Appraisal and Discipline

Abstract

When a company adopts plans establishing priorities and targets so as to operate in its markets as profitably and successfully as possible, people are an essential element of the equation. It is they who will ultimately control whether the plans will become a reality or remain a vision on a scrap of paper. Knowledge and understanding of its human resources are as vital to the company’s long-term health as audits of its present and future strategy and physical resources. In arriving at an objective assessment of what is and is not feasible, a clear view of staffing matters, of the talents available and desirable is as important as financial and market considerations. This is the only way of ensuring that the correct team of individuals is available to cope with the future problems and opportunities. At the same time it should be said that clearsightedness in dealing with personnel issues, in the carrot and stick areas especially, appears to be more elusive than in such matters as market trends or finance. Perhaps it is because it is an area where objectivity tends to be at the mercy of pragmatism.