Allocate Work

This unit is primarily concerned with the process of performance management. So what is performance management? Performance can be defined as behaviour which accomplishes a desired result or objective and performance management is the process of improving organisational performance by improving individual and team performance (Armstrong 2014). By ensuring that individuals and teams achieve their objectives you can ensure that the organisation as a whole is able to achieve its organisational objectives.

“Performance management is the continuous process of improving performance by setting individual and team goals which are aligned to the strategic goals of the organization, planning performance to achieve the goals, reviewing and assessing progress, and developing the knowledge, skills and abilities of people.”

^{(Armstrong 2014, 9)}

When performed correctly, performance management is an ongoing process which never ceases – this means that the process starts again as soon as it ends. In this way organisations are able to achieve what is known as continuous improvement.

The performance management process has four stages which are described below:

• Planning – reaching agreement on objectives and standards to be achieved and the level of competence to be attained; discussing and agreeing performance improvement and personal development plans.
• Action – taking action to implement plans and to achieve the required standards of day-to-day work. This action is carried out by individuals with the guidance and support of their managers.
• Monitoring – actions and outcomes are monitored continuously by individuals and, as necessary, by their manager (the more this can be left to individuals so that they are in effect managing their own performance, the better).
• Reviews – these can take place at any appropriate time during the year. Performance management is an all¬ the ¬year process, not an annual event. The reviews can be quite informal with feedback from the manager or, preferably, generated by the individual from feedback information available directly to them. A more formal review should take place periodically, say once or twice a year.

^{(Armstrong 2014, 504)}

The performance management process can also be depicted as an ongoing cycle, like the one below from Armstrong (2014, 337).

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Before you can start managing performance in your organisation, there are a number of legislative and regulatory requirements you must be aware of and abide by. These laws and regulations include:

Industrial Relations Legislation

Industrial relations in Australia are governed by the Fair Work Act 2009. The Fair Work Act regulates the relationship between employers and employees and it also sets 10 National Employment Standards. These standards provide a minimum standard of employment for all Australians and relates to issues concerning:

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

In addition to the National Employment standards, most Australians are also covered by a modern award. There are over 100 modern awards which cover almost every occupation and deal with:

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

Employees can also be covered by an enterprise agreement or employment contract however these agreements can never put employees at a disadvantage when compared to the applicable modern award. When managing performance, you should be aware of an understand the national employment standards as well as any applicable awards, agreements or contracts to ensure that you abide by the conditions of those agreements when managing performance. You can search for modern awards at the following website: http://www.fairwork.gov.au/awards-and-agreements. The Fair Work Act also deals with unfair dismissal and unlawful termination – we will discuss these topics will be covered in further detail later in this study guide.

1. Hours of work
2. Right to request flexible arrangements
3. Parental leave
4. Annual leave
5. Personal/carer’s leave and compassionate leave
6. Community service leave
7. Long service leave
8. Public holidays
9. Notice and redundancy pay
10. Fair work information statement

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Anti-Discrimination Legislation

Australian anti-discrimination legislation is regulated at both a state and federal level and is designed to protect all people from discrimination, harassment and unfair treatment (Australian Human Rights Commission 2015). The various state and federal laws make it illegal to discriminate against anyone on the basis of race, gender, religion, age, nationality, disability, sexual preference, marital status, and a range of other protected characteristics. The various laws provide protection in almost all areas of life including employment. When engaging in performance management processes you must ensure that the process you use complies with all state and federal anti-discrimination legislation and, in essence, treats all employees fairly, and with dignity and respect. The various pieces of legislation that you should be aware of may include:

• Australian Human Rights Commission Act 1986
• Age Discrimination Act 2004 of Australia
• Disability Discrimination Act 1992 of Australia 
• Racial Discrimination Act 1975 of Australia 
• Sex Discrimination Act 1984 of Australia 
• Australian Capital Territory Discrimination Act 1991 
• New South Wales Anti-Discrimination Act 1977 
• Northern Territory Anti-Discrimination Act 1996 
• Queensland Anti-Discrimination Act 1991 
• South Australia Equal Opportunity Act 1984 
• Tasmania Anti-Discrimination Act 1998 
• Victoria Equal Opportunity Act 1995
• Western Australia Equal Opportunity Act 1984

Depending upon the organisation for which you work, and the industry that you work in, there may be other pieces of legislation that impact upon performance management processes. As in all your work, it is vital that you take the time to understand your organisation’s specific circumstances and comply with all relevant legislation.

