Performance Management of an Underperformer

This article discusses the integration of HRD and Performance Management to deal with underperforming employees. It covers best practices, specific issues, and reward functions to improve employee performance. The article takes a case study set against the backdrop of the Australian Sports Commission. A newly hired finance manager is not performing well which has led the departmental head to seek advice of an employee of another department to deal with the issue.

Running head: PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Performance Management of an Underperformer
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Table of Contents
Introduction:....................................................................................................................................2
Features of best practices of performance management:.................................................................2
Integration of HRD and Performance Management:.......................................................................4
Specific issues for management of under-performing employees:..................................................5
Reward function to improve employee performance:.....................................................................7
Support of HRM Practices to corporate strategies:.........................................................................7
Conclusion:......................................................................................................................................8
References:......................................................................................................................................9

2
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Introduction:
Performance management and human resources management merge to provide
organizations with powerful human resource which account for their high market performances.
The organizations today align their performance management and human resource development
with their business culture. This aligns the performances of the employees with the business
requirements and which boost the employee performances. However, the new employees may
find this alignment a challenge and may perform badly. The immense job responsibilities put
immense pressure on them and they slowly start losing out on their motivation. This burnout is
more common among newly hired managers owing to the immense responsibilities they have to
handle. Organisations deal with these issues by aligning performance management with human
resource development. The departmental heads today hold meetings to dig into the root of these
stress and poor performances. Then they adopt appropriate methods to deal with them. The paper
would delve into this aspect by taking a case study set against the backdrop of the Australian
Sports Commission. A newly hired finance manager is not performing well which has led the
departmental head to seek advice of an employee of another department to deal with the issue.
The paper would point how performance management and HRD can be integrated to deal with
such issues.
Features of best practices of performance management:
Performance management aims to improve the performances of employees of
organizations by using several best practices which the employees and the employers can use.
The factors like excess pressure are known to have dire impacts on the performances of
employees, especially the new employees. These employees must adopt achievable goals after
discussions with their senior managers and reporting managers (Ahmad, Choi and Park 2015).

3
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
The points out to the first feature of performance management, which is it is very much goal
oriented. For example, the finance manager newly recruited at the Australian Sports
Commission was under performing. The senior finance managers along with the senior managers
of the other departments should speak to him and try to assess the need of the finance manager.
The reason could be stress due to the immense responsibilities and work pressure which he has to
handle. This points out to the next performance management best practice which is motivation
of the employee (Cascio 2018).
The senior managers of the Australian Sports Commission should motivate the new
finance manager and help him to take up more responsibilities. He should be allowed to share his
responsibilities with other managers which would lessen his work pressure and help him to
improve his performance. The Australian Commission should also plan performance
development initiative of all employees especially the new employees to motivate them to work
harder. These performance development programs should include induction of employees to
employees of other departments and training (Mostafa, Gould‐Williams and Bottomley 2015).
The third feature of the performance management best practices is training and
development of the employees of all departments and tenures, especially the ones working
under high pressure and under-performing. The HR department, the senior managers and the
immediate reporting manager of the under-performing finance manager should hold meeting
above improving the performance of the latter. They should find out the root causes of poor
performances like excess pressure, poor knowledge about the accounting practices followed by
the commission or complex organizational structure of the commission (Albrecht et al. 2015).
They should then frame a training session to provide him training on the areas he is weak. This
training session should be followed up with continuous measurement of improvement in

4
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
performances, which is the fourth feature of best practices of performance appraisal. The senior
managers should from time to time recognize new training needs. This analysis shows that the
renowned bodies like the Australian Sports Commission should use performance management of
improve the performances of their employees, especially the ones operating under immense
pressure like the finance manager (Khan and Jahur 2016).
Integration of HRD and Performance Management:
Large organizations like the Australian Commission require to integrate human resource
development with performance management. Human resource development of HRD refers to
the training, coaching and mentoring employees to bring about improvement in their
performances. Performances management refers to those practices which organizations take
from time to time to ensure that their employees meet the targets set for them. The management
and the departmental heads from time to measure the performances of their subordinates to
appraise them. The highly performing employees are rewarded while the low performing
employees are often trained or mentored. One can clearly point out that the training and
mentoring aspects of performance management actually point out to human resource
development needs of the companies. There are a number of ways in which business
organizations can integrate performance management with HRD (Van Dooren, Bouckaert and
Halligan 2015).
The first aspect of performance management is to set realistic and achievable goals for
the employees. The senior managers should encourage their subordinates to participate in the
entire process of strategy making. They should take the factors relating to juniors like job
responsibilities, areas of expertise and experience before entrusting them with responsibilities.
They should delegate targets taking these factors into consideration, especially in high posts like

5
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
that of a finance manager. They should monitor the performances of their subordinates very
closely and point out areas in which these subordinates need to excel to be able to achieve the
target better. Then the departmental heads should offer trainings specific to the identified
employees who need to be trained. For example, new finance managers, in spite of their
qualifications and expertise may require more training. This shows that the departmental heads
of organizations like Australian Sports Commission can integrate performance management and
HRD to improve employee performances.
The second way in which bodies like Australian Sports Commission can integrate
performance management with human resource development is allowing the junior manager to
participate in the decision making activities. The newly hired finance managers often face
difficulty in performing due to their limited knowledge about the organizations and the other
members of the organizations. This lack of knowledge prevents them from taking appropriate
decisions which contributes to their poor performances. The apex management of bodies like the
Australian Commission should encourage the newly hired finance managers. This would allow
these managers to observe how decisions are made in the organizations. They would also be able
to gain knowledge about the important people in the organization like the other departmental
heads. They would be able to gain knowledge about the colleagues whom they can approach for
advices and guidance to deal with tough situations. These measures would automatically boost
the confidence of the new employees and they would as a result start performing better. This
analysis shows that organizations can integrate performance management and HRD to improve
the performance of the newly hired managers like the finance manager.

6
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Specific issues for management of under-performing employees:
The departmental heads face several issues while managing under-performing employees.
The first issue pertains to lack of knowledge and expertise. The profile of finance manager at
the prestigious Australian Sports Commission requires to have immense knowledge on finance to
do justice to his high profile job position. The knowledge in this case is not limited to the area of
profession like, finance in this case. The employees working in the finance department require to
have sound knowledge about the stakeholder groups with which the organizations work. They
should know the sources of revenue of the Australian Sports Commission and the areas in which
the revenue is channelized. They should know the investors and financing bodies which hold
maximum share of the Australian Sports Commission. They should also have good working
working relationship with the other departments of the Australian Sports Commission. One can
assume that the new finance manager had the required knowledge about finance. However, being
newly hired he lacked knowledge about the stakeholders of the Australian Sports Commission.
He apparently did not share great equation with his colleagues which created further issue for
him and his reporting manager.
The next issue which the newly hired finance manager might have been facing was
workplace environment problem. He might have been facing problems due to work pressure
from his superiors and peers. This issue may have been aggravated by his limited knowledge of
the organizational structure of the Australian Sports Commission. This might have impacted his
performance in the organization.
The third issue which the under-performing employees like the finance manager at the
Australian Sports Commission face is lack of motivation. New employees require a lot of
motivation to perform. Factors like new working environment and challenges increase the stress

7
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
of these employees manifold. They as a result tend to suffer from lack of motivation and find it
difficult to deal with this problem. The professional challenges employees faced in big
organizations like the Australian Sports Commission require the new employees to start
performing highly within a short span of time. Moreover, the high profile organizations like the
Australian Sports Commission works in vast areas of operations. For example, the Australian
Sports Commission works towards providing leadership and guidance to Australian sports
sectors. Its stakeholder group includes athletes involved in various sports and companies
sponsoring their events. Thus, finance manager is required to acquire thorough knowledge of
these stakeholders and their impact on the finances of the company. It is evident over here that
limitation of stakeholder knowledge and knowledge about the organizational culture puts
immense pressure on him which impacts his motivation.
Reward function to improve employee performance:
The organizations like the Australian Sports Commission should implement reward
programs to motivate their employees. The departmental heads of every department should
measure the performances of the employees from time to time. Then these employees should be
appraised as per their performances. The apex management of the Australian Sports Commission
must reward the highly performing employees both financially and non-financially. the financial
incentives should include salary increments and monetary incentives. The non-financial
incentives should include paid leaves, holiday trips and work from home facilities. This would
enable the apex management to motivate the under-performing employees perform better. The
company should award the poorly performing employees showing signs of improvements to
motivate them further.

