Assessment 1

Specifications:

1. Who would you consult with to establish the requirements of the position and

to ensure the work is allocated appropriately and cost-effectively? Please provide

justifications. (approximately 4 sentences)

I would consult with HR specialist who is in charge of the recruitment. This is

because HR specialist can develop and execute recruiting plans, including job

description, rewards and recruitment schedule. Moreover, HR specialists often have

network through association memberships, trade groups, industry contacts and

employees (Williams et al., 1997). It will be more efficient to seek help from HR

specialist.

2. Develop a brief work plan in accordance with the operational plans for the

Case Study job position and input from your consultation. Ensure that your

work plan covered agreed standards (e.g. code of conduct and objectives) and

KPIs for the position. You may use the table provided below. Remember that

you aim is to allocate work in a way that is efficient (not wasting time), cost

effective (working within budget) and outcome focused (getting the job done).

Please ensure your table below meets these aims.

Work Plan Template

Position Start Date

Task/Activity/ Details Timeline Company Standards and

Responsibilities KPIs for the Position

Answered all

telephone enquiries

Done with courtesy

and have directed

calls and recorded

messages

accurately.

Weekly Less 5% of the calls are

missed. Picks up the phone

within 3 rings.

Recorded detailed and easy to

understand messages with

return call information.

Directed at least 95%

customers to the right person.

Input all relevant

data in the

computer system

Done with

accuracy and have

filed all necessary

worksheets in a

clear and easy to

access way.

Weekly Less 2% of the data is wrong

or missed. Timely forwarded

and saved backups of

completed worksheets.

Delivered and

distributed mails,

faxes and packages

Done with

patience, accuracy

and a timely

manner.

Daily Fewer 2% of the daily mails,

faxes and packages are

delayed, sent to the wrong

recipients or lost.

3. Conduct a risk analysis of the position in accordance with the legal

requirements and the organisational risk management plan. You may use the

template provided below. Three examples have been given; please give at least 6

risk factors.

Risk Analysis and Management Plan

Risk Factor Impact

Description

Impact

(Low,

Probabilit

y (Low,

Priority

(Low,

Proposed

Medium

, High)

Medium,

High)

Medium,

High)

Actions/Solutions

1. Estimated costs The employee

may incur more

costs than

budgeted. E.g.

not being able to

meet customer

enquiries and an

extra person is

therefore needed.

L/M L (if

interview

was

thorough

and

training

was

provided)

M Give more training

and evaluate work

load.

2. A quality

assurance

process has

been defined

and is in place?

The employee

may perform

lower than

expectations and

lead to violations

of the quality

assurance

process, causing

certain damage.

H L (if the

process is

in place

and the

employee

has been

familiar

with it in

training)

H Highlight the

importance of quality

assurance process.

3. Has version

control system

been

established?

The employee

may use a

different version

of phrases,

wording and

expressions from

the conventional

ones in the

department and

the company,

causing

L/M L (if a

version

control

system is

establishe

d)

M Establish a version

control system and

train the employee to

be familiar with the

conventional version.

confusion.

4. Theft and other

serious

misconducts

The employee

may behaviour

serious

misconducts that

harm the safety

of peers and the

company.

M/H L (if a

backgrou

nd

research

of the

employee

is

conducted

properly.)

L Ask the employee to

provide contacts or

recommendations

from previous

employers or schools

for background

research.

5. Breach of

Confidence

The employee

may intentionally

or

unintentionally

disclose

confidential

information to

others and

jeopardise the

interests of this

company.

M/H L L/M Highlight trainings

and educations about

the importance of

confidentiality for the

employee.

6. Professional

negligence

The employee

may perform

generally to the

expectations but

sometimes may

conduct

professional

negligence,

which reduces

the overall

efficiency of the

L/M L L Talk to the employee

about the significance

and consequences of

the professional

negligence and timely

review the

performance of the

employee.

department.

4.  Provide a list of steps of training process for employee in this position

and describe the content of training for this employee.

1. Orientation. For the new employee, orientation is crucial for the success of the new

employee because data shows that about 60% of employees who used to quit did so in

the first 10 days in a company (Farias et al., 2003). Orientation will show her the

history, mission and goal of the company, key members in the company, key

members in the department that she will work for, mission and importance of the

department to the company, and personnel rules and regulations of the company.

2. Apprenticeship. At this step, a senior staff in the department will be asked to guide

the new employee to get familiar with her job through introduction, instruction and

personal demonstrations. The senior staff will show the new employee how to answer

customers’ calls politely and accurately direct them to the right person and other

tasks. 3. Internship. The new employee will have a period of internship, cooperating

with this senior staff to master all tasks.

