QUESTION 3

Read the following scenario and answer the question that follows. PERFORMING POORLY You have been appointed as a financial manager at a construction company. You soon become aware that there is an executive assistant, called Sarah, who seems to have very little work to do. On further investigation, you discover that the general view at the company is that Sarah is lazy and unreliable. In fact, no one has given her any work to do in the last two years; she also has not had a performance review and it seems as if no one has had a discussion with her about her performance. You meet with Sarah and she tells you that she feels very demotivated. She says she does not have enough to do and is very bored. You arrange a few training courses for her to update her computer skills. In the meantime, you begin increasing her workload. A performance appraisal interview is scheduled where objectives are set for her, and any further development needs are clarified with her. She tells you she is perfectly capable and does not need any further training. It soon becomes clear from your regular meetings that Sarahs performance has not improved. Her word processing is inaccurate; her telephone messages are unclear; and she struggles to discharge her duties in a timely manner. You call her in to discuss the situation. She is very upset by this conversation as no one has had a bad word to say about her performance before your discussion. Somewhat reluctantly, she agrees to go on an office administration refresher course. Upon completion of the course, Sarahs work has improved slightly but is still nowhere near the required level. After six months there is still no improvement.

HRM2605: Assignment 07 Semester 02 (2022)

6 Source: Adapted from Nel, P. & Werner, A. 2017. Human Resource Management. 10th ed. Cape Town: Oxford University Press South Africa (p. 300).

Explain in detail, by applying your performance management knowledge, what you would do in this situation. [10 mark