A Term Paper on “Performance Management Process”

Letter of Transmittal

25 August, 2019

Mohammad Behroz Jalil

Assistant Professor
School of Business and Economics
United International University

Subject: A term paper on “Performance Management Process”

Dear Sir,

I would like to submit term paper titled “Performance Management Process”. This term
paper is on performance management practice of a hypothetical company on a
particular industry. So I choose a beverage industry named “Thanda Cola.”

While working on the report, I have tried to follow each and every guideline that you
have advised. It has been a very enlightening experience to work in this new venture
and I have thoroughly enjoyed this task.

Sincerely,

Fahad Bin Abdullah Shuvro

ID No: 111 141 150
On behalf of the group members
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

Firstly I would like to give thanks to the Almighty for giving us the opportunity to work
with this interesting task. Then I would like to thank our honorable faculty Mohammad
Behroz Jalil who has helped me in every step of my task. I am very much glad to work
in this sector. I along with our group have learned a lots of things about performance
management process will help us for our long run in future. Then at last I shall be
grateful to those people who read this report and if they are benefited then it will be
great blessings for me and my group.
Introduction
This term paper is on performance management practice of a hypothetical company on
a particular industry. We took beverage industry and our hypothetical company name is
“The Thanda Cola Company.” Thanda cola is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by
The Thanda Cola Company. It has a unique flavor made in our country. To make a
hypothetical performance management process of this organization we need to identify
2 posts from marketing and sales department among many other posts available in the
company and those posts are-

1. Territory sales Manager

2. Regional sales manager

To understand the performance management we have to consider that it is an ongoing

process of 6 steps which is shown through a diagram below-
 Prerequisites

Performence
Planning

Performence
execution

Performence
Assesment

Performence Review

Performence Renewal
and Recontracting

Now we will go through each step to understand The Thanda Cola Company’s
performance management system for the selected 2 posts.
Step 1: Prerequisites
There are 2 important thing to consider as a manager to design a performance plan and
it’s before implementation within the prerequisite step. Within this step, as a manager I
need to find out the strategic mission, vision and goal of my company, developmental
goals and strategies. This is knowledge about the organization. Another is knowledge
about the jobs.

Knowledge about the organization-

The Thanda Cola Company’s mission and vision and its marketing departments goals
has given below-

 Mission:

 To refresh everyone’s mind, body and spirit

 Making memories wonderful

 To create a difference

 Vision: To achieve our mission, we have developed a set of goals-

 Portfolio: we will offer a portfolio of drinks which people anticipate and satisfy
people’s desire and need.

 Partners: Nurturing a winning network of partners and building mutual loyalty

 Planet: Being a responsible global citizen that makes a difference by lifting

each other up with a positive mind.

 Profit: Making long term profit while fulfilling our responsibilities.

 Departmental Goals: After knowing the mission vision as a manager, I need to
develop marketing and sales department’s goal which include having competitive
advantage through assuring a safe channel of distribution and superior quality.

Knowledge about the jobs-

Once I have the total knowledge of the organization, in the next stage, I will have to
check for the knowledge about the jobs. In this section, I will discuss about the jobs
for 2 posts. Which could be- 1. Territory sales manager & 2. Regional sales manager

 Activities of Territory Sales Manager-

 Building the business within the territory using a variety of sales technique.

 Targeting potential customers and assessing opportunities for sales.

 Arranging meetings with potential customers and selling product offerings.

 Cold calling companies within the territory and establishing needs.

 Putting together a list of target companies within the area.

 Analyzing competitor activities in the region and assessing opportunities for

business development.

 Working to revenue targets and KPI’s as set by the sales director.

 Networking with businesses in the territory and building relationships.

 Attending relevant industry events and conferences to build business.

 Maintaining a good customer relationship

 Responsible for ensuring efficiency of sales operations

 Chasing sales leads from other members of the company.

 Working closely with other territory sales manager’s and regional sales manager

 Putting together sales strategies to target large accounts.

 Determine price schedules and discount rates.

 Oversee regional and local sales managers and their staffs.

 Review operational records and reports to project sales and determine

profitability. Outstanding knowledge of selling techniques

 Deep knowledge of customer account package

 Exceptional ability to maintain good working relations

KSA’s of Territory Sales Manager:

 Skills For Territory Sales Manager-

 Persuasion — persuading others to change their minds or behavior.

 Active listening — Giving full attention to what other people are saying, taking
time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and
not interrupting at inappropriate times.

 Speaking — talking to others to convey information effectively.

 Coordination — adjusting actions in relation to others' actions.

 Critical Thinking — using logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and
weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
 Knowledge For Territory Sales Manager-

 Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing,

promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and
tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems.

 Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for

providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs
assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer
satisfaction.

 English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English

language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and
grammar.

 Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management

principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources
modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people
and resources.

 Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum

and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the
measurement of training effects.

 Abilities for Territory Sales Manager-

 Oral Comprehension — the ability to listen to and understand information and

ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.

 Oral Expression — the ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking

so others will understand.
 Written Comprehension — the ability to read and understand information and
ideas presented in writing.

 Deductive Reasoning — the ability to apply general rules to specific problems to

produce answers that make sense.

 Speech Clarity — the ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.

 Activities: of Regional sales manager-

After discussion with the similar company’s HR executive, I came to know that
the activities which is the tasks performed by the regional sales manager could
be-

 Counsel, train and guide direct reports to drive organization plans for achieving
sales goals.

 Hire, train, set goals and monitor performance of sales representatives and direct
reports.

 Follow desired standards of consistency, fairness and honesty.

 Manage company products, services, features and benefits knowledge.

 Communicating with supervisors, peers, or subordinates.

 Reporting problems to the superior.

 Analyze account profitability and determine sales technique.

 Advertising and market penetration with sales representatives.

 Promoting organization.

 Reaffirm corporate image through ad hoc events and incorporate image into
sales effort.
  Develop, present and sell value proposition.

 Build relationships with professional services consulting.

 Educating field managers to develop joint account plans.

 Define and implement regional sales plans.

 Write presentations, reports and price quotations and support contract

negotiations.

 Foster relationships with Marketing, Product Support, Global Services, Finance

and Engineering employees

 Making short term and long term goals for sales to meet the objectives.

KSA’s of Regional Sales Manager:

In short, knowledge, skill and ability is referred as KSA. Some knowledge about
Regional Sales Manager has given below-

 Knowledge For Regional Sales Manager-

 Sales and Marketing — Knowledge of principles and methods for showing,

promoting, and selling products or services. This includes marketing strategy and
tactics, product demonstration, sales techniques, and sales control systems. See
more occupations related to this knowledge.

 Customer and Personal Service — Knowledge of principles and processes for

providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs
assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer
satisfaction. See more occupations related to this knowledge.

 English Language — Knowledge of the structure and content of the English

language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and
grammar. See more occupations related to this knowledge.
 Administration and Management — Knowledge of business and management
principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources
modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people
and resources. See more occupations related to this knowledge.

 Education and Training — Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum

and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the
measurement of training effects.

 Skill For Regional Sales Manager-

 Analytical Ability- Sales managers receive all kinds of information -- from

verifiable facts to rumors. It is important to be able to see the relevance of these
bits of information, to draw conclusions that fit the facts, and to analyze a
problem to understand root causes. Having analyzed the available information in
a given situation, they must then judicially weigh the evidence in order to decide
on the best course of action.

 Understanding the buyer- The Sales Manager needs to have “Social

Perceptiveness” - Being aware of others' reactions and understanding why they
react as they do. The most important of today’s sales skills simply understands
the buyer. It is important to catch the experience the buyer’s need to design
“Thanda Cola’s “quality.

 Planning and Organizing- Thanda cola’s regional sales post is a vital post
because the amount of information he/she would receive would be huge. A
strong regional sales manager needs to keep all information on his table
planned, organized, and ready to be dished out at a moment’s notice.

 Coaching & Mentoring- Coaching is the number one sales management activity
that drives sales performance. The goal of coaching is to help each sales rep to
improve their performance and reach their true potential. It’s about developing
 your “A” sales people to become “A+” and developing your “B” salespeople to
become “A”s.

 Technological skills- Having knowledge of Business intelligence and data

analysis software, Customer relationship management CRM software, Data base
user interface and query software, e-mail etc.

 Ability for regional sales manager:

 Oral Expression — the ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking

so others will understand.

 Written Comprehension — the ability to read and understand information and

ideas presented in writing.

 Deductive Reasoning — the ability to apply general rules to specific problems to

produce answers that make sense.

 Tasks:

 Promote our product lines by coordinating with store management and media
relations teams.

 Create sales goals for each store and communicate them to store management.

 Evaluate metrics on specific product lines and instruct Store Managers to adjust
inventory appropriately.

 Listen to Store Managers and determine their needs.

 Prepare monthly and quarterly sales reports and submit your findings and
analysis to senior management.

 Serve as the point of contact with vendors, distributors and brokers in your
region.
  Inform senior management of any discrepancies or issues with sales team goals
and result

Job Analysis-

For getting all the information about the job responsibilities I will use questionnaire and
log diary as a tool for better understanding of these jobs. In questionnaire all the
question will be related to their job. If they maintained then it will give me every single
task they perform in daily basis.
 Step 2. Performance Planning

Performance planning refers to a company's formal process of identifying and

planning either an individual’s or organization’s goals or the best way to reach them.
Broadly description of performance planning is given below:

Measuring Results: When the result approach adopts then the accountability,
objectives and standards must be determined. Here I will consider the key
accountabilities when I measure the results of the territory sales manager:

Accountability: Accountability refers the different areas in which the individual is

expected to focus efforts. The key accountability of territory sales manager:

 A territory sales manager is accountable for maintaining a good customer

relationship
 They are also responsible for ensuring efficiency of sales operations
  To generate profit is the most important target for any organization. A territory
sales manager also accountable for setting and meeting sales targets to
increase revenue.

Key accountability of Regional sales manager:

 A regional Sales manager is accountable for collaborating with senior executives

to establish and execute a sales goal for the region
 Managing a sales team in order to maximize sales revenue and meet or exceed
corporate-set goals
 They are also accountable for forecasting annual, quarterly and monthly sales
goals.

Objectives: Generally objectives means a statement of the measurement and

important outcomes. It is very crucial to set objectives that will help to evaluate their
results. Objectives for territory sales manager are:
 Huge experience in managing sales cycle, supervising sales related activities
and establishing prospective client base

 Outstanding knowledge of selling techniques

 Deep knowledge of customer account package

 Exceptional ability to maintain good working relations

 Skilled to complete work on time

Objectives for regional sales manager are:

 The ability to forecast

  Competency of English language including the meaning and spelling of
words, rules of composition, and grammar.

 Leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and

resources.

 Idea about training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and
groups, and the measurement of training effects.

Standards: Performance standards are the yardstick which is designed to help people
to understand what extent the objective has been achieved. Standards can refer to
various aspect of specific objectives including quality, quantity and time. Each of
those aspects can be considered a criterion to be used in judging the extent to which an
objective has been achieved.

Quality: Here, it is determined that how well the objective has been achieved? This can
include usefulness, responsiveness, acceptance, error rate etc.

Quantity: In quantity it is determined that how much has been produced, how many,
how often etc.

Time: Last aspect is time. Here includes due dates, adherence, cycle times, deadlines
etc.

Standards for territory sales manager and regional sales manager are almost same.
They produce 150 units per day at 8 hours working day.

Measuring Behavior:
Measuring behavior is another component of performance planning. I measuring
behavior I have to identify some criteria like: employee’s key competencies, employee’s
behavioral indicators and the measurement system to measure their behavior.

Identifying key competencies: Competencies are knowledge, skills, ability that are
needed to perform the job. These knowledge, skills and abilities for territory sales
manager and regional sales manager are given in detail in step one. So I am not
repeating it here again. But identifying what is differentiating and threshold
competencies is most important. So I am describing those below:

Differentiating: It allows us to distinguish between average and superior performers.

For the territory sales manager if he/she produces outcomes that exceeds the
expectation that will be the differentiation competency for them. On the other hand a
regional sales manager knows different language, are good in communication, they
have also technical knowledge which are considered their differentiating competency.

Threshold: Threshold is the minimum requirement of competency that is needed to

perform their job. For territory sales manager threshold is talking to others to convey
information effectively, persuading others to change their minds or behavior, the ability
to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and
sentences etc. And for regional sales manager the threshold is Manage company
products, services, features and benefits knowledge, Counsel, train and guide direct
reports to drive organization plans for achieving sales goals, Analyze account
profitability and determine sales technique, Create sales goals for each store and
communicate them to store management etc.

Identifying Indicators: To understand the extent to which an employee possesses a

competency, I measure indicator. Indicators are the observable behavior that gives
information about competencies. I need to set the indicator in a neutral way that has
much transparency. In setting indicators, some steps should be followed. These are
given below:

Firstly, defining the competencies which have already defined.

Secondly, analyzing the specific behavioral indicators that shows effectiveness of the
competencies. Here the indicators of territory sales manager and regional sales
manager are given below:

 For territory sales manager if he/she can maintain a good customer relationship,
make the sales operations efficient, Targeting potential customers and assessing
opportunities for sales, use the assets effectively to generate profit, Arranging
meetings with potential customers and selling product offerings, Cold calling
companies within the territory and establishing needs, that will help to achieve the
organizational goals easily and it also shows that he uses his competencies
effectively. Building the business within the territory using a variety of sales
technique

 For regional sales manager if he/she hire, train, set goals and monitor performance
of sales representatives and direct reports. Follow desired standards of
consistency, fairness and honesty, Manage company products, services, features
and benefits knowledge, communicating with supervisors, peers, or subordinates
these perfectly demonstrating his/ her competencies effectively.

And finally, describing the specific behavior that is result when competencies is not
demonstrating effectively. In that case territory sales manager and regional sales
manager would be:

 Territory sales manager sometimes has lack of knowledge about product quality,
not able to work properly, lack of knowledge about teamwork, couldn’t able to
guide properly etc.

 Regional sales manager will not able to communicate with supervisor properly,
resist to work timely manner, not able to work in due time etc.
There are some suggestions for territory sales manager and regional sales manager.
These are given below:

 Follow the strategic goal of the organization

 Communicate to the immediate supervisor, if they face any problem.

 Enhance their communication skills.

Choosing the measurement systems.

There are two systems are widely used to measure employees behavior. One is
absolute system & another is comparative system. For territory sales manager &
regional sales manager, I will use comparative system. Under the comparative
system, there are four systems as well. So, from that I will choose simple ranking
method for territory sales manager & forced distribution for regional sales manager.

Simple Ranking Method: Simple ranking method is a system for measuring

employee’s behavior based on their performance sequentially. I think it is more suitable
for production people because they all have same specification, standards and
objectives. Here the best ranking and worst ranking find out are too easy. So it is
suitable for territory sales manager and regional sales manager.

Forced distribution method: Forced distribution is a bell shaped structured method

where all the employees can be seen in one diagram. From that we can easily get the
information about the best, worst and mediocre employees. So it will save time as well.
It is more suitable for the managerial people .Though they have less interaction with
supervisors. But the subordinates get continuous feedback. This system can be most
popular for territory sales manager and regional sales manager.

Development plan: Development plan is basically initiated after getting the combined
feedback I get from after measuring results and behavior. If I found any deviation in
result and behavior then I will go for development plan for those two jobs. Here it is easy
to get the expected feedback. It is must to evaluate and monitoring the development
plan. To successfully meet with the development plan I need to collect all related data,
evaluate the feasibility of the method then I will implement that.
 Step 3: Performance execution:

Performance execution is considered as most important stage because the whole

exercise of creating performance management systems and building up standards
would rely on it. The primary responsibility and ownership of performance execution is
with employee, which is followed by department and then organization. Hence, it is
considered as a chain or process, in which the performance of individual employees
would result department performance.
Once the performance-planning phase has been completed, it's time to get the job done
to execute the plan. Performance execution is the second phase of an effective
performance management process. For the individual, the critical responsibility in Phase
II is getting the job done achieving the objectives. Therefore territory manager
responsibilities to the creating the conditions that motivate, and confronting and
correcting any performance problems. In an effective performance management
system, performance execution also includes a midterm review to ensure that
performance is on track. What are the manager's responsibilities in the performance
execution phase? Essentially, performance execution consists of two major
responsibilities for the manager. The first is to create the conditions that motivate people
to perform at an excellent level. The other is to eliminate performance problems when
they arise.

The manager also has some responsibilities in the performance execution phase of the
process. They are:

- Maintaining performance records

- Updating objectives as conditions change

- Providing feedback and coaching for success

- Providing development experiences and opportunities

- Reinforcing effective behavior

-Conducting a midterm review meeting

Maintaining Performance Records. Every manager has to keep track of how well the
people in the department are doing. Too often, managers wait until the time for
performance appraisal rolls around to discover that they can only remember what Sam
or Melinda did in the last six weeks or so. That's why it's important to maintain good
records of individuals' performance during the entire year. Don't make the mistake of
only keeping track of performance problems. Your records should include examples of
both results and behaviors that caused you concern, as well as those that were right on
target. Updating Objectives as Conditions Change. Over the course of a year, projects
will be completed and the individual will move on to the next requirement. Some
projects will be altered from the expectations and requirements that were set at the
start. Others will be abandoned Providing Feedback and Coaching for Success. Unless
someone tells them differently, most people believe that they are doing a good job and
are meeting the organization's expectations. Providing routine and ongoing feedback is
one of the characteristics of an effective manager. Providing Developmental
Experiences and Opportunities. People develop when they are presented with
challenging situations, when they successfully complete the demands posed by those
challenging situations, and when they reflect on what they did well and what they would
do differently the next time a similar situation arises.

 Employees also have some responsibility to the territory sales manger

 Employee must committed to the goals that were set.
 Employee should wait for the supervisor they review solicit performance
feedback.
 Step 4: Performance assessment

Performance assessment is the next stage followed by performance execution. In this

phase, the employee and manager both are responsible to measure and assess the
performance of employee against his targets. The process should comprise to the
extent of individual targets, behaviors or attitude and special achievements during the
performance appraisal cycle.

Specifically, the inclusion of self-rating helps emphasizes possible discrepancies

between self-views and the views that important others (supervisors) have of our
behaviors.
 Step 5: Performance review

The performance review basically meeting appraisal or discussion between the

employee and the manager. Here employee receive feedback from the supervisor on
the basis of the performance what he/she has done it is perfectly done or not if errors
occur how to rectify it. Performance review it past present future. Territory manager has
the responsibility to identify the problem and solve it

Therefore, After Conducting the Thanda cola performance review of the employees set
up a meeting whether we need to change the strategy or set new goal for the
employees. In the whole PM system two jobs territory manager and regional sales
manager evaluated the performance result they will decide come to new development
plan or not.
Conclusion
Thanda cola is a carbonated soft drink manufactured by The Thanda Cola Company. It
has a unique flavor made in our country. To make a hypothetical performance
management process of this organization we need to identify 2 posts from marketing
and sales department among many other posts available in the company and those
posts are-

1. Territory sales Manager

2. Regional sales manager

Here it is analyzed the KSA, accountability, objectives, standards of these two post.
There are different performance management process like, prerequisite, performance
planning, performance execution, performance assessment, performance review.
Performance planning refers to a company's formal process of identifying and planning
either an individual’s or organization’s goals or the best way to reach them.
Performance execution is considered as most important stage because the whole
exercise of creating performance management systems and building up standards
would rely on it. Performance assessment is the next stage followed by performance
execution. In this phase, the employee and manager both are responsible to measure
and assess the performance of employee against his targets. The performance review
basically meeting appraisal or discussion between the employee and the manager.
Bibliography:
https://www.google.com/search?q=what+is+performance+planning&ie=utf-8

https://www.onetonline.org/

https://www.onetonline.org/find/quick?s=performance+execution

Performance-Management-3rd –edition by Herman Aguinis