3. Evaluation of training. The training results of the employee will be evaluated by

the senior staff and the manager to determine whether the new employee is qualified

for the official work.

5.  Describe how you will review and evaluate this employee’s performance on a

continuous basis. Please refer to the five steps in your text.

1. Define the results I want to achieve and foster an open environment for honest

communication.

2. Set goals and objectives for the employee to achieve.

3. Document the performance expectations for the employee.

4. Create and apply a performance view form of the employee.

5. Gather feedback from all parties such as colleagues, HRs and customers if possible.

Reference

Farias, L.L., Travassos, G. H., & Rocha, A.R. (2003). Managing Organizational Risk

Knowledge. Journal of Universal Computer Science, 9 (7): 670-681

Williams, C.R., Walker, J.A., Dorofee, A. J. (1997). Putting Risk Management into

Practice. IEEE Software, 14 (3): 75-81.

Assessment 2 (Word Count: 597)

Specifications

1. Please write a conversation describing the feedback in which you will provide

to Linda. For example, summarise what you would say and in what context you

would approach her.

As a supervisor, I will approach to Linda and ask her whether she has time to join me

in lunch. Then I may take her to a nearby cafeteria and pay for the lunch (within a

certain budget). Under that relaxing and private circumstance, I will unfold the

conversation with her because this can protect Linda’s privacy and relationships with

colleagues and avoid influences on other sales members (Ackley & Bailey, 1995).

Firstly, I will ask about her recent feelings and thoughts about our work, including the

team environment, the reasonableness of our sales target, and recent relationships

with customers and so on. Second, I will share the feedback with Linda in a direct and

objective way, but will not express any negative comments or criticism because I’d

like to listen to her explanation first. Third, I will encourage her to make

improvements and give suggestions for her to overcome obstacles if needed.

2. What steps for formal feedback and coaching should you take with respect to

managing Linda’s performance? You may use the table below:

Description Services and

On-the-job

Contributio

n to better

Timefra Type of

documentati

Do I need

assistance

coaching

topics/metho

ds

performanc

e?

me on and

maintaining

records

methods

from HR

specialist

s? Y/N

Mutual

Trust

Building

Enhance the

day-to-day

mutual trust

relationship

with the

employee

This is the

foundation

for coaching

One week Informal

records will

be taken.

N

Opening a

coaching

meeting

Clarify the

reason for

arranging the

meeting

This is the

first step for

formal

feedback and

coaching.

Half a day Records will

be taken on

the daily

schedule.

N

Getting

agreement

Gain

agreements

and

understandin

g of the

employee

This can

lead the

employee to

recognize

the

significance

of his/her

performance

issue.

One hour

or less

Feedback of

the employee

will be

recorded

formally for

better

evaluation.

Y

Exploring

Alternative

ways for

improvemen

ts

Maximize the

number of

choices for

the employee

This can

push the

employee to

consider the

advantages

and

disadvantage

Half a day Alternatives

will be

recorded and

documented

for future use.

Y

s of

alternative

ways for

improvemen

ts.

Choosing an

alternative

Help the

employee to

choose an

alternative

and gain

his/her

commitment

to act.

This can

provide a

standard for

the

employee to

make

improvemen

t with

commitment.

One hour

or less

Records will

be taken and

documented

for future

evaluation of

the

fulfilment.

N

Handling

excuses

Turn excuses

from the

employee

into

encourageme

nt

This can

show

support for

the

employee

and inspire

him/her to

examine the

performance.

One hour

or less

Records will

be taken

informally,

just to remind

the employee

to not make

the excuses

again.

N

Providing

Feedback

Provide

positive,

continuous

and

conducive

feedback

Positive and

timely

feedback can

enhance

performance.

On-going Records will

be taken.

Y

3. Who might you advise about Linda’s performance and why?

I might seek advice from HR specialist and senior sales manager because HR

specialist can offer staff performance management advice while senior sales manager

may provide good advice to improve Linda’s sales performance.

4. Give three examples of how you can reinforce good performance. Please fill in

the table below:

Reward/Reinforcement Examples to

Linda

Description and Justification

1. Regular positive feedback Positive feedback can encourage an

employee to achieve more (Ackley &

Bailey, 1995).

2. Empower sales team members to

cheer for their work

Celebrations to their achievements can

boost their motivation, including Linda.

3. Offer employees’ with benefits

that can reduce stress

For female staff like Linda, a reward of

manicures, massage and so on can help

relieve her tension.

