The Use of Scorecard Individual and its Impact on Individual Employee Performance

Introduction

As an individual employee contributes towards improving organizational performance, an individual performance system needs to be important so that their roles in the attainment of the organizational strategic objectives are understood better. Gomes and Liddle (2009) showed that individual performance systems enable employees to receive support and feedback on their performance and reveal new opportunities befitting their skills and experiences as well as learning and development areas. SHRM (2018) reiterated that performance management will only succeed if managers and supervisors also understand the systems and provide sufficient motivation and learning and development resources which enable measurement of individual performances based on their direct reports instead of the general business results. Scorecard Individual is one of the performance management systems used at Petrofac International to evaluate and support patterns of individual successes. The system is founded on performance management theories on the capability of the employees to satisfy stakeholder needs, meet organizational objectives and create a culture of commitment to overall organizational goals (Kaplan, 2020). This essay critically examines the use of Scorecard Individual and its impact on the Petrofac International workplace and individual employee performance.

The rest of this paper is divided into four sections. Firstly, the performance management system, Scorecard Individual, is described and explained especially on how it is used. Secondly, a critical review of the performance management system is presented. Thirdly, the author discusses the use of other formal performance management tools. Finally, the author reflects on the performance management system.

Description of The System

Scorecard Individual performance management system is a tool used to help managers or supervisors to assess the performance of individual employees in meeting specific goals regularly (SHRM, 2018). Managers and supervisors at Petrofac International use this tool to connect individual tasks with the company’s vision and strategy. When all employees in the organization have Scorecard Individual then the entire organization will be aligned. This is because this performance measurement tool is defined in clearly measurable teams where specific roles of individuals are specified thus ensuring that there is accountability in operations. At the organization, the Scorecard Individual tool is used to define the contribution of every employee towards the attainment of the organization’s objectives. For instance, this tool measures the added value upon achievement of the organization's vision and provides a way of measuring and tracking progress on an ongoing basis and ensuring that the employee is focused on important organizational priorities (Kaplan, 2020). Most importantly, this tool ensures that every member of the organization can take ownership of their factors either critical success factors or influence factors. This ownership is enhanced at Petrofac International as every employee is encouraged to construct their scorecard leading to a greater understanding of the scope of their tasks which can result in positive action.

This tool ensures there is a strict commitment to project specification, the scope of work and HSSEIA requirements. The employees are encouraged to lead their teams and perform tasks. For instance, at Petrofac, the tool helps the employees to follow Petrofac and Client HSE policy and abide by life-saving rules, diversity and inclusion policy along with compliance to all project-related procedures, guidelines and other normative documents. The tool also helps to empower local labour with formal classroom training; regular toolbox talks and effective day-to-day communication on-site will also build trust and feelings of inclusion at the company. Based on how Scorecard Individual is used at Petrofac, it is clear that the executives and supervisors use it as a comprehensive framework for translating the strategic objectives of the company into a set of coherent performance measures. In this case, it is a management system which can be used to facilitate the attainment of breakthrough improvements in critical areas of market, process, and product and customer relationship development. Consequently, it is used in the implementation of local improvement programs such as process reengineering, employee empowerment and total quality management (Amaratunga & Baldry, 2002).

Scorecard Individual ensures proper implementation of project quality plan and daily upkeep of records registers and trackers is implemented and maintained daily, weekly and monthly. Through regular reviews and refamiliarisation of all project quality documents, specifications, relevant codes and company procedures the employee can be able to realize a greater level of commitment to the company’s tasks (Kaplan, 2020). Specifically, at my work, it enables me to carry out daily quality surveillance in line with our QAQC job description with enthusiasm and integrity and to impart my knowledge to local contractors and local nationals employed within my own department. This quality of the performance management system serves as a focal point for the organisation’s tasks. That is, this quality enables managers, employees, investors and even customers to define and communicate their priorities in relation to the organization (Gomes & Liddle, 2009). The tool can also be used at the organization as the benchmark against the new businesses and projects under evaluation.

Teamwork and leadership are important elements of engineering project management. However, the success of the team should be measurable in relation to the strategic goals of the organization and the scope of specific tasks (Qureshi et al., 2010). At Petrofac International, Scorecard Individual is used to establish and maintaining a motivated project quality team. This is done by developing proper communication and coordination with the construction team and all project discipline staff. This tool also helps in the facilitation of team weekly meetings and records minutes and action plans with regular and effective follow-up. Moreover, the tool helps in carrying out and recording at least 1 job-specific toolbox talk per rotation and gives logical and practical explanations for the job-specific problem. Scorecard Individual can also be used to include members’ performance in team tasks. For instance, at Petrofac International, to be an effective and inspirational team player in QA/QC team and to give sound advice and knowledge to subcontractors on delivering a high standard of work. In this regard, the tool helps one to develop proper communication skills and competency with the quality team and sub-contractors, sharing technical issues and clarification for lessons learned and holding at least four toolbox talks and one training session per rotation for sub-contractors and attending weekly contractor meetings with the Client construction team and HSE lead.

Critique of The System

Performance management is generally defined as the use of performance measurement data to facilitate positive changes in the organization's processes, systems and culture by assisting to define performance goals, allocation and prioritization of resources and informing the managers and supervisors to oversee the current policy directions to achieve goals and share performance results in relation to the pursuit of those goals (Amaratunga & Baldry, 2002). Additionally, performance management consists of a cycle encompassing clarification of business goals and agreeing on individual objectives and performance standards. As an example of a performance management tool, Petrofac International’s Scorecard Individual consist of elements such as a structured methodology in designing a performance measurement system, and a structured management process to assist in using the performance measurement data in making decisions, setting performance goals, allocation resources and reporting success. Scorecard Individual is also characterized by a set of requirement specifications of the needed electronic tools for data collection, processing and analysis. This tool also offers guidelines on the management of performance measures and how to effectively apply information generated from the performance measurement systems (Busi & Butitci, 2006). As a performance management tool, Scorecard Individual offers a performance review framework which helps in the constant update of the measures in a manner that reflects strategy changes and market conditions.

Scorecard Individual helps in the maintenance of job descriptions, self-assessment of employees, notification of performance review dates and requirements and a statistical dashboard. As Petrofac International continues to grow, managers and teams require a standardized performance management process to set goals and gauge individual performances. Scorecard Individual ensures that the individual tasks are aligned with the company culture and strategy and assist in talent management. In line with this argument, Qureshi et al (2010) indicated that it also serves as a performance appraisal tool for employees, teams and managers. Besides, Qureshi et al (2010) highlighted that effective performance management systems help in the identification of skills and task success planning. This means that the right skills can be matched with the new tasks thus minimizing the defective rates in the production process. The best performance management systems were found to help foster employee development, providing constructive feedback and effectively transparently measuring key results across all layers within the company. It provides an easy-to-use performance evaluation process while also keeping the teams and individual employees accountable for the attainment of their goals.

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