Performance management ‘too difficult’
PERFORMANCE management was inconsistent between Tasmanian State Service agencies and may have created a culture where underperformance was too difficult for managers to deal with, it has been found.
Auditor-General Rod Whitehead on Thursday submitted a report to parliament on the Management of Underperformance in the TSS with multiple recommendations for improvement.
Mr Whitehead found agency policies and procedures were aligned, and complied with, but said a significant proportion of managers and staff did not believe that underperformance was understood or effectively managed in the TSS or in its agencies.
“Variability in the application of the performance management framework contributed to a culture where underperformance may be tolerated, or considered too difficult or time consuming for managers to deal with,” he said.
“Agencies’ limited visibility of the extent of informally managed underperformance beyond ad hoc reporting or anecdotal comments from managers prevented agencies from being able to assess the total impact of underperformance from an agency-wide perspective or effectively target responses to address underperformance.”
Mr Whitehead said agencies maintained centralised record-keeping systems, but said monitoring of underperforming employees, the impact of underperformance and the effectiveness of underperformance management was “significantly constrained by system capability, resourcing and information limitations”.
A government spokeswoman said a number of the report’s recommendations would be addressed through the independent review of the State Service being chaired by Ian Watt.
“(The review will) identify structural legislative and administrative improvements that will transform current structures, services and practices,” she said.
james.kitto@news.com.au