Managers in an organization have to make sure that the management control function of the organization continues to perform smoothly. Once plans have been set in place, the management is responsible for coming up with a series of steps that are going to ensure that these plans are carried out and implemented throughout all the layers of the organization.

There are different steps in the basic control process that must be followed by all organizations. The most common ones include improving product quality, reducing the amount of waste produced by the organization, and boosting sales.

What Is the Management Control Function?

The management control function is the group of managers in the organization who are responsible for coming up with the control function, also known as the series of steps that will be implemented throughout the organization. Organizations are generally divided into different layers.

There is the upper management, the executive management that is responsible for creating the vision of the company. This is the group of people who comprise the chairman, the CEO, and the board of directors. They have a fiduciary duty to the shareholders of the organization, and act as stewards of the company.

Once they have decided the vision and future of the company, the management control function comes into play. These are the managers and the professionals of the business who are responsible for making sure that the objectives and targets received from the top are met. To do this, they come up with a series of processes that must be followed. Here are the most common steps in a conventional control process.

Setting Standards for Performance

Managers need to make sure that the plans set by the board are turned into performance standards. Performance standards can be goals. For instance, the sales team can receive a goal of generating more sales over a specific period such as the next quarter. The standards set by the management should be clear, and they should be measurable.

Ideally, when setting goals, it might be a wise idea to make use of the SMARTER framework. Most professionals do this to ensure that their objectives are met. Performance standards also need to be revised on a frequent basis depending on how well the company is functioning and the overall performance of its employees.

For instance, good managers understand that if an employee is performing better, they often think about revising their duties to get the best out of them. Giving them additional responsibility, for instance, is a great idea.

Measuring Performance

There is no point in setting goals if the performance of the employees cannot be measured properly. It will be impossible to figure out if the standards of performance that have been set have been met by the management if the measurement protocols are not in place. For instance, if an organization is making sales, they should have a tool for tracking the number of conversions and signups.

Barring that, it’s going to be difficult for the organization to determine whether they are on track or if the employees need to buck up. Figuring out the trends of performance is also equally important. This helps managers figure out whether employees are working the way they should or not.

Comparisons

Then, managers are responsible for comparing the actual performance of the employees with the goals that have been set in place. After a thorough comparison is carried out, a decision must be made to determine whether to accept the outcome or to reject it.

For instance, if the team is meeting the performance standards to the T and performing very well, the management might be satisfied and will accept these results. Proper tracking and comparisons are critically important and will help organizations grow, along with their employees.

Deviation Analysis

Standard deviation is to be expected in the workplace. Managers need to determine why standards that were set have not been met, and why employees have not been working up to their maximum capability. This step also focuses on determining whether the managers need to implement more control or change their ways.

In some cases, this also means changing the standards altogether. Many companies like to push their employees too hard. Ultimately, when that happens, employee morale is affected, and employees are unable to achieve their goals. As a result of that, they become disheartened, and this affects performance dramatically.

It is one of the main reasons why goals should be set with care and after determining the performance of the organization and the capabilities of each employee as a whole.

Taking Remedial Steps

Once the management has figured out the reasons for the deviation and the inability for the employees to meet their goals, they need to take appropriate corrective steps and get the team back on track. This means either changing the way work is done or making corrections to the goals that were set in the first place.

These are both important to ensure that the organization is able to achieve its targets and is able to meet its targets. Managers obviously have a harder time here because they are responsible for making sure that the needs of all the employees in the workplace are met.

Growth of the Company

Managers need to focus on the growth of the company by tracking different metrics. They are also responsible for making sure that they do not repeat the mistakes of the past. Unfortunately, that is much easier said than done. The control function has to be very particular and careful about the needs of the employees.

There are going to be times when certain disruptive employees in the workplace may prevent others from achieving their targets. In such situations, the organization must take remedial steps to discipline such employees or let them go as well. This is also a part of the management control function, and they are responsible for giving details to the human resource department about such issues.

Seeing Through to the End

It’s important to understand that unless managers are able to see through to the end and take remedial steps appropriately, they are simply just monitoring the performance and not doing anything at all. They are not “exercising” any kind of control on the organization, they are just monitoring the performance of the company.

The emphasis always lies on devising new and innovative ways to come up with performance metrics and figuring out why employees are unable to achieve these tasks. Once the management is aware of the hurdles and barriers to performance, they can then focus on removing them out of the way.

As long as the management is able to do that, the employees will be happier and more focused on their work, and this is ultimately going to result in better performance overall. It’s a major positive for bigger organizations as it allows them to succeed amidst tough competition all around.