Margaret Dolgeno Performance Management Case

Ms. Margaret Dolgenos was kind enough to once again answer questions about her company, Cruzio Internet, at which she is both the CFO and owner. She has worked at Cruzio for nearly 30 years and before had worked at several large companies, such as SCO, which she hopes can give her better insight into performance management and how it has differed in her different jobs. Ms. Dolgenos starts off by explaining that she believes Cruzio actually has a better performance management system than some of the larger companies she has worked for. Employees get almost constant feedback and training due to the quick changing industry. She feels thing makes the employees more knowledgeable and keeps both the employees and the managers away of progress being
They are also included in the hiring process — every employee is expected to interview candidates and give their opinions. Ms. Dolgenos feels that’s an important step to teaching people how to frame tasks and anticipate how a person will perform. When they are ready (completing routine tasks successfully and in time) they also give their employees special projects to oversee. And when interns or apprentices are hired, other employees in their departments will take over training and supervision. Employees are also encouraged to attend training classes or classes relevant to their work at Cruzio, which is reimbursed and flex time is often given to accommodate class times. This leads to low turnover, excepting the Marketing staff which is more prone to change and employees moving
The employee is recommended and the managers discuss whether to promote them for a few months usually before it becomes finalized. They also quickly identify those who they believe have aptitudes to succeed at higher positions in the company and attempt to promote them quickly as to not lose their “spark”. Demotions work much the same way. If someone has been a problem, not doing their work or responsibilities, than their manager will bring it up at several meetings before action is taken. The employee is also written up several times before they are discussed at meetings. Cruzio also has had a few sabbaticals, although their line of work has made this relatively rare. Ms. Dolgenos uses an employee who went to Mexico to learn Spanish as an example, explaining that being able to speak Spanish is a great asset to the company, as many customers are Latino and their English might not be great. They also have a sort of externships, where employees are sent to different programs, usually Tennessee recently, to learn more about the industry and how they can expand, how others are working, any new technology being