Coaching Session: Conducting A Performance Review And Risk Management For Secondment

Role Play with the Gardens Manager

Role Play with the Gardens Manager

Manager: Good morning, when you have a moment, I would like to speak to you about one of your employees Kim Smith.

Gardens manager: Good morning too. Alright. We can talk now in your office.

Manager: I wanted to enquire about Kim, the employee who you recommended to me for secondment.

Gardens manager: Okay. What would like to know?

Manager: I want to know how she has been performing to see whether she will be a good addition to my team here.

Gardens manager: Alright. What is the exact job that she is expected to do here?

Manager: The job will require her to interact with different customers in order to determine their needs. Once she knows what they need, she will have the responsibility of providing them with expert advice and then sell products to them. It is a sales job that requires a lot of customer interaction.

Gardens manager: Okay. I can attest that she is a very hardworking lady and has great interpersonal skills. This enabled her to build a rapport with other people in her job in the garden center, and I believe she will transfer those skills into this position.

 Manager:  That is great, it gives me some confidence in her. Her job will also involve cross selling and upselling and given that she can inspire confidence in customers, that is a good sign.

Gardens manager: Yes. Does the job have other requirements?

Manager: Yes. She needs to be a person who follows instructions. This is because there are policies for WHS that must be adhered to. She also needs to keep records and follow financial procedures. She should also be someone who learns continually on and off the job. She must also be able to stand for four hour shifts and lift bags of a minimum weight of 20 Kgs. Do you think she can do that?

Gardens manager: Absolutely. She followed instructions to the letter when needed in the garden center. In other occasions, she is a creative thinker but always follows protocol. She is also very athletic so I don’t think standing or carrying the bags will be a problem. Moreover, she is very fast in carrying out her duties.

Manager: That is great because we expect her to process orders fast. From our conversation I think she is a great fit for the job.

Gardens manager: Really?

Manager: Yes. I know Kim may require a bit of work and perseverance to adjust to the new environment and duties, but I don’t think this will be a big problem for her.

Gardens manager: I am very glad to hear that. From the requirements of the job, I am confident that she will be good.

Manager: Thank you for the feedback.

Gardens manager: You are welcome.  

Role play with Kim.

Manager: Hello Kim, can I talk to you for a moment?

Kim: Yes, manager.

Manager: I would like to speak to you about your responsibilities here and what objectives you are expected to achieve in this organization.

Role Play with Kim

Kim: okay.

Manager: I spoke to your previous manager and I heard that this job has various tasks that you did in the previous job. Is that right?

Kim: Yes. I dealt with customers in the previous job. Therefore, I have developed strong interpersonal skills. There were also set rules and regulations that I had to follow just as expected in this job.

Manager: Aright. What are your thoughts about gaining additional knowledge?

Kim: I believe that it is important for everyone to continually learn their craft especially in this information age where innovations are coming up every day. This will ensure that people are effective in performing their tasks and are also up to date with new technologies.

Manager: Okay. In this organization, performance is based on how well your interactions with customers bring in conversions. Therefore, you need to market the house hold items to customers and carry out cross selling and up selling activities to increase your commissions. The different measures of performance include levels of customer service, incremental sales, and customer retention. For the sales, the key indicators that you will have to target include; repeat purchase volume, your quote to close ratio will also be expected to be in accordance with the expectations by the organization. We will also measure your sales by contact method to see how well you are able to bring in clients and result into conversions. Therefore, your sales value productivity at all ends will be analyzed.

Kim: Okay. Are there targets that have been set for each of the performance indicators?

Manager:  Yes. Incidentally, as a sales representative in the hardware and homes division, you will be expected to generate a minimum revenue of $10,000 every month. The company aims to create good relationships with customers in order to enjoy repeat sales, and increase word of mouth advertising form the customers. It is therefore important that you provide excellent customer service. Other targets will be provided to you in due time.

Kim: Alright.

Manager: As an employee in this organization during your secondment period, you are expected to dress officially and arrive to work on time. You should respect your colleagues and work together in any challenges you may face. You are also expected to provide high quality work. Do you think you can deliver on all these requirements?

Kim: Yes. I promise to deliver the highest quality work that I can and follow all the set regulations and also reach the set targets.

Manager: Alright. That’s all and I wish you all the best. In case you have any questions, come to me.

Kim: Okay. Thank you very much for your time. 