8
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Support of HRM Practices to corporate strategies:
The bodies like the Australian Sports Commission should integrate the human resource
management or HRM practices with their corporate strategies. The apex management should
first take the target performances which they want to achieve. The body should then
communicate the information to the departmental heads. The departmental heads of different
departments should hold meetings with their subordinates. This would enable them to recognize
the present strengths and weaknesses existing in their respective departments. The departmental
heads can match these strengths and weaknesses against the requirement of the company. Then
can then form training plans to improve the present standards of abilities of their employees.
These steps would be particularly very helpful to the new employees. They would get
opportunities to improve their competencies with the requirements of the company. The
departmental heads can arrange the human resource development plans to improve the
performance of their subordinates in two ways. First, the departmental heads can mentor their
subordinates and second, the human resource department can arrange for training programs from
the employees. The training program would at first contain similar course content like
organizational culture which can then be segregated into department wise requirements.
Conclusion:
One can conclude from the discussion that the head of the finance department should
resort to human resource development and performance development integration to improve the
performance of the newly hired finance manager. He should be provided with trainings about the
company, its stakeholders and its operational aspects. The other employees of the department
should motivate him to improve his performance. The apex management should establish reward
system to motivate employees to improve their performances.

9
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER

10
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
References:
Ahmad, F., Choi, H. S., and Park, M. K. (2015). A review: natural fiber composites selection in
view of mechanical, light weight, and economic properties. Macromolecular Materials and
Engineering, 300(1), 10-24.
Albrecht, S.L., Bakker, A.B., Gruman, J.A., Macey, W.H. and Saks, A.M., 2015. Employee
engagement, human resource management practices and competitive advantage: An integrated
approach. Journal of Organizational Effectiveness: People and Performance, 2(1), pp.7-35.
Ausport.gov.au. 2018. Australian Sports Commission. [online] Available at:
https://www.ausport.gov.au/ [Accessed 27 Apr. 2018].
Bititci, U.S., Mendibil, K., Nudurupati, S., Garengo, P. and Turner, T., 2006. Dynamics of
performance measurement and organisational culture. International Journal of Operations &
Production Management, 26(12), pp.1325-1350.
Bititci, U.S., Turner, U. and Begemann, C., 2000. Dynamics of performance measurement
systems. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 20(6), pp.692-704.
Cascio, W., 2018. Managing human resources. McGraw-Hill Education.
Ensley, M.D., Pearson, A.W. and Amason, A.C., 2002. Understanding the dynamics of new
venture top management teams: cohesion, conflict, and new venture performance. Journal of
business venturing, 17(4), pp.365-386.
Forbes Welcome. 2018. Forbes.com. Retrieved 27 April 2018, from
https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2018/02/08/three-obstacles-that-
prevent-employees-from-performing-successfully/2/#776e870946c9

11
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Gerrish, E., 2016. The Impact of Performance Management on Performance in Public
Organizations: A Meta‐Analysis. Public Administration Review, 76(1), pp.48-66.
Khan, M.A. and Jahur, S., 2016. Human resource development practices in some selected
business enterprises in Bangladesh: an explanatory study. The Indonesian Management &
Accounting Research (IMAR), 6(1), pp.16-32.
Kor, Y.Y. and Mahoney, J.T., 2005. How dynamics, management, and governance of resource
deployments influence firm‐level performance. Strategic Management Journal, 26(5), pp.489-
496.
Menges, J.I., Tussing, D.V., Wihler, A. and Grant, A.M., 2017. When job performance is all
relative: how family motivation energizes effort and compensates for intrinsic
motivation. Academy of Management Journal, 60(2), pp.695-719.
Mostafa, A.M.S., Gould‐Williams, J.S. and Bottomley, P., 2015. High‐performance human
resource practices and employee outcomes: the mediating role of public service
motivation. Public Administration Review, 75(5), pp.747-757.
Moynihan, D.P. and Pandey, S.K., 2010. The big question for performance management: Why
do managers use performance information?. Journal of public administration research and
theory, 20(4), pp.849-866.
Nielsen, P.A. and Baekgaard, M., 2013. Performance information, blame avoidance, and
politicians’ attitudes to spending and reform: Evidence from an experiment. Journal of Public
Administration Research and Theory, 25(2), pp.545-569.

12
PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT OF AN UNDERPERFORMER
Van Dooren, W., Bouckaert, G. and Halligan, J., 2015. Performance management in the public
sector. Routledge.
Walker, R.M., Boyne, G.A. and Brewer, G.A. eds., 2010. Public management and performance:
Research directions. Cambridge University Press.