Trevor Carver, Ali Kirk, Josh Allan, Devin Basinger, Derek McAllister Comms 360 28 Feb 2013

The Poor Performing Salesperson Pg 168 Case 6.4

1. Have Eds actions in working with Jane been fair and appropriate? Yes. He has given her a month to improve and has set written goals and objectives for her to reach. He gave her the resources that she needed. It has been the appropriate progressive discipline. 2. Are there any other steps Ed should take now in dealing with Jane? Yes. He thinks that there is something else bothering her, but does not know what. He should ask her what is bothering her. He should create standardized performance criteria if he hasnt already to make sure every employee is held to the same standard. Also, he should contact their legal department and make sure that he is doing things appropriately in case she needs to be fired. Lastly, he should meet with a group of managers to discuss whether or not her termination is justified. 3. What might be the reason for Janes sudden poor performance? Possibilities: She is racist and does not like that Ed is her manager She has grown complacent at work and is making excuses Her husband left her She was never a good salesperson and was bribing the previous manager while reporting false numbers She felt like she should have been promoted to the manager position but the only reason she wasnt was because she is a woman. She is lazy She recently found out she is terminally ill. She is not a good worker and overestimates her capabilities She is on a diet. She recently adopted a child and did not tell anybody. She is spending her nights packing her apartment before she flees to the border to escape the Fed who is after her for tax evasion 4. How can Ed discover whether there is a reason for Janes unresponsiveness to his efforts to improve his performance. without incurring legal liability? Should he try to find out? why or why not? I think he should ask generally and give her the opportunity to volunteer the information, but not ask directly. It is her job to be ready for work and do a good job. Maybe he could ask something like Is there anything that we can do to help you out? If she answers then he might

be able to solve the problem or know how to avoid legal trouble depending on her response. If she doesnt answer then we are no worse off than before. 5. What steps would you take to identify the training Jane may need? Have her take a skills test. Set up a fake client to see how she goes about each step of the process. Then identify her weakness and strengths. 6. How can Ed determine fairly whether Jane simply lacks adequate sales training without opening his station to a wrongful termination or other lawsuit? First of all, he can provide her with the adequate training that she says she lacks and then track her progress. If she does not improve, then we can assume that there is something else bothering her. We need to make it clear that she is required to meet certain goals and if she doesnt she will be terminated. It is important to document these warnings and have the employee sign, recognizing that they received them. 7. How should Ed document the steps he takes to train or if necessary discipline Jane. Why? He should document them thoroughly to be legally protected. He should write down his expectations for improvement and the times where he will hold her accountable. He should also keep a record of performance metrics so that he can show why he is going to terminate her if it comes to that point. This is all important so we can show that Jane was terminated for performance reasons if there was ever a case made on wrongful termination. 8. How should Ed respond to todays meeting with Jane. Depending on how she performs Ed should either set more goals for increased performance if she shows improvement, or he should inform her that she will be suspended for a time. He then should meet with legal council to review labor laws and also meet with other managers to determine if the termination is justified. If it is, meet one last time accompanied by another manager to terminate her. 9. Write a sample memo for unsatisfactory response: Jane, As you are aware, the performance goals that we have set have not been met for this past month. Unfortunately, this is the 4th month in which sales goals were unmet, and the 2nd month of no improvement after increased training and goal setting. Due to these circumstances, our at will employment relationship will be terminated. -Ed 10. Sample memo for satisfactory response: Jane, We appreciate the work you have put into improving over these past few weeks! We will continue to track your progress and determine ways that we can help you achieve your goals. Please establish another set of written goals for the next month, and continue to build your prospect file by getting two more new clients. We will meet again in four weeks to discuss your progress.

-Ed 11. What other present or future steps or actions would you recommend to Ed. Continue to track her progress if she begins to improve. If not, Legally get rid of Jane.