Secondment is important to any organization because it provides the organization with a person to fill in when one of their employees is away. It is advantageous but it also risky (Ellson, 2009). The risks associated with secondment include; First, the secondee may not come up to speed easily. This may in turn lead to a lot of time of time being spent training the employee and a lot of resources may end up being spent in the process. To mitigate this risk, it is paramount for the organization to provide mentoring and coaching activities for the secondee. The organization should also clarify the work objectives to the secondee and ensure that the person is properly inducted in order to come up to speed with different aspects of the organization.

Risks Associated with Secondment

Secondly, there could arise disputes between the three parties in the secondment arrangement, that is the current manager, the secondee, and the secondee’s initial manager. To prevent the organization from potentially facing any legal penalties from the issues that may arise, the secondment agreement should be put in writing (Donaldson, 2011). Finally, the secondment may fail to work out. In this case, the manager should make use of conflict resolution provisions in a bid to correct the situation. Additionally, the organization can ensure that the secondee is able to discuss any challenges with the host manager to resolve the issues.   

The performance management system that is currently in place has proved that it is not entirely effective. The role play below involves an explanation of how the system was like prior to the changes and how it is after the changes were put in place.

Role play on changes in the performance management system

Manager: Good afternoon everyone. Does anyone agree that the performance management system is in need of changes?

Employees: (in unison) Yes.

Manager: Okay. I would like to talk about the existing performance management system and the changes that have been put in place. The system has a mission to continually train new employees until they have acquired the skills needed for their particular jobs. It also aims at teaching the existing employees new skill sets when their jobs require them. It also aims to evaluate employee performance annually to find the best performing employees and identify those who have fallen short of their expected results. There are also targets that have been provided for different employees in the performance management system. Moreover, there are rewards provided for employees who hit the set targets annually.

Employee: One of my main concern is that performance is reviewed after a year which is a very long period.

Manager: I agree with you and that is why we changed the appraisal period to monthly. Therefore, employees’ work will be reviewed every month. As a result, employees who are found to have met their targets will be rewarded accordingly. Conversely, those who fall short of their targets will be provided with feedback on how they can improve their performance. There will be coaching and training activities every month open to all employees who feel that they need to work to improve their skill sets or acquire new skills that can supplement their knowledge.

Employee: Why have those new measures been put in place?

Manager: The continuous feedback will help all of you to continually work hard on areas that you had initially fallen short. It will help identify your individual strengths that you can capitalize on as well as identify your weaknesses so that you can improve on them. This will be good both for you and the company. The rewards will help motivate you to provide high quality work. They will increase competitiveness within the organization and ensure that your skills continually improve as you become more efficient and effective in carrying out your duties and responsibilities.

Employee: There has not been direct assistance from the management in training activities. Will this change?

Manager: Absolutely. The new performance management system has a goal to ensure that the management is involved in training activities in a bid to ensure that you receive high quality training in areas that you may need assistance. It is important for all of you to consult with the management on any issues that you may have. We want all of you to be more engaged in work. Therefore, we have incorporated a policy whereby you will be part of the decision making process. This will ensure that all your opinions are taken into account when dealing with different issues. We therefore call on you to be more vocal on any challenges that you may be facing and provide ideas you may have to me.

Employee: Are you sure that our opinions will be taken into account?

Manager: Yes. I want us all to work together to better this organization and provide the best results possible. That’s all. Thank you for your time.

First, managers need to be more hands on during the training process to ensure that the employees gain maximally form the sessions. They also need to provide continuous feedback to the employees on a monthly basis and give the assigned reward to the employees who have reached the set targets. Conversely, those who have not achieved the set goals should be advised on how to improve their performance and they should also be coached to ensure that their skills improve. The managers will also be required to take the employees’ opinions into account.   

Role play between the manager and the employee Kim Smith on a coaching session.

Manager: Hello Kim, I would like to talk to you for a moment.

Kim: Okay. May I ask what this is regarding?

Manager: It is about your performance. What do you think about your performance so far in this organization?

Kim: I know that I have not been performing very well.

Manager: what are the indicators?

Kim: I initially set goals that I was going to achieve but I have not lived up to them yet even after you provided me with feedback. You also allowed me to reduce my sales targets but I have not performed to a level that is satisfactory.

Manager: Yes. I see you have not even been able to reach the minimum revenue target of $10,000 that was set for the first six months.

Kim: Yes. I have not.

Manager: I commend you because I can see that you have made an effort in learning the required product information. However, you are aware that is not enough, right?

