netrashetty
Netra Shetty
Midwest Communications, Inc. consists of Midwest Communications, Inc. and WRIG, Inc., which collectively own forty-six (46) radio stations. The Company got its start in Wausau, Wisconsin, with WRIG, Inc. and the acquisition by the D.E. Wright family of a 1400 kHz, 250 watt AM facility from the Wisconsin Valley Television Corporation. The call letters WRIG (for Wright) were assigned and on August 1, 1958, top forty-formatted WRIG signed on the air. Power was increased to 1,000 watts in 1961 and WRIG-FM (now WDEZ) signed on in 1964. Midwest built WROE in Appleton/Oshkosh, Wisconsin in 1971. In 1975 Midwest purchased WBAY-AM and WBAY-FM, Green Bay, Wisconsin. Due to FCC rules at that time, WROE was sold. The Green Bay call letters were changed to WGEE-AM (now WTAQ-AM) and WIXX-FM. The 1980’s saw the acquisition by Midwest of KIOA & KMGK, Des Moines, Iowa, WKKQ(now WNMT) & WTBX, Hibbing, Minnesota and KLMS & KFMQ, Lincoln, Nebraska. In addition WRIG moved to 1390 kHz and increased power to 5000 watts day and night.
The 1990’s brought radical changes in FCC ownership rules, and Midwest took advantage of the changes by consolidating in the Green Bay-Appleton/Oshkosh and Wausau-Stevens Point markets. The consolidation brought about the sale of the Des Moines, Lincoln and Hibbing stations and the acquisitions of WROE, WOZZ, WLTM (now WRQE), WNCY and WNFL in Green Bay-Appleton/Oshkosh and WSAU, WIFC, WOFM and WIZD in Wausau-Stevens Point. In addition four stations WTVB, WNWN-AM, WNWN-FM and WFAT were acquired in the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Michigan market.
NASA:
Linking Performance Management to
Tracking Strategic Progress
Mission Accomplishment: When
managers and employees are interviewed,
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center have
they almost always cite the performance
designed and implemented an excellent strategic
management system as a way they are held
management tool: the Goal Performance
accountable for meeting agency goals. So,
Evaluation System. This computer system
does this mean performance management
implemented a major performance management
systems are aligned with agency strategic
change by linking individual employee performance
goals? In most agencies, the answer is
goals all the way up through the Center and Agency
“not yet” -- at least not fully. Recently
goals.
published research has identified over a
dozen agencies and agency sub-
The system tracks the status of performance plans,
and allows organizations to track results achieved
components that have started to formulate
against their mission. Managers can access the
systematic approaches to aligning
system to see what their units and individual
performance management to strategic
employees are contributing toward the agency
goals. Most are starting by linking top
strategic goals. The system functions as a strategic
management performance plans and
management tool, an employee perfor-mance
contracts to agency goals and rating and
management system, and a Center-wide
rewarding executives based on
communication tool. Kennedy and Johnson Space
achievement of those goals. Many of these
Centers have piloted the computer system with very
agencies are planning to cascade the
positive results.
alignment down to the employee level.
OPM’s 1999 publication, A Handbook for
Measuring Employee Performance: Aligning Employee Performance with Organizational
Goals, is a very useful tool to help agencies link employee performance to the goals of the
organization and measure employee accomplishments.
A couple of agencies actually mandate the linkage of employee level plans to agency goals,
while others are using team-based performance management approaches that include
performance targets, informal team assessments, and awards that are linked to mission goals.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as shown in the inset, actually
has an automated system that assists in the linkage. Nevertheless, as the General Accounting
Office (GAO) concluded in its study, Performance Management: Aligning Employee
Performance with Agency Goals at Six Results Act Pilots, aligning performance management
systems with organizational missions and goals is still a “work in progress.”
assessing how well their programs align with agency mission accomplishment as part of
recently established HR self-assessment programs. These assessment programs focus on the
compliance of HR activities with law as well as how effectively HR programs are achieving
their objectives in support of mission accomplishment. Because these assessment programs
are fairly new or are in the process of being revamped, it is too soon to tell the success they
will have in measuring HR’s impact on organizational mission accomplishment.
HRM Measurement
In the end, HR can only determine its value to the organi-
If you’re not keeping score,
zation by measuring it. Earlier in this report, we saw that
you’re only practicing.
most agencies had at least defined HR output measures in
-Vince Lombardi
agency strategic plans, annual performance plans, and/or HR
strategic plans. This is an encouraging trend, but we need
to look further at whether these measures are actually being tracked and used for decision-
making. The best measures in the world are meaningless if not used.
HRM measures in the strategic and annual performance plans are usually tracked by the HR office
and forwarded to the planning office for distribution and sharing of the information. A few
agencies, such as NASA, SSA, and Education, report actually using the information for decision-
making and tracking whether goals are being met. NASA even posts the information on its web
page. However, we found that most agencies look at available data without really evaluating how
the information can be used to enhance goal attainment.
HR staffs find that measures from HR strategic plans tend to be more useful than those in the
agency strategic or annual plans, at least at the functional level. As discussed earlier, HR stra-
tegic plan measures tend to focus on internal HR programs, policies, and processes, and can
therefore point to deficiencies in these areas. HR officials can then use this information to make
improvements to the problem areas. From an organizational perspective, however, the measures
are generally not very helpful in determining achievement of HR goals because they are process
rather than outcome oriented.
