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One of the customer service representatives (CSRs) at a small start-up company has developed a problem manifested in late arrivals at the workplace and the lack of understanding of the companys recently launched products. The hiring manager appreciates the work of the CSR and would like to avoid dismissal. The HR manager was asked by the hiring manager to develop a three-step plan of improving the CSRs performance. The plan should be developed based on the recognition that various reasons for an employee to demonstrate lateness for work can exist (Skinner, Elton, Auer, & Pocock, 2014), and there is no universal solution. However, the general principle behind the plan is the launching of a disciplinary procedure to improve the performance of the CSR. The three steps are conducting a session with the employee, providing feedback, and training the employee on the new products.
The first step is an individual session organized by the HR manager. The purpose of the session is to identify the reasons for the employees recent behaviors and lack of motivation to accumulate knowledge about the new products. During the session, the CSR should be clearly explained that this session is not being held to prepare the employee for dismissal or explain the reasons for dismissal. However, the risk of possible dismissal should be mentioned, and the employee should understand that his or her position at the company is under threat due to the worsening performance. It is expected that the session will take up to one hour and be held as soon as possible; the CSR will be able to share his or her concerns or problems openly with the HR manager.
The second step is providing formal feedback to the CSR. The feedback should take into consideration delicate issues that might have caused the worsening of performance and should explicitly state that the concern is free of any form of discrimination ( Managing performance and discipline, n.d.). At the same time, the feedback should be formative, i.e. it should not be restricted to evaluating the employees performance based on certain scales (i.e. should not be restricted to listing the cases of the CSRs lateness). Instead, the feedback should identify the areas in which the employee can improve and suggest methods for achieving improvements. The feedback will be prepared within a week after the session with the CSR.
Finally, the third step is training the CSR as per the new products. It is recognized that the employee received appropriate product training, but additional training may be needed if the new products are unclear to the employee. It is acknowledged that the provision of training to current employees can promote innovation (Sung & Choi, 2014); therefore, it can be expected that additional training for the CSR will motivate him or her to resume active engagement. Upon completion, the evaluation will be needed to assess if the training was successful. The training will take three weeks, which is half the time of the employees initial product training.
References
Managing performance and discipline. (n.d.).
Skinner, N., Elton, J., Auer, J., & Pocock, B. (2014). Understanding and managing work-life interaction across the life course: A qualitative study. Asia Pacific Journal of Human Resources, 52(1), 93-109.
Sung, S. Y., & Choi, J. N. (2014). Do organizations spend wisely on employees? Effects of training and development investments on learning and innovation in organizations. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 35(3), 393-412.
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