Kim: Yes. I am aware that my performance has been far from satisfactory.

Manager: Would you tell me what has made you not to perform as well as was expected. Because it has come to my attention that you are not even serious in your dealings with customers.

Kim: I think that it has been a bit harder for me to adjust than I thought. I have also not been able to connect very well with the customers. I have been having some personal challenges that I have been dealing with, but I know that that should not be an excuse.

Manager: Yes. I expect you to deliver results whenever you are working. However, when you have any personal issues that you need to discuss, you can go to the counsellor and you can receive advice on the challenges. If you need my help, feel free to come to me, my door is always open. Nevertheless, I expect you to do better and start meeting your targets. One of you colleagues will be your mentor for the next few weeks to assist you in adjusting and learning some of the skills that you have not been able to acquire.

Kim: Yes. Thank you very much.

Manager:  I have also made plans for you to receive thirty hours of training. Now, I would like us now to discuss plans. First, you need to become more serious in the way you deal with the customers. You also need to master the point of sale system.

Kim: I agree.

Manager: What else do you think you should change?

Kim: I need to stop making errors during transactions to reduce time wastage. To do this I will be more attentive as I deal with customers and as I complete any transactions to avoid errors.

Manager: I absolutely agree. That is a great strategy. What else?

Kim: I will also stop taking my learning process lightly in this organization and I will put in more time and energy in learning continually by attending workshops, seminars, and learning from fellow colleagues.

Manager: Alright Kim. I will hold you to your promises and I will continually review your results and provide you with feedback where necessary. I know you are good at your work and I believe you will do a good job. We will create a coaching and development plan that will help guide the way you work. That’s all. Have a nice day.

Kim: Thank you. Have a nice day as well.

Coaching phase	Notes/questions/planning
Goal and performance expectations	Kim has set goals to; ·         Improve her sales results and reach the minimum expectation of $10,000. ·         To increase attention levels when dealing with customer transactions to avoid making errors. ·         Develop her knowledge and skills levels by continually learning and participating in different leaning activities. ·         Become more serious when dealing with employees.
Reality of actual performance	·         Performance has been below the set minimum of $10,000 with achievements of only $5,000 over a period of six months. ·         Many errors are being made when carrying out transactions with employees. ·         Lack of seriousness when dealing with customers. ·         Poor knowledge on key information relating to the organization. ·         Has the ability to create good relationships with the customers but is unable to guide them through the entire process and constantly needs assistance. ·         Takes too long to complete sales transactions.
Opportunities to develop	·         Kim needs to take advantage of the different training platforms offered by the organization. ·         She also needs to take advantage of the assistance offered by the manager to be able to learn more.
Willingness to develop and commitment	·         After the discussion, Kim has shown a willingness to grow and develop her skills and become more effective and efficient in performing her duties. ·         She has decided to learn more about the skills that she needs and how to improve her customer services.

Performance plan before the role play

Name and position:
Manager:	Review period:

Reference from operational plan	Key result area	Indicator of success/ performance	Status report/results
To increase the sales revenue per month- Finance.	It is vital for the sales volume to increase. Kim had been providing sales of $5,000 per month on average over the past six months.	Sales level must exceed the set minimum of $8,000 per month	Poor
To improve customer service and relations in order to build a rapport with the customers- Human resources.	Kim has been seen to be able to hold conversations with employees. However, she has not been very serious when dealing with them.	She needs to interact properly with the clients to be able to bring in sales.	Poor
Improve efficiency at work in different internal processes- Human resources	Kim has been taking five minutes on average to complete transactions as opposed to the set maximum of two minutes.	Time taken to complete transactions should not exceed to minutes.	Poor
To continually learn in order to improve skills required to be more effective and efficient in the job – Human resources management-training.	Kim has not been well able to answer the different questions that clients have which indicates a lack of vital knowledge required in the job.	Kim needs to be able to serve customers without asking for help from fellow colleagues.	Average

Achievements:	Areas of opportunity: Training sessions and seminars in the organization. Consultation from other colleagues. Mentoring from fellow colleagues.
Next performance review period: monthly
Manager’s comments:
Signature:	Date:
Staff member’s comments:
Signature:	Date:

Performance Development Plan After the Role Play 

Name and position:
Manager:	Review period:

Reference from operational plan	Key result area	Indicator of success/ performance	Status report/results
To increase the sales revenue per month- Finance.	There is a need to increase the sales levels by interacting with customers and using activities such as cross selling and upselling.	Improved performance will be shown by an increased level of sales above the set minimum of $10,000 per month.
To improve customer service and relations in order to build a rapport with the customers- Human resources.	There is a need to show more seriousness when dealing with customers in order to establish trust.	Success will be shown by better relationships created with the client which will consequently lead to higher sales volume.
Improve efficiency at work in different internal processes- Human resources	There is a need to be more efficient at the job shown mainly by faster delivery of services and completion of transactions.	The time spent completing a transaction will indicate the levels of efficiency. The time taken to complete transactions should not go beyond two minutes.
To continually learn in order to improve skills required to be more effective and efficient in the job – Human resources management-training.	There is a need to increase knowledge on how different operations of the organization function. There is also a need to be able to answer the different questions that customers have without enquiring form other employees.	Success will be depicted by Kim’s ability to explain different things to the customers and answer all the questions that they may have.

Achievements:	Areas of opportunity:
Next performance review period:
Manager’s comments:
Signature:	Date:
Staff member’s comments:
Signature:	Date:

Performance appraisal is very important for employees to consistently develop and grow. Continuous feedback enables managers to be able to focus on the areas that employees have achieved as well as point out areas that require improvement to be able to extend the potential of their employees. Therefore, when employees receive feedback over and over, this aids to reinforce their performance as they receive the feedback and the recognition motivates employees to keep up the good work that they have been doing (Nilssona, Jakobsson, Thuvander & Andersson, 2014).

When the employees receive feedback that they have been performing poorly in certain areas, this aids in helping them change their approach to the tasks in order to be more efficient. The employees in Australian hardware with low performance can be motivated in different ways so as to improve their performance. Incidentally, they can have their salaries increased or receive commissions if they achieve set targets. Moreover, the best performing employee can be promoted. This will make the employees in improving the quality of their work as they strive to earn the benefits outlined.

The employees with low performance can also be coached in order to be able to better their work. First, there should be analysis of the employees’ individual weaknesses that can be addressed in order to ensure maximum productivity. Then, there can be seminars set up to train them about their duties and how to work efficiently. Further, they could also shadow other employees who perform better to see how they do their work effectively.

The Australian state and national laws have a provision for anti-discrimination and equal employment opportunities in places of work. For instance, there is an anti-discrimination act that outlines that discrimination is prohibited in Australia. It is therefore paramount for all organizations to create workplaces that are free from harassment and discrimination (Rao, 2013).

When the employer puts effective procedures on anti-harassment and anti-discrimination, the organization’s efficiency and productivity can be greatly enhanced. The relevant legislation in this regard in the Australian Hardware Business is that people are to be treated based on their merits at all the stages of their employment process starting from the interview and recruitment stage, to their personal duties, training, development, promotion, and in their resignation. In cases of redundancy and retrenchment, this should also be done on merit (Donaldson, 2011).

Therefore, the organization speaks against age, racial, religious, and gender discrimination. It also highly prohibits impairment discrimination and expects that people be hired based on their ability to perform their jobs and not based on how they look. The employees are therefore provided the same opportunities in terms of performance improvement and in the management of their performance.  On anti-discrimination, the company ensures that all actions carried out when managing performance do not discriminate on the employees based on their gender, race, physical abilities, or gender.

People who are found to discriminate or allocate jobs in an unfair manner face the risk of being fired or they may even be sued to face criminal charges based on the circumstances. The information collected during the process of performance management must be safely stored and it cannot be used in any way against the employees. This ensures that the employees have a sense of trust in the organization and therefore provide honest feedback when asked about any issues in the business.

One internal source that could be approached for performance management advice is the Human Resources Manager. This is because, the human resource manager has experience in appraisal matters and can provide input on what Kim should be instructed to do in order to improve her performance.

An external source that could be used to give advice on how to manage poor performance is a consultancy organization. This is because it is independent form the organization and can therefore offer unbiased advice to the employee.

In the process of counselling the employee, there are different steps that should be undertaken. These include; First, it is important to identify the performance gap. This involves finding out what the employee is expected to achieve, which has not been achieved yet. The key performance indicators can be analyzed to find out which area the employee has fallen short (Lambert & Davidson, 2013).

Once the performance gap is identified, it is important to find out the reasons for the deficiencies in performance. This requires a talk with the employee to find out their reasons for the underperformance. This will assist in finding out whether there is need for additional training activities or if the employee is simply not interested in providing high quality work. This one on one conversation will aid in establishing whether there is a possibility to close the performance deficiency and if so, a strategy can be developed and implemented to close this gap.