Of course, work must actually be conducted before performance can be monitored and, as you should be aware of by now, for work to be conducted in a streamlined and efficient manner it must be effectively allocated. The first step to allocating work is consulting with relevant groups and individuals.

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Before you can allocate work you will need to consult with various people throughout the organisation to determine what work needs to be done and what resources are available to do the work. The groups and individuals you consult with will vary greatly depending on your organisation, its size and structure, and the industry in which it operates. However some common groups or individuals who are often consulted before allocating work may include:

• Your manager
• Senior management 
• The sales department
• Order processing
• Customer service
• Marketing
• Human resources
• Other managers/departments 
• Employees/subordinates

Work to be allocated may include:

• Day to day tasks
• Jobs or orders
• Special projects
• Long term projects
• Team projects
• Housekeeping

Required resource to complete work may include:

• Materials
• Vehicles
• Equipment
• Tools
• Specialist skills/knowledge
• Hardware
• Software
• Time
• Money

It is important to ensure that the required resources will be available to complete the work, before the work is allocated. Oftentimes organisation will have limited resources which need to be shared between various teams and departments. Sometimes certain resources need to be booked in advance to ensure that they will be available when required.

In addition to consulting relevant personnel you will also need to refer to any relevant operational plans for your organisation or department. Operation plans are detailed, short-term plans, which describe how a team, branch, unit or department will contribute to the larger strategic objectives of the organisation.

Once you have accessed and analysed the operational plan you will be able to develop a work plan for your team or department based on the activities in the operational plan. Work plans should include the following information:

• Activity – what is to be done
• Responsibility – who will do it
• Resources – what materials and equipment will be required
• Timeframe – when will it be completed

Work plans are developed during the planning phase of the performance management cycle.

The following fictional case study has been developed to assist your learning in this unit. In this case study the manager of a fictional manufacturing operation uses the process described in this Study Guide to manage employee performance. We will begin by seeing how work is allocated.

Case Study

ABC Technologies
David is the manager of production at ABC technologies, a small computer components manufacturer. David has been asked to develop a work plan based on the strategies and outcomes set out in ABC Technologies’ operations plans.

Strategic Objective
Improve product quality

Activities

• Measure the number of defective products made/sold
• Redesign process to improve quality
• Meet weekly to discuss quality issues
• Identify the most serious/common quality issues
• Communicate progress towards improving quality

Work Plan

Employee name		Production team
Employee position		Production
Manager name		David
Manager position		Production Manager
Date of plan		01/02/201X
Period of plan		6 months
Interim review date		01/07/201X
Strategic objective		Improve product quality
Activity	Responsibility	Resources	Timeframe
Measure quality	David (Mgr)	logs/spreadsheets	1 week
Identify issues	Peter	reports/feedback	1 week
Redesign process	Team	flowcharts/time	2 weeks
Weekly meetings	Team	meeting room/time	weekly
Communication	Jessica	whiteboard/results	weekly

To summarise the table above, David agreed to put processes in place to record the number of defective products produced and sold. This involved placing logs on the factory floor for employees to record defective products identified. It also involved incentivizing customers to report defective products that they had received. David then recorded this information in weekly spreadsheets to measure and track changes.

Peter was asked to identify the most serious/common quality issues occurring at the plant.

The team met as a group to redesign the manufacturing process so that extra quality checkpoints were added. David agreed to allow extra time to produce each unit in order to accommodate the additional quality checks.

The team met weekly to discuss quality issues and performance.

Finally Jessica was put in charge of communicating the results to the organisation. She decided to set up a whiteboard where she could record the weekly progress for everyone to see and recognise outstanding efforts to improve product quality.

Some organisations also include risk analysis as a component of developing work plans – we will discuss risk management later in this section of the module.

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Allocating work seems like a simple enough task – it should be as simple as deciding:

• What should be done
• Who should do it
• How they should do it

While this sounds simple enough, there are many factors to consider to ensure that work allocation is efficient, cost effective, and outcome focused. In order to determine how to achieve the desired outcome using the least resources and in the fastest time you should consider:

• The task requirements. Task requirements include the required outcomes, quality, timeframe, skills and knowledge (Leech 2007). When determining the requirements of a task you should consider:
  • What are the desired outcomes that need to be achieved?
  • Are there any performance measures that need to be met?
  • How urgent is it, when must it be completed?
  • How soon/late can it be started?
  • What skills and knowledge are required?
  If the task is routine or easy, you may be able to allocate less time, people and resources to its completion. On the other hand, complex tasks may require more people, time, and resources.
• The current abilities of the team. A current ability refers to the skills, knowledge, capability and experience of each team member. You can gain an understanding of your teams’ current abilities through regular one to one meetings, performance management sessions, training and observation (Leech 2007). Highly capable team members may be able to complete more complex tasks on their own or in less time than a less capable team member would.
• Their current workloads. Current workload refers to the amount of work or the number of tasks each team member is currently undertaking. This can be determined by keeping track of work allocation or through regular progress meetings (Leech 2007). A team member working simultaneously on ten different tasks will have less time to dedicate to an eleventh task than a team member with only one task.
• The potential for development. The final consideration when allocating work is the potential for development. Potential for development refers to the extent to which each task can become a learning opportunity for one or more team members (Leech 2007). When determining whether a certain task has development potential you should consider:
  • How important the task is?
  • How much time do you have?
  • Who would be able to learn from it?
  • Who would be able to teach it?
  • What are their current workloads?
  Managers should be aware that using a particular task as a learning opportunity may cause a short term drop in efficiency, cost effectiveness, or outcomes but should result in better overall performance in the long term (Leech 2007).

Once work has been allocated, it is then important to establish the parameters along which performance will be assessed.

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In order to assess performance you first need to set performance standards. Performance standards are used to assess how employees are performing. As such, they should be developed carefully, keeping in mind the individual employee’s job requirements and required work outputs as well as the existing standards and objectives of the organisation, such as those reflected in an organisation’s code of conduct. A code of conduct is an agreed (or decreed) set of rules relating to employee behaviour/conduct with other employees, customers, or other stakeholders. Most organisations already have a code of conduct in place – if your organisation doesn’t have a code of conduct you may need to develop one yourself. Any performance standards developed should be compatible with an existing codes of conduct, organisational values, and other existing performance standards. Therefore, before developing new standards it is important to first check any existing standards that are in place.

Key performance indicators (KPI’s) are a common form of performance standard. Unfortunately, some managers tend to set irrelevant KPIs because they think they should or because the data is readily available so why not measure it? But there is no point wasting time and money measuring KPIs if they don’t help achieve organisational objectives. The process of developing effective KPIs involves the following five steps:

1. Identify the organisational objective
2. Identify the key performance question (KPQ)
3. Identify the key performance indicator (KPI)
4. Identify the data collection method
5. Identify the target/benchmark

The first thing you should do when setting KPIs is to ask ‘what do we need to know in order to achieve our organisational objectives?’ these questions are known as key performance questions or KPQs (Marr 2015). You should identify at least one KPQ for each organisational objective. Examples of KPQs may include:

• To what degree are our customers likely to recommend us to others? 
• To what extent are we growing profit margins among our new customers? 
• How well do we facilitate innovation in our culture?
• To what extent are we raising customer lifetime value?
• How engaged are our employees?
• To what extent do our project teams trust each other?
• How well are we communicating our strategy internally?
• To what extent are we improving customer loyalty in segment X?
• How well are we promoting our products and services in China?
• To what extent are we growing market share in the South West region?