Few agencies have implemented elaborate systems to track HRM goals and measures. None-
theless, there are quite a few interesting approaches some agencies are using to measure their
HRM performance.
Benchmarking is a systematic process of measuring an organization’s products, services,
and practices against those of a like organization that is a recognized leader in the studied
area. Many Federal HR offices are using this practice to identify ways to improve service
and align with business results. The most common benchmarking effort Federal HR offices
have participated in is the National Academy of Public Administration-Hackett Group HR
Benchmarking Study. There are at least 19 Government agencies involved in the
The 1990’s brought radical changes in FCC ownership rules, and Midwest took advantage of the changes by consolidating in the Green Bay-Appleton/Oshkosh and Wausau-Stevens Point markets. The consolidation brought about the sale of the Des Moines, Lincoln and Hibbing stations and the acquisitions of WROE, WOZZ, WLTM (now WRQE), WNCY and WNFL in Green Bay-Appleton/Oshkosh and WSAU, WIFC, WOFM and WIZD in Wausau-Stevens Point. In addition four stations WTVB, WNWN-AM, WNWN-FM and WFAT were acquired in the Kalamazoo-Battle Creek, Michigan market.
NASA:
Linking Performance Management to
Tracking Strategic Progress
Mission Accomplishment: When
managers and employees are interviewed,
Engineers at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center have
they almost always cite the performance
designed and implemented an excellent strategic
management system as a way they are held
management tool: the Goal Performance
accountable for meeting agency goals. So,
Evaluation System. This computer system
does this mean performance management
implemented a major performance management
systems are aligned with agency strategic
change by linking individual employee performance
goals? In most agencies, the answer is
goals all the way up through the Center and Agency
“not yet” -- at least not fully. Recently
goals.
published research has identified over a
dozen agencies and agency sub-
The system tracks the status of performance plans,
and allows organizations to track results achieved
components that have started to formulate
against their mission. Managers can access the
systematic approaches to aligning
system to see what their units and individual
performance management to strategic
employees are contributing toward the agency
goals. Most are starting by linking top
strategic goals. The system functions as a strategic
management performance plans and
management tool, an employee perfor-mance
contracts to agency goals and rating and
management system, and a Center-wide
rewarding executives based on
communication tool. Kennedy and Johnson Space
achievement of those goals. Many of these
Centers have piloted the computer system with very
agencies are planning to cascade the
positive results.
alignment down to the employee level.
OPM’s 1999 publication, A Handbook for
Measuring Employee Performance: Aligning Employee Performance with Organizational
Goals, is a very useful tool to help agencies link employee performance to the goals of the
organization and measure employee accomplishments.
A couple of agencies actually mandate the linkage of employee level plans to agency goals,
while others are using team-based performance management approaches that include
performance targets, informal team assessments, and awards that are linked to mission goals.
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), as shown in the inset, actually
has an automated system that assists in the linkage. Nevertheless, as the General Accounting
Office (GAO) concluded in its study, Performance Management: Aligning Employee
Performance with Agency Goals at Six Results Act Pilots, aligning performance management
systems with organizational missions and goals is still a “work in progress.”
assessing how well their programs align with agency mission accomplishment as part of
recently established HR self-assessment programs. These assessment programs focus on the
compliance of HR activities with law as well as how effectively HR programs are achieving
their objectives in support of mission accomplishment. Because these assessment programs
are fairly new or are in the process of being revamped, it is too soon to tell the success they
will have in measuring HR’s impact on organizational mission accomplishment.
HRM Measurement
In the end, HR can only determine its value to the organi-
If you’re not keeping score,
zation by measuring it. Earlier in this report, we saw that
you’re only practicing.
most agencies had at least defined HR output measures in
-Vince Lombardi
agency strategic plans, annual performance plans, and/or HR
strategic plans. This is an encouraging trend, but we need
to look further at whether these measures are actually being tracked and used for decision-
making. The best measures in the world are meaningless if not used.
HRM measures in the strategic and annual performance plans are usually tracked by the HR office
and forwarded to the planning office for distribution and sharing of the information. A few
agencies, such as NASA, SSA, and Education, report actually using the information for decision-
making and tracking whether goals are being met. NASA even posts the information on its web
page. However, we found that most agencies look at available data without really evaluating how
the information can be used to enhance goal attainment.
HR staffs find that measures from HR strategic plans tend to be more useful than those in the
agency strategic or annual plans, at least at the functional level. As discussed earlier, HR stra-
tegic plan measures tend to focus on internal HR programs, policies, and processes, and can
therefore point to deficiencies in these areas. HR officials can then use this information to make
improvements to the problem areas. From an organizational perspective, however, the measures
are generally not very helpful in determining achievement of HR goals because they are process
rather than outcome oriented.
Few agencies have implemented elaborate systems to track HRM goals and measures. None-
theless, there are quite a few interesting approaches some agencies are using to measure their
HRM performance.
Benchmarking is a systematic process of measuring an organization’s products, services,
and practices against those of a like organization that is a recognized leader in the studied
area. Many Federal HR offices are using this practice to identify ways to improve service
and align with business results. The most common benchmarking effort Federal HR offices
have participated in is the National Academy of Public Administration-Hackett Group HR
Benchmarking Study. There are at least 19 Government agencies involved in the
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