Employee Programs

Paladin Industries Services

Paladin Industries Services is an American industry which was established in the year 2009. The Washington based multinational company specializes in design and installation of total security solutions. This is done by providing a range of products including Biometric Access Control, emergency preparedness services and provision of physical security services, such as fencing, security gates and uniformed guards. Today, this company has expanded with a total work force of 40,000 distributing its products to nearly all the continents. The management of this company has come up with a lot of strategies to plan, monitor and evaluate their performance.

Paladin Industries Services has been consistent in the employee coaching. According to the company policies, this is one of the most recommended ways to develop the employees’ potential and ensure that they do their best for the sake of the company’s development. Some of the ways through which such services are offered include dialogue, counseling, meetings and constant delivery of feedback to the workforce. If employees are engaged in more fruitful discussions and their problems are solved in a transparent manner, they feel highly motivated to deliver their best (Rogers, 2008).

Besides, this company offers the employee wellness programs to all its workers. This is solely sponsored on their behalf in order to help them lead a healthy life. In doing this, the management of the company engages the workers in lunch breaks, encourages them to participate in health exercises and rewards them appropriately for their compliance. Any employee who accepts to take up a health program may be through joining a gym or participating in a health day is given an incentive. This motivates them to actively participate in such exercises. In the long run they end up benefiting from them (Siska, A, et al., 2010).

Lastly, Paladin Industries Services is deeply involved in performance management programs. This is done by establishing realistic goals, developing plans, engaging, monitoring and evaluating employees to participate in such programs. In doing this, the top management carries a series of activities which help in ensuring that the workers are given a conducive atmosphere for their performance and development. However, at times such a program can be extended to a departmental or organizational level to ensure that there is optimal delivery for the good of the entire company. All these explain why Paladin Industries Services has been able to expand in the recent past.

Siemens Company

Siemens was founded by Werner von Siemens in 1847. Its headquarters are in Munich, Germany. Today, it has grown and established branches in over 190 countries. As a result of this expansion, it has emerged as a leading manufacturer in energy, health care, transportation and industry. Hence, it specializes in producing communication system, medical, lighting, railway vehicles, automation, fire alarms and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) software. According to the company’s official statistics, in the 2011/12 fiscal year it had a workforce of 370,000 which helped it to generate total revenue of € 6.145 billion during the same period. All this success is attributed to the company’s brilliant management. Just like Paladin Industries Services, Siemens Company has extensively used coaching, employee welfare and performance management strategies in its development agenda.

To begin with, Siemens offers coaching services through mentorship, inductions and constant support. All the workers from different departments are mentored in their respective areas of specialization. It uses senior experienced workers to inform the junior and new ones on the roles they should play in order to ensure that the organization’s objectives are accomplished (Rogers, 2008). At the same time, seminars and conference are regularly organized for them. These can be within the company premises, in its branches or in selected hotels.

Siemens also offers the employee wellness programs. It offers all the workers subsidized health insurance schemes and organizes for employee wellness days at regular intervals. At the same time, it caters for employees’ medication and always provides such information in the company newsletters, prospectus and web site. Each of these programs helps the workers to get access to free or cheap medical services within and out of the company. For instance, if the workers are assured of health insurance cover, it will be very easy for them to seek for medication whenever they need. This will help the company to escape losses it might face as a result of laborers failing to report to work due to sickness (Thompson, et al, 2005).

Eventually, Siemens is involved in performance management programs. Apart from keenly monitoring employees, it motivates them through incentives and recognition. Having realized that they constitute a very significant role in the company, the workers are involved in any discussion process to deliberate on various activities of the company. At the same time, top performers are rewarded by promotion. This is done in a transparent manner without any discrimination. As a result, they feel recognized and boosted to improve their performance for the sake of company’s set goals.

Apple Inc.

Apple Inc. was founded on April 1, 1976, by Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne. Since its establishment, it has grown and achieved a lot of successes. Today it has become the leading manufacturer of electronics, digital distributions, computer hardware and software. As of June this year, it had a total of 72,000 employees working in its headquarters at Cupertino and other branches all over the world.

Just like Paladin Industries Services and Siemens, Apple participates in employee coaching as one of its management strategies. It does this by organizing seminars, offering mentorship programs and creating a very conducive atmosphere for all employees. Each of them is given free space to exercise their freedom without any form of intimidation. In case of any issue, a diplomatic approach is adopted to tackle it. This makes the laborers feel appreciated and do all their best to achieve the best results for the company.

There are employee wellness programs aiming at boosting their health. Having realized the importance of having medically fit workforce, Apple Inc. has come up with consultancy services for their workers. Besides, it offers health classes in which employees are encouraged to participate in medical exercises such as attending gymnastics and participating in weight loss activities (Siska et al., 2010).

Eventually, there are performance management programs tailored for helping this organization to provide quality services, maximize profits and achieve its goals. The company sets out work plans and informs all the workers about them. They are keenly supervised to ensure that anyone who is not conforming to the expected standards is punished through demotion, suspension or even sacking. In the long run the company only retains quality workers who are ready to offer their best services to its clients (Aubrey, 2009).

The Role of Coaching, Employee Wellness and Performance Management in the Performance Improvement and Employee Retention

An effective use of these strategies is very important for any business organization in many ways. These include the following:

First, it helps in motivating the workers. The giving of incentives and opportunity for individual workers to empower themselves is essential in motivating them. If the employees are coached and given a chance to contribute in a company’s management process, they will feel recognized. At the same time, if they are given free medical services and reduced health insurance schemes, they will be very happy (Aubrey, 2009). Similarly, the introduction of reward schemes in which the most successful laborers are promoted can make them feel appreciated and do their best in order to get rewarded. This motivation will enable them to serve the company without thinking of looking for any other employer.

At the same time, the use of these management strategies can help an organization to improve the quality of services offered. The coaching of workers grants them a chance to improve their performance in line with the company’s standards. This is made better, especially if rigorous monitoring and immediate feedback are given with a promise of reward for any improvement. On the other hand, the employee wellness program helps in improving personal health of the workers. In the long run they become medically fit to do their respective tasks without any hindrance. A healthy worker is self-motivated, efficient and effective in discharging duties. This will rid the company of any case of absenteeism which can derail its performance.

Recommendations

Based on the above finding, this research gives the following recommendations:

1. Even if it is advisable to concentrate on individual workers, it is recommended that these companies should introduce schemes covering departments. There should be a decentralization of activities to give each department an opportunity to identify their own strategies to adopt.
2.  There should be a consistency in these companies. The frequent change of policies is not good for excellent performance because it interferes with the accomplishment of the long term goals. Once a decision is made, it should be respected and executed as planned without being changed before its maturity.
3. There should be freedom and autonomy amongst the laborers. Instead of using coercion to compel them to conform to the company regulations, there should be understanding and cooperation in all levels of management. This will help to eliminate any unnecessary red tape in the company’s hierarchy.