A model for employee performance trend analysis of distribution centers

Abstract

AbstractTo enhance the operational efficiency of a distribution center (DC), the DC managers have to identify the variations of employee performance with time and use the appropriate management strategies for employee rewards and training. However, the DC managers usually lack a systematic approach for analyzing the employee performance trend to determine the employees to be rewarded or trained. To solve the issue, this research develops a model for analysis of employee performance trend based on an employee performance estimation model. The proposed model consists of two main modules—namely, Derivation of Performance Control Limits (DPCL) and Appraisal of Performance Trend (APT). In the DPCL module, the employee performance can be estimated and the upper and lower control limits of employee performance can be determined. After that, by application of the APT module, the indices of employee performance trend can be derived and can be represented visually for efficient decision of DC managers. On the basis of the proposed model, this research also establishes a Web‐based system for employee performance trend analysis (namely, EPTA platform). Furthermore, a real‐world case was used to evaluate the applicability of the proposed model and platform. By application of the improved analysis diagram generated by the EPTA platform, the uncertain variations of performance trend can be removed to enhance the accuracy of performance trend analysis. As a result, the DC managers can efficiently determine whether the performance trends of employees indicate significant performance increases or decreases by using the proposed model and system. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.