^{(Marr 2015, 69)}

Once you have identified a KPQ for each organisational objective, you will then need to identify the KPI you are going to use to answer the KPQ. Some example of KPIs used to manage employee performance may include:

• Quantity
  • Units produced
  • Orders processes
  • Units sold
  • Clients brought in
• Quality
  • Inquiries to sales
  • Defective products
  • Customer feedback
• Awareness
  • Keyword searches
  • Page visits
  • Time spent on site
  • Purchases from site
  • Followers/Likes
• Timeliness
  • Units produced per hour
  • Calls per hour
  • Transaction time
  • Service time
  • Delivery time
• Cost effectiveness
  • Wastage
• Creativity
  • Ideas generated
  • Articles published
• Adherence to policy
  • Complaints
  • Rule breaking
  • Tardiness
• Following procedure
  • Correct uniform

Once you have identified the KPIs you want to use, you will need to decide how you intend to measure the performance indicator, also known as the data collection method (Bernard 2015). The type of data you collect can be either quantitative (numbers) or qualitative (words) and can be collected via a number of methods, including:

• Software 
• Self reporting
• Surveys
• Focus groups
• Mystery shopping
• Feedback
• Observation
• Peer assessment

The final decision you will have to make when setting KPIs is what targets or benchmarks to set. Targets can either be set by trying to improve on past performance (e.g., if you converted 50% of enquiries to sales last year, you might set a target of converting 60% this year) or can be based on industry benchmarks or averages. The important thing is to ensure that targets aren’t too easy while also not being completely out of reach (Marr 2015).

In the continuation of our case study below, the operations manager of ABC Technologies sets KPIs for his team.

Case Study

ABC Technologies
David is the manager of operations at ABC technologies, a small computer components manufacturer. David has been asked by his superiors to set KPIs for his department based on the organisation’s goals and objectives.

1. First, David identifies the organisational objectives which is to “improve product quality”
2. Next, he identified the key performance question he would need to answer in order to achieve the organisational objective. The KPQ David identified was “how much are employees improving the quality of products?”
3. David then identified the key performance indicator he would use to answer the KPQ. The KPI he identified was “number of defective products sold”
4. He then decided that the KPI would be measured by gathering feedback from customers/distributers
5. Finally, David set a target of less than 5% defective products sold.

Once you have set KPI’s it is important to communicate them effectively.

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It is vital that all performance standards and KPIs are communicated to the team effectively. When communicating performance standards, it is useful to utilise the SMART acronym. Performance standards should be:

• Specific
• Measurable
• Agreed
• Realistic
• Timed

In the example below, the performance indicator developed in the previous case study is communicated using the smart acronym.

Case Study

ABC Technologies
In order to communicate the key performance indicators he has set to his employees, David used the SMART acronym with the following results.

“Maintain a rate of defective products sold at or below 5%
(measured by customer feedback) for the next 12 months”

Additionally, when communicating KPIs, employee should be given the opportunity to ask questions, clarify any areas of concern, and make suggestions. It is important to obtain employee ‘buy-in’ for any newly developed performance standards. Therefore, it is important that employees believe that KPIs are realistic and that they are in-line with the goals and requirements of individual work roles and the organisation as a whole. It is also important that every individual is aware of the KPIs that apply to them.

You will learn about assessing performance in line with KPIs later in the module, however, before we move on, we will discuss the issue of risk analysis.

Successfully analysing and managing risks is a vital part of any successful business. Most organisations will have a risk management plan in place and when allocating work, setting performance standards, or engaging in any performance management processes, it is vital that you first conduct a risk analysis in accordance with your organisation’s risk management plan and legal requirements. A risk is any event that would have a negative impact on an organisation. When allocating work it is particularly important to conduct a risk analysis to ensure that the work you allocate does not subject your organisation to unnecessary risks or potential litigation. For example, you should consider both the work health and safety risks (e.g., safety of processes, stress, fatigue, etc.) and human resources related risks (e.g., staff retention, employee conflict, loss of employee skills and knowledge) associated with the work being allocated and performance standards being set. It is also vital to ensure that all actions and processes comply with your organisation’s legislative obligations.

The purpose of a risk analysis is to identify the likelihood of a negative event preventing the organisation from meeting its objectives and the likely consequences of such an event on organisational performance so that the risk can be controlled. Essentially, risk analysis is a three stage process which involves:

• Identifying risks
• Assessing risks
• Controlling risks

Once you have identified the risks likely to affect your organisation, the next step is to assess the relative priority of those risks. It is important to analyse the relative priority of risks so that they can be treated in order of highest priority to lowest. The relative priority of a risk is determined by its impact and likelihood. For example a risk with a high impact and high likelihood would be a high priority while a risk with a low impact and low likelihood would be a low priority. The likelihood and impact of a given risk can be determined by rating each factor on a four point scale like the one below.

