You observed Sophie for one week and noted the following about her performance.

• Sophie has good communication skills and a friendly personality.
• She interacts well with other team members and is happy to offer assistance when they are completing lengthy or complex tasks.
• She handles customer enquiries and requests for most basic services quickly and competently.
• She asks for assistance from other team members if customer enquiries or requests for anything not normally offered by the business are a variation of existing products or services or require her to make a decision.
• She always asks another team member to assist customers who are requesting a refund or complaining about products or services.
• Answer the questions.

1 Based on your observations and staff feedback, what area(s) of underperformance have you identified?

2 What do you think are potential reasons for Sophie's inability to meet performance standards in her job role?

3 How are you going to investigate these potential reasons to determine the actual cause?

4 Indicate when (e.g., time of day, before, during, after shift), where (e.g., in work area, in private, in formal/informal meeting) and the format you are going to use (e.g., formal/informal, discussion, counselling, meeting) to discuss your performance concerns with Sophie.

5 Describe how you are going to communicate your observations and concerns about her performance to Sophie. Write what you would say to her. Remember, you should be giving positive and constructive feedback as well as discussing performance concerns.