Performance Appraisals Kudler Foods. Performance Appraisal System:

Performance Appraisals

Kudler foods.

Performance appraisal system: Kudler Foods

Within the food and hospitality business, a wide variety of types of employees are needed to bring a company's vision to fruition. These require a vast array of different skill sets. For example, a store or general department manager needs to be an effective leader, know how to delegate, and be able to prioritize objectives to suit the needs of various consumers. A department specialty manager requires more specific knowledge of the different aspects of the food business he or she is operating within. Entry-level positions require an ability to take orders, reliability, and often the ability to serve customers with a smile. Kudler Foods must create different performance evaluation methods to evaluate employees with these distinct skill sets, while still creating an overall company ethos reflecting a commitment to quality.

One way one of Kudler Foods' major competitors has navigated the need to create a company ethos is in the form of Whole Foods' team leadership performance system. Within each Whole Foods there are "self-managed teams -- produce, grocery, prepared foods, and so on -- with designated leaders and clear performance targets. The team leaders in each store are a team; store leaders in each region are a team; the company's six regional presidents are a team" (Fishman 1996:1). This system of team leadership seems ideally suited to the food business, as it creates a sense of investment the company's development amongst even the lower-level members of the organizational hierarchy. Even an entry-level stockperson is a member of a team, and has accountability and performance goals. If those goals are met, he or she will be rewarded. Although, Kudler remains a fairly small organization at present, it can still implement some of the team leadership principles embodied at Whole Foods.

In the case of Kudler, the store is divided into three categories of employees. The first category is that of the store manager and major department managers. The front line customer service entry-level positions consist of cashiers and baggers, while stock persons operate behind the scenes. Mid-level positions consist of specialty department workers.

The first team will consist of entry-level employees who interface with the public, such as cashiers and baggers. These employees will be evaluated upon their speed, enthusiasm, accuracy, knowledge, and their ability to provide a satisfactory customer experience. Navigating consumers through the check-out aisles, having a drawer that is 'balanced' at the end of the day, and being able to inform customers about the store experience (such as consistency explaining the value of having a store 'value card') are some of the ways employees can be graded for their competencies and skills. Employees will be judged based upon consumer satisfaction surveys consumers will fill out online, based upon requests to log into surveys that will appear at the end of every shopping bill; upon evaluations of supervisors; and also evaluations of this workforce 'team' as a whole. During performance reviews employees will be asked about the service provided by their fellow workers at the register and asked to rate their fellow employees.

Back-of-house stock positions will be rated based upon accuracy; knowledge (such as directing consumers to different departments when questioned); service (such as telling managers when items seem overstocked or under-stocked on a consistent basis); reliability, and overall attitude. Back-of-house managers will evaluate the 'team' of stock positions, but during performance reviews, individuals will also be evaluated and asked how they would evaluate their own performance and the performance of other workers on the team. Once again, performance evaluations will be conducted in a holistic manner.

Mid-level specialty department managers will be evaluated on the overall sales figures of their department (how quickly the food 'moves' off of the shelves as well as overall profits); profit margins; cleanliness and appearance of the store area, and customer satisfaction. This will be based upon the evaluation of the store manager, customer surveys, and also the subordinates on their specific specialty food 'team.' Allowing lower-level employees to have input into the evaluations of upper-level managers will be valuable because it will demonstrate to employees that their opinion matters.

Upper-level department and store managers will be evaluated on overall store profitability, performance of lower-level employees (including department managers, specialty managers, and entry-level employees), appearance of the store, customer satisfaction, leadership and vision. Their performance will also be compared against the performance of other individuals of similar status at various Kudler locations.

In terms of weighing the different components of the performance of each level of employees, while all employees' competencies will be evaluated equally, different weight will be given to the different types of input of the various persons solicited for performance reviews. For example, in the case of entry-level employees, evaluations of supervisors and hard data regarding the accuracy of the drawer totals, accuracy of stocking the shelves, and customer input will be weighted more highly than the input of their fellow workers. It will be assumed that at this level, employees are still being educated in the company ethos and are learning how to evaluate one another as well as how to improve their own performance, although they can still give valuable input.

In the case of and specialty managers, profitability will be the most important determinant of how they are evaluated, followed by supervisor perceptions. Then, the evaluations of their subordinates will be considered, followed by measure of customer satisfaction. Customers often do not realize what employees have contributed to their overall 'experience' at a store, unless they are directly interacting with the employee so their input will have less weight in this category.

Finally, in the case of higher-level managers, overall financially-driven performance of the store will be the factors most heavily weighted in their performance appraisals, followed by the input of their subordinates. They will also be judged by outside managers in terms of how they manage the store, including if they introduce new promotions, distinguish the store in relation to its competitors, and how the stores offer new 'experiences' to the Kudler shopping experience.