Organisational Culture

The expression of behaviours, expectations and values of employees within an organisation and how these are viewed by people outside of the organisation. An organisation which is seen as friendly, transparent, knowledgeable, impartial, empathetic, supportive and respectful of others, will find it easier to attract and retain workers than one which lacks these features.

  Ouchi's Theory Z

William Ouchi's book 'Theory Z How American Business Can Meet the Japanese Challenge' (1981) explored the motivation of workers as a type of combination of American and Japanese styles of management, creating a type of 'humanistic' people centred approach. The motivation of workers was seen as being achieved through promoting a valuing of employees; promoting a belonging culture with good job security and commitment of employees to the organisation; encouraging a high degree of trust between employer and employees; having confidence in the abilities of workers and developing them through c

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  Outcome, Scaling, Know How & Resources, Affirm and Action, Review

A useful 5-stage coaching model, often abbreviated to OSKAR, for focusing on finding a solution to an issue, without much intermediate reflection taking place. 1. Define the purpose and outcome from the coaching session. 2. On a scale of 1 to 10 towards the desired outcome, where is the coachee on this scale. 3. What knowledge, skills and behaviours does the coachee currently possess? What resources are available to help assist in achieving the desired outcome? 4. Provide positive affirmation to the coachee from findings of stage 3. The Coach will help the coachee identify action to t

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  Outcome, Situation, Choice and consequences, Actions, Review

A useful 5-stage coaching model, often abbreviated to OSCAR, which is based on the GROW model and can be particularly useful for managers to initiate a coaching process and where they wish to engage employees in problem solving and improving performance. 1. Define the purpose and outcome from the coaching session. 2. The coachee will clarify their current situation. 3. Identify choices and options to potentially achieve the outcome and include the consequences of each choice. What are the most promising and best options? 4. Identify the action and activities needed, including timesca

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  Peer

A person who has a similar work, learning, or professional status as someone else. For example, a craft level worker, such as a grounds operative (with a Level 2 qualification) would be the peer of someone else with the same criteria, however, they would not be the peer of an individual who was a grounds manager. In this latter instance they would, however, be work colleagues if they both worked for the same employer.

  Performance Appraisal

A process which is used for employees and their line managers to discuss current work performance and how an employee can develop their knowledge, skills and behaviours to continue to improve their performance for the benefit of the organisation. It is also known as a performance review. There are different stages to a performance appraisal, including: 1. The appraisee should be aware of the performance appraisal process within the organisation. The staff handbook should explain this. 2. Inform the appraisee when the time is scheduled for an appraisal (typically a main annual review, co

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  Performance Appraisal, Benefits of

Where implemented appropriately a performance appraisal can provide numerous benefits to an employer and employee, with examples including the following: 1. Helping with career development by providing an overview of the current situation for an employee, potential progression routes and opportunities within an organisation and relevant industry sector. 2. Identifying strengths and weaknesses for an individual. Areas that can be improved can be readily identified and appropriate guidance, training or qualifications, following a training or learning needs analysis, can be undertaken to addres

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  Performance Appraisal, Limitations of

Appraisals do need to be carried out in a well-considered manner, otherwise negative perceptions about them will often be aired by employees. Limitations, and disadvantages, might include some of the following: 1. They can be seen as a tick-box exercise, without any medium to long term interest by managers or measurable benefits by an employee. If feedback and actions are limited, then the impact on the employee’s future performance can be negligible, resulting in a lack of motivation or benefit seen from an appraisal. 2. They can be undertaken without adequate preparation time, for both ma

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  Person Specification

This identifies the essential and desirable criteria of the type of person which is deemed ideal for a particular job role which will have been explained within a job description. A person specification will indicate a range of personal attributes, including skills, qualifications, knowledge, behaviours, experience, and these will be used to help an employer in the recruitment selection stage for asking candidates for interview. By including this range of required information in a job advert, a potential applicant will have a much clearer idea of the expectations of the person who an emplo

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  Prioritising

Identifying tasks to be carried out and then ordering them in a sequence, according to their relative importance at that time, of when they should be tackled and completed. Priorities can and do change, especially in project work, so it is important to be adaptable and flexible in managing prioritised tasks. At the start of a working week the priorities for grounds maintenance work for that week might be quite clear to all concerned, however, if staff sickness occurs during the week, weather and ground conditions change (which can frequently occur working on grounds), vandalism or excessiv

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