviation increasing reliability. On the other hand in a semi-structured interview researchers use a schedule of questions or topics to guide a discussion with the subject.
A semi-structured interview can be similar to a conversation and the researcher can ask the subject to clarify or to elaborate. If I use a structured or semi-structured format which enable to tick or circle responses in my pre-prepared questions, this will provide a set of responses which can be fairly easily recorded, summarised and analysed. The research will focus on semi-structured interviews because the subject's own experiences can be explored as well as I can control the interview session. Semi-structured interviews are often favoured by researches because the interviewer can ask supplementary questions and pursue interesting issues raised by a particular answer. By maintaining an overall structure to the interview as the interview develops it should be more of a conversation, which in turn may relax the participant and produce better results (Bell 2005).
Researcher will be used structured interviews and semi structured interviews to get advantages of the interviews. These questions are used focused to verify the findings of the questionnaire and reach to a reliable and valid conclusion. Furthermore researcher interviews the employees separately and cross checked the information to avoid bias. Hence researcher can reach a reliable and valid conclusion.
8. Data Analysis
More generally this research is based on the case study method, so that most of the data will be collected is qualitative. Qualitative data analysis techniques are used to analyse the data.
Brian White (2005, p108) suggest four steps to undertake qualitative data analysis. The first step of his procedure is to read through all results formats such as interview transcript, questionnaires, observation sheets and so on, and carefully note down the points and ideas if any. The second step is to go through each different type of format again, to identify in each one that the researcher considers to be the definitive list of ideas and topics mentioned and to give each discrete topic a code i.e. a number or letter. The third step is to find out extra categories while working through the materials if necessary and to come across useful quotes given by the interviewees. The final step is to re-read all the comments with respect to one idea after all the results have being assigned to a particular category. Linking of some of the ideas with those already identified in the literature and converting of some of the qualitative data into a quantitative format is also a feature of this final step (Brian White, 2005).
Another technique that is popular among the researchers is the concept of grounded theory which is first identified by Glaser and Strauss (1967). That is to say it has spread to all the areas of qualitative research and is the outcome of inductive research. Denscombe (1998) has given an excellent summary of their work and the application of grounded theory to data analysis. He comments that "Qualitative research can be very different in that at the start no observable patterns in the data may be apparent." In grounded theory also, a scheme of analysis is suggested. It is described under five titles. The first one is familiarization with the material. Here the researcher needs to read and re-read the work to get a feel for the material. Second one is the reflection stage where the researcher is going to check whether the data is relevant or not. The third stage is conceptualization. Here the researcher identifies patterns and concepts if any. Cataloguing concepts is the fourth stage where the identified concepts are recorded on index cards. Finally a linking stage occurs. Here the ideas are linked together and researcher starts to build a grounded theory. -- "grounded", as it were, in the data from which it has been generated.
9 Timescale
Activity
Mar 11
April 11
May 11
Week Commencing
10
17
24
2
9
16
22
29
5
12
1. Selection of title
2. Literature review
3. Writing the proposal
4. Submission of proposal
5. Feed back of proposal
6. Data gathering
7. Analysis of data
8. Preparation of the draft report
9. Draft to supervisor for feed back
10. Revise draft report
11. Finalizing i.e. Printing, binding
12. Submission of report
