ABSTRACT
It is our contention that much poor performance of staff results from poor management at some stage in the past. Thus we believe that a major emphasis should be on the prevention of poor performance through good staff management. All the stages of managing staff are potential contributors to poor performance. These stages are:
• selection • induction • motivation and monitoring • appraisal • development
Approaches to staff management
There are a number of approaches to staff management which can prove successful. Two contrasting approaches are:
• structural • strong culture
By structural, we mean that there is a clear management structure with formally delegated responsibilities and meaningful job descriptions. How such management responsibilities are discharged is then a matter of management style. With this approach there should be a clear responsibility for identifying and dealing with poor performance, and there should be wellestablished procedures for providing a clear framework within which to act. Although this may sound a little mechanistic, the practice can be very different depending on the spirit in which such a system is operated. The management style can range from the informal and encouraging to the formal and restrictive. The framework provides the structure to guide operations if things begin to go wrong.
