Case Study

Maliah works in a fast-food restaurant as a customer service representative where she assists with the delivery of customer orders. There are eight members of staff who works in that department on two six-hour shifts each day. There is a restaurant supervisor, who is the assistant manager and one administrative

assistant who works in the office. Maliah is asked to assist in the office due to her competence in the area. Maliahs manager, the General Manager, conducted her performance appraisal at the end of the quarter and had this to say about her.

Maliah is extremely conscientious about getting her work done. She follows the outlined procedures exactly and follows instructions. She can be relied upon to get the job done quickly and efficiently. She often works overtime and does so without complaining. She is a qualified, flexible, willing and hard worker who strives to do the technical part of her job right and is highly productive in the office.

However, when it comes to interacting with customers, Maliah needs considerable improvement. She often fails to see customers point of view and does not consider their feelings. She often gets into unnecessary arguments with the customers and gives the impression that the customers are an irritation interrupting her work. She is regarded by some as uncaring, inflexible, and defensive when they request extra service. Maliah takes forever to respond to request for service as well as to return with customers receipts and change.

This comment was similar to that made on previous appraisals. He additionally commented that if her performance continues, it will be necessary to reposition her to the kitchen where she will have minimal contact with customers. In her defense, Maliah claims that she was not aware of the concern after the previous appraisals because she only completed the standard form and several suggestions have been made in the appropriate section about the way in which customers request extra based on the procedures outlined. She also replied that it is rather cumbersome to navigate to customers to get their requests in a timely manner because the tables are too close to each other and are not appropriately arranged. She also wrote that she is not pleased with the fact that she is being asked to do tasks that are not in her contract despite that fact that she is a self-motivating person who means the business well. She does mind doing overtime but has no choice due to fear of losing her job.

Required:

1. Distinguish between Performance Management and Performance Appraisal. (2 marks)

1. Explain TWO (2) strategies that the organization concerned could adopt to address the situation described. (4 marks)

1. Identify the THREE (3) steps in the performance appraisal process. (6 marks)

1. Describe One (1) method that may likely be used by the manager in the case to evaluate the employees performance in the performance appraisal process. Give a brief statement for your choice. (4 marks)

1. Assess the importance of performance appraisal. (4 marks)

1. Outline TWO (2) functions of Human Resource Management observed in the case. (4 marks)

1. Discuss THREE (3) recommendations you would make to the manager to improve the performance appraisal process. (6 marks)

(Total 30 marks)