The activities that can be carried out in counselling the employee include; providing advice to the employee on their behavior and explaining how it is influencing their work. There is also need to be specific in the comparison of the employee’s current and expected performance. This is to aid in demonstrating to the employee how far they have strayed from the expectations as well as bring them back on track with the organization’s expectations. It also important not to compare the employee to fellow employees in the organization, because everyone is unique and all people have their own strengths and weaknesses. It is vital to show empathy to the employee as well as be a positive listener.

Finally, the employee should provide a course of action and it should be followed up on and reviewed on specific dates known by both parties (Tehrani, 2013). The meeting should then end on a positive note and an assurance to the employee that the discussion will remain confidential and there should be an open line of communication between both parties for future discussion or enquiries.

The legislation that is most relevant in this scenario is the Fair Work Act of 2009. This legislation ensures that the national workplace relations systems are fair to all the people who are working. It also ensures that they enable businesses to be flexible and promotes economic growth and productivity levels. It applies in this circumstance because if the business is paying Kim a fair wage, Kim is also supposed to deliver a fair job which she is not doing in this case. The organization also has its own legislation where employees who do not reach their targets are to be trained and if they still fall short, should be fired.

The relevant award for Kim Smith is a salary increase that correlates with her performance. This will motivate her to improve her performance levels and therefore become more efficient in carrying out her different duties.

Support services that I could offer to Kim include; offering her a different job which better suits her needs within the organization, provide her with advice on matters that are leading to her poor performance, and offer her training services in order to enable her to be in a position to better handle all her duties and responsibilities.

First it is important to inform the employee on what they are doing wrong in order to give them time to change their actions. It is important to receive feedback in relation to the issued warnings. However, once it is viewed that the employee is not able or is unwilling to change and show better results, it is important to commence on progressive disciplinary action (Cabrelli, 2012). It is vital to document all these activities.

The employee can be asked if she wants to quit in which case she will provide a timeline to give her notice. If not, the employee can be provided with a few weeks of severance pay to leave the organization. It is however important to seek legal counsel to determine whether the severance pay should be paid as well as other options that exist. Once the organization is aware of all its options, it should call in the employee for the termination meeting. During the firing process, it is important to behave in a legal, ethical, and compassionate manner but it’s also important to be firm and give the reasons for termination.

Some of the unlawful dismissal rules include terminating an employee due; to temporary absence from work due to injury or illness, participating in activities of the trade union, non- membership of a trade union, race, age, sexual orientation, filing of a complaint, or absence from work due to maternity or paternity leave. However, there are instances where the organization may need to dismiss employees on any of these grounds (Immervoll & Scarpetta, 2012).

One’s disability may prevent them from performing duties inherent to the job. There could also be a genuine requirement that the employee be of a specific race, or gender. In such instances, there must be an application for unlawful dismissal. The employer will apply to the Fair Work Commission claiming that the dismissal is lawful under provisions of the Fair work act within sixty days since the dismissal took effect. The commission will then call for a private meeting to deal with the application either by making a recommendation or through conciliation. In case the dismissal is still unsolved, a certificate is issued by the commission after which the employee can make an application to a court within fourteen days.

References

Cabrelli, D. (2012). The Elective and Automatic Theories of Termination at Common Law: Resolving the Conundrum?. Industrial Law Journal, 41(3).

Donaldson, A. (2011). A nurse manager’s reflections on adapting to a research role. Nursing Management.

Ellson, T. (2009). Assessing contribution of research in business to practice. Journal Of Business Research, 62(11).

Immervoll, H., & Scarpetta, S. (2012). Activation and employment support policies in OECD countries. An overview of current approaches. Springer Open.

Jebb, P. (2015). The patient champion. Nursing Standard.

Lambert, S., & .Davidson, R. (2013). Applications of the business model in studies of enterprise success, innovation and classification: An analysis of empirical research from 1996 to 2010. European Management Journal, 31(6).

Nilssona, A., Jakobsson, C., Thuvander, B., & Andersson, D. (2014). Effects of continuous feedback on households’ electricity consumption: Potentials and barriers. Applied Energy.

Rao, M. (2013). Human Resource Management International Digest. Emeraldinsight, 4.

Tehrani, n. (2013). building a culture of respect; managing bullying at work.