Employers naturally hope that their staff will be able to perform fantastically day in, day out, but there are times when for one reason or other that won’t be the case and that is when you need to know how to manage poor performance.
Capability or conduct?
First and foremost, it is essential to understand if the poor performance of an employee relates to their capability or their conduct. If we look at the Employment Rights Act 1996 then section 98(3)(a) then it defines capability as “skill, aptitude, health or any other physical or mental quality”, essentially is some unable to do their job to the expected standard because one of these factors is lacking. By contrast, conduct, or perhaps more appropriately misconduct is when an employee fails to follow a policy, process or procedure, where they disregard instructions and are reluctant to perform their duties without good reason. The simplest way to break this issue down is to consider if it is a lack of skill or a lack of will? Once that has been established then you know which policy and process to use in order to address it. For the purposes of this blog we’re going to look at performance in terms of capability.
What’s occurring?
You don’t ever want to set employees up to fail and the aim of managing performance is to be supportive. As ACAS states in their guidance, “the employer should follow a procedure that encourages their employee to improve. This is to give the employee the chance to get better and to stop any further problems arising”. The first part of supporting an employee is to actually get to the root of the problem and to understand why they are performing poorly so that the support you put in place can be as suitable as possible. It is important to identify and address any performance issues, and what might be behind those issues, at an early stage before performance levels really drop off and become critical. This early stage of intervention relies on effective processes being in place and having managers who are capable and confident in having challenging, yet supportive, conversations. If your managers avoid difficult conