Question

The e-mail Alex received from the head office didn’t stop there. They went onto say:

We have performance management issues that seem to go unresolved. Customer Service Representative, Jake Smith, has been excessively absent for months now and Jake’s manager seems to think he may be underperforming. In addition, Jake’s manager believes that Jake might be dealing with a mental health illness, but Jake has not discussed this with the manager. Head office and Jake’s manager, think the problem is severe enough to warrant dismissal. Unfortunately, we have no formal performance appraisal data, just attendance records for this employee.

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We are wanting to confirm that dismissal would be a good decision given we have just this week implemented the progressive discipline policy. Going forward we need to establish a formal performance management system, and we are not wanting to compare employees to one another, so we are considering the behaviorally anchored rating scales (BARS). Keep in mind the performance appraisal should cover the following new skills: the ability to multitask, train new people, provide feedback to new call center employees, as well as analyze problems.


Questions for Scenario B (10 marks total):

1.

a. Do you think in the case of Jake Smith that dismissal for just cause can be established? Fully explain why or why not and any legal implications that may arise if he is dismissed (2 marks), and specifically write your formal response to head office (2 marks) (4 marks total).


b. Design 2 sample BARS items that represent 2 of the new key skills needed to be a customer service representative. Your answer should include i) the wording for each of the 2 BARS items and you need to ii) explain the criteria that would score a 1, and the criteria that would get a score of 5 for each of the 2 items. It is imperative to be very specific (2 marks per item and associated explanation of the scoring for 6 marks total).

Answer 1

The case of Jake Smith pertaining to dismissal is not justified just because of his absence. There has been no mention on his past performance and any health issues of Jake smith. Also, the progressive discipline policy has been implemented very lately and in order to bring it in to practice, Jake Smith case should not become a bait. There could be legal complications, if Jake raises a concern to the company's management about the late implementation of 'progressive discipline policy' . Also, if there has not been any communication between Jake smith and his manager, it is imperative that manager first understands about Jake Smith's long absence , reasons pertaining to the same and providing atleast one opportunity to prove himself.

2 Sample BARS items that needs to be considered as new skills needed for a customer service representative are :

a. Behavior pertaining to close loop the communication - Whether its written or Oral. This skill is very important for the profession as customer service representatives as this would help in building trust with customers.Taking clue from Jake Smith case, this behaviour is a must for any employee.

b. Another behaviour would be pertaining to 'quick reflux' by customer service representatives and taking 'proactive' measures. This is a very important behavioral aspect that defines an employee's attitude and loyalty.