GENERAL DESCRIPTION

For your writing assignment, you will write one letter: an employee performance evaluation. In the letter, you will assume the role of the employer and craft a message using the indirect approach as you communicate bad news to the employee.

Note: Please use at least one semicolon in your document.

SITUATION: MS. SUSAN GREEN & PRO GOLF UTAH

Company: Pro Golf Utah

Your Employee/Vice President of Sales: Ms. Susan Green

Your Title: CEO, Pro Golf Utah

Pro Golf Utah's Vice President of Sales, Susan Green, is a former professional golfer you hired to oversee your golf equipment company's relationship with retailers. As a former pro, she has an in-­--depth understanding of the business and typically has unmatched credibility with customers and co-­--workers.

Because of her experience as a pro, customers view her as an authentic expert; and she is the only pro on your sales team. She also has seemingly boundless energy, solid technical knowledge, and an engaging personal style.

Unfortunately, Ms. Green has been ineffective when communicating with retailers. You have received complaints about the following:

voice-­--mail messages left unanswered for days;

confusing emails that require two or three rounds of clarification;

written reports that are unorganized and haphazardly thrown together; and

ineffective use of social media (Facebook and Twitter) to promote new products.

As valuable as Ms. Green is on many levels, she is going to cost the company sales if these problems continue. You know that the retail component of Pro Golf Utah is vital to your company's survival, and Ms. Green is the employee most involved in retail. Her position is critical, and therefore, she must be exceptional in her job.

ASSIGNMENT

Your task is to draft a performance evaluation and improvement plan for Green (written in business letter format). Your focus in this letter is to highlight the areas in which she needs to improve, while not forgetting to articulate the areas in which she excels.

In addition, you need to articulate an action plan so that she understands your expectations or improvement. Remember, your goal is to keep Green as your Vice President of Sales, but changes and improvements must be made.

Feel free to use what you have learned in this course (Business and Professional Communication) to supply any additional advice about the importance of communication skills. Please use business letter format, and the letter should be approximately 1 to 1.5 pages in length.

GRADING CRITERIA

Introduction

• Creates a buffer that emphasizes relationship

• Provides a clear purpose

• Transitions smoothly to body of letter

Content/Reasoning

• Concise description of Green's strengths

• Detailed description of Green's areas of opportunity (weaknesses)

• Clear improvement plan

• Effective overall structure: buffer --> purpose --> strengths --> problem areas -->improvement/action plan --> conclusion

Conclusion

• Summarize discussion

• Create final impression that emphasizes relationship

Visual Expression & Mechanics/Error Interference

• Follows the instructions for the assignment

• Correct use of business letter format

• Effective use of spacing and paragraph length (single spacing; one space between paragraph)

• Correct grammar including sentence structure, punctuation, and spelling