This performance improvement case will be divided into several segments that will help efficiently get to the root of the problems while describing each issue. This way, all issues will be shown, and it is then that the solutions will be reached. By doing this, no stone will be left unturned. The segments mentioned include the first address of the performance issue, and identifying a timeline for performance improvement. More so, they should put down consequences that will be triggered in case there is no improvement on the tutor’s side, and finally lay down robust strategies that will comprehensively describe how the tutor’s union representatives will be included in the meetings with the tutor.
Addressing the Performance Issue
This section first mentions the problems associated with the tutor and then identifies possible reasons that bring rise to the problems. Therefore, this will help to know who is to blame as per the bases and how to address the issues.
The first problem is that the tutor regularly comes to school late. Being a tutor, this is not expected of her as she may not only miss or delay her class sessions in the morning but also set a poor example for the students who are always taught to keep time. This issue is personal as the tutor may be coming late due to her reasons such as unpredictable traffic and her problems at home among many more (Langely et al. 2009). However, these are the wrong reasons she should work on addressing by herself. To resolve this issue, a meeting with the tutor must be set up to ensure she keeps time.
The other issue is that students in the tutor’s classes perform poorly in their respective subjects. There may be several reasons for this. To begin with, her students may have a negative attitude towards the issues she teaches and, hence, may not be keen on performing better on them. Secondly, the tutor may not be taking her lessons seriously. Another reason is that the tutor may not have good relationships with the students. Furthermore, it is possible that the tutor just does not know how to involve the students well despite her trying her best to teach well. The second and last reasons seem valid. We first rule the first idea out since the tutor shows a diverse range of subjects and it is not possible that the students have a negative attitude towards all those matters. The third reason does not stand because, being a qualified tutor, she has apparently been taught the basics of relating well with her students and must have possibly mastered this art before becoming qualified. The second reason stands since it has been influenced by the first issue which was that the tutor reports late to school. Maybe she has developed a tendency to not take things seriously for her reasons (Ford, Latham & Lennox, 2011). The fourth reason may be valid as it is something beyond her control.
The third issue is that the students have reported to their parents concerning how boring the tutor is as she only focuses on lecturing and not building a relationship with the students. In fact, she spends the whole class period giving the lecture. The main problem is that the teacher does not know how to build relationships with the students. Maybe this is in her personality. This is apparently the problem since the students did not even have the confidence to tell the tutor that she should be friendlier. Instead, they choose to report to their parents. To address this, several meetings will have to be set up with the tutor to deliberate on how she could improve her interaction skills with the students (Rummler & Brache, 2012). As such, this would even help to solve the second issue: the students were performing poorly academically. Indeed, the poor performance is because, in the middle of the lectures, the students lose concentration due to the long, tedious hours that the tutor spends lecturing. Since they cannot tell her due to her nature, they decide to concentrate on other things, which influences the performance of the subjects negatively.
Lastly, the fact that the tutor insists on having a union representative in any meetings that she would get called for concerning her performance proves that matters are pressing. Either she is hiding something or not confident enough to handle the issues directly. However, the tutor has the right to ask for a union representative to be present during such meetings; therefore, this must be honored (Duffy et al. 2008). Nevertheless, these meetings have to take place for the problems above to be addressed.
Time Plan for Performance Improvement
The first phase of the performance improvement exercise begins by analyzing the problems above and the recommended solutions to determine when it is appropriate to hold the meetings that have been suggested. The first meeting has to occur after a week. This session will determine whether the abovementioned problems that have given rise to the issues of concern are right (Goetsh & Davis, 2014). If not, then the real problem will be established from the proceedings of this meeting.
The second meeting will come one week after the first. This is after solutions to the problem identified in the first meeting have been obtained. The one week before this session will also be used to develop new terms and conditions for the tutor. These include consequences that she will be liable for if her performance does not improve to a certain level after a specified period.
The third meeting will take place a month after the second one. The objective of this meeting would be to check the progress of the tutor based on the terms and conditions specified in the second session.
It, therefore, means that the tutor’s performance and, hence, the student’s performance should have improved by the terms and conditions one and a half months after the first meeting. If this does not occur, various consequences will have to apply (Goetsh & Davis, 2014).
Consequences of Non-Improvement
The first result will be triggered if there are zero improvements in the academic performance of students in the subjects that the tutor lectures and no reduction in the number of complaints arising concerning the tutor. If this is the case after the stipulated grace period, the contract between the tutor and the school must be terminated.
If the student’s academic performance improves a bit and the number of complaints reduces immensely, then the tutor will be rewarded accordingly depending on the level of performance improvement(Goetsh & Davis, 2014).
If the complaints are reduced yet the performance is still desired, the tutor will be forced to take other subjects and replace them with the items that she is currently lecturing.
If there is a drastic improvement in performance and a substantial reduction in the complaints received from students, the tutor will again be rewarded accordingly.
Strategies to Include Union Representative
As mentioned, the union representative has the right to be present during the performance evaluation meetings with the tutor. However, the representative will have to adhere to some preset conditions which include:
- The representative can negotiate the terms and conditions to discuss within the meetings before publication. Once implemented, the representative has no power to adjust them according to his interest.
- The representative is to attend all performance-based meetings in which the client is involved to avoid situations in which there would be complaints that some policies that do not favor the client were made(Goetsh & Davis, 2014).
- The tutor is supposed to be present at every meeting but only for listening purposes. She should channel all her concerns through the representative as the meeting’s board will just deal with the union representative.
The performance improvement plan above is tailored for this situation and is expected to produce the desired results. The performance plan is divided into three segments namely; addressing the performance issue, Time plan for performance improvement, and Consequences of non-improvement. The first part mentions the problems associated with the tutor and then identifies possible reasons that bring rise to the problems. The second one analyzes the issues above and the recommended solutions to determine when it is appropriate to hold the meetings that have been recommended. The third and the last phase indicate the effects of nonperformance. The paper also shows some of the strategies included in union representatives.
References
Duffy, F. D., Lynn, L. A., Didura, H., Hess, B., Caverzagie, K., Grosso, L., … & Holmboe, E. S. (2008). Self‐assessment of practice performance: Development of the ABIM Practice Improvement Module (PIM-SM). Journal of Continuing Education in the Health Professions, 28(1), 38-46.
Ford, R. C., Latham, G. P., & Lennox, G. (2011). Mystery shoppers: A new tool for coaching employee performance improvement. Organizational Dynamics, 40(3), 157-164.
Goetsch, D. L., & Davis, S. B. (2014). Quality management for organizational excellence. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Langley, G. J., Moen, R. D., Nolan, K. M., Nolan, T. W., Norman, C. L., & Provost, L. P. (2009). The improvement guide: a practical approach to enhancing organizational performance. John Wiley & Sons.
Rummler, G. A., & Brache, A. P. (2012). Improving performance: How to manage the white space on the organization chart. John Wiley & Sons.