Once you have determined the relative likelihood and impact of a given risk, you can then map that risk using the risk priority matrix below.

The relative priority of a risk then determines the order and speed of treatment, for example:

• High. Requires immediate action
• Med. Requires action as soon as possible
• Low. May not need immediate action

Once you have prioritised the risks in order of importance, you need to come up with strategies to control them. Risk management strategies are the actions you take to prevent or minimise the risk to your organisation. There are four types of risk control, in order of most effective to lease effective they are:

• Preventive controls designed to prevent the risk occurring 
• Corrective controls that reduce the likelihood and or potential impact of risks that do occur 
• Directive controls that depend on instructions or directions on how to behave should the risk occur 
• Detective controls that identify circumstances when the risk has occurred

^{(Adapted from Hopkin 2013, 108)}

The following extract contains examples of the four different types of risk controls.

Applying all four types of control to road safety

A road haulage company has decided to investigate the structure of preventive, corrective, directive and detective controls and what additional controls should be introduced to reduce the number of road accidents. The following controls have been identified:

1. Preventive controls include review of vehicle routing and realistic estimates of delivery times, so that drivers do not need to drive dangerously to arrive on time.
2. Corrective controls include enhanced maintenance procedures and improved arrangements for drivers to report vehicle defects.
3. Directive controls will be based on defensive driver training and the provision of an easy to understand vehicle driver handbook with practical advice.
4. Detective controls, by way of tachographs in the vehicles, are already used and it has been decided to also introduce regular checks of drivers’ licences for penalty points.

These are just examples of some of the controls that the company has introduced. Other controls include routine inspections of vehicles to discover and report damage and review of fuel consumption to identify drivers with an aggressive driving style. The company has introduced a number of measurable loss control programmes to reduce the overall cost of running a fleet of vehicles.

^{(Hopkin 2013, 112)}

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This section of the module has focused on allocating work. In this section you have learned how to consult relevant individuals, develop work plans, and allocate work effectively. In line with existing performance standards, codes of conduct and risk procedures.

ANZ. 2013. Code of Conduct and Ethics. Accessed May 20, 2015. http://www.anz.com.au/resources/0/3/0382b6004d2bd81385429d69785e67b9/Employee-Code-of-Conduct-and-Ethics-Mar-2013.pdf?MOD=AJPERES.

Armstrong, Michael. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Human Resources Management Practice. 13th ed. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Armstrong, Michael. 2014. Armstrong’s Handbook of Performance Management. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Australian Human Rights Commission. 2015. Legislation. Accessed May 14, 2015. https://www.humanrights.gov.au/our-work/legal/legislation.

Data Analytics. (2023). Leading & Lagging KPIs – Concepts and Examples. [Image of the letters K, P, and I surrounded by pictures and icons associated with data, thinking, progress, and charts.] https://vitalflux.com/kpis-concepts-examples-leading-lagging-kpis/

Fair Work Ombudsman. 2015. Employee Entitlements. Accessed May 14, 2015. http://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements.

Hopkin, Paul. 2013. Risk Management. London, UK: Kogan Page.

Leech, Corinne. 2007. Managing Performance. Jordan hill, Oxford: Taylor and Francis.

Lussier, Robert. 2014. Management Fundamentals: Concepts, Applications and Skill Development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Mar, Anna. 2013. 65 Business Risks. Accessed May 20, 2015. http://business.simplicable.com/business/new/65-business-risks-list.

Marr, Bernard. 2015. Key Performance Indicators for Dummies. Chichester, West Sussex: John Wiley and Sons.

Office of the Australian Information Commissioner. 2015. Privacy. Accessed May 14, 2015. http://www.oaic.gov.au/privacy/privacy-news.

Robert Half. (2016). Can Finance Professionals Be Happy at Work? [Image of five people sitting around a desk discussing.] https://www.roberthalf.com/blog/salaries-and-skills/can-finance-professionals-be-happy-at-work