5. What can you do if Linda continues to perform below expectation? Please give

three examples (e.g. disciplinary process)

1. A meeting for all sales staff will be held to rephrase and highlight the probable

level of misconducts to remind staff like Linda to reflect on her behaviour.

2. I will have informal discussion with Linda to show her the consequences and

significance of continuing the performance.

3. Consider suspension with the help from HR specialists.

6. Assume that there is another serious customer complaint about Linda and you

decided to terminate her employment. Please specify the necessary

documentation/requirements for the termination of Linda.

1. I will inform Linda about her risks of being dismissed.

2. If Linda is unable/unwilling to improve her performance, I will use progressive

discipline warning form to document each step.

3. I will then hold an employment termination meeting and complete the employment

ending checklist.

References

Ackley, G.E. & Bailey, J.S. (1995). Teaching Performance Management Using

Behaviour Analysis. The Behaviour Analyst. 18(1): 73 – 81

Assessment 3

1. Summarise the laws governing unlawful dismissal of an employee in a small

and large organisation. Please fill in the table below

Lawful dismissal in a small organisation (fewer than 15 employees)

Lawful dismissal in a large organisation

The Small Business Fair Dismissal Code

can be applied to employers of small

business in the workplace relations

system of Australia. According to this

Code, business with fewer than 15

employees can be identified as a small

business.

The Code regulates that in the first 12

months following their engagement,

employees of a small business cannot

make a claim for unfair dismissal.

A fair dismissal means when an

employee is dismissed after this period

while the employer abides by the Code.

In normal cases, the employer must

explain a valid reason why the employee

is at risk of being dismissed to the

employee. The reason must be based on

the employee’s capacity or conduct for

this job.

Besides, dismissal of an employee

without notice or warning is considered

to be fair when the employer has

reasonable grounds for the dismissal, that

is, when conducts of the employee are

Different from small enterprises,

employees of larger businesses (with

more than 15 employees) are able to

make a claim for unfair dismissal in the

first 6 months following their

engagement. Meanwhile, there is no

statutory code like Small Business Fair

Dismissal Code for larger businesses.

According to the Fair Work Bill, less

exclusion from the unfair dismissal

provisions is made. Moreover, employers

of larger businesses cannot dismiss an

employee due to reasons from economic,

technological, structural or similar

aspects.

serious to justify immediate dismissal.

Such misconducts include theft, fraud,

OHS procedures and violence (SRC

Commission, 2014).

2. Please give one example of how each of the following legislation relate to

managing staff performance. Please fill in the table below:

Relevant Legislation Relation to Staff Performance Example

1. OHS Occupational safety and health (OSH)

performance is closely linked to staff

performance. For example, workplace

bullying is considered as one of the

hazard to OSH and employee morale will

be jeopardized by such hazards. But

positive OSH indicators, such as

opportunities to training and education

for employees, will boost employees’

initiatives in problem solving.

2. Environmental Issues Environmental issues in workplace

greatly influence employees’ eagerness

and motivation to do the job, as well as

their overall attitude about work. For

example, when employees are in an

environment full of pungent smells from

ecologically unfriendly painting, they

tend to perceive the workplace as a

negative place and will not work hard and

stay long.

3. Equal Opportunities In terms of effects of Equal Opportunities

Legislation on staff performance, an

example is the “gender-neutral” non-

discriminatory systems for payment

adopted by many enterprises. This

“gender-neutral” notion helps women

gain equal opportunities through work

and thus become more active and

productive.

4. Industrial Relations For example, if an enterprise adopts

workplace practices in a way that

employees can be involved more

efficiently and frequently, the

productivity of employees can be

increased.

5. Anti-discrimination The anti-discrimination legislation

promotes workplace equality and protects

employees from discrimination. For

example, the employer is prohibited from

discriminating against staff based on

physical or mental disability of staff. This

can protect employees from unfair

dismissal or bullying due to their

disability, such as pregnancy and

depression.

6. Relevant Awards The Relevant Awards laws are also

closely related to the staff performance.

For example, the modern award can cover

all employers and employees in an

industry and ensure the occupation-based

minimum employment standards. Other

awards can serve as incentives to improve

the staff performance, such as bonus.

7. Certificated Agreements Certificated enterprise agreements set out

conditions of employment of staff at

workplaces. For example, the certificated

agreements of enterprises will provide a

pay rate no less than that in the relevant

modern award, which can ensure the

loyalty of staff to some degrees.

References

SRC Commission. (2014). Positive Performance Indicators. Australia Government

Comcare. Retrieved from www.comcare.gov.au