Performance Management Report: Employee Performance Analysis

This report analyzes a performance management scenario within the Australian Hardware Wollongong Store. The report begins with an abstract outlining the situation of a hardware and homewares manager assessing an employee, Kim Smith, seconded from the garden products department. Task 1 involves role plays with Kim's previous manager and Kim herself, evaluating her customer service skills and potential for the new role. The report highlights the risks associated with secondment, such as training needs and potential disputes. Task 2 details a role play discussing changes to the performance management system, shifting from annual to monthly evaluations, incorporating feedback, and increasing management involvement in training. The report concludes with Task 3, which is another role play between the manager and Kim, focusing on implementation of new processes. The report emphasizes the importance of clear objectives, continuous feedback, and employee engagement to improve performance and address potential challenges. The report also touches upon the importance of management training.

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PERFOMANCE MANAGEMENT
Name
Course
Professor’s Name
University
City (State)
Date

Performance management 2
Task 1
Abstract
I am the hardware and homes ware manager at the Australian Hardware Wollongong Store. A
garden products employee, Kim Smith, was seconded to me by her manager to work as a
customer service and sales representative. One of my major concerns is whether Kim will be able
to transfer the customer service skills that she learnt in the garden center to the new position or if
she will be able to learn new knowledge relating to homewares. Kim’s attitude in acquiring new
skills and knowledge is also of vital importance. I decided to meet with the gardens manager and
also meet with Kim.

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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

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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.

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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.
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

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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.
Risks Associated with Secondment
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

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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.
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.

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Task 2
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

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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.

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Management Training
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.

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Task 3
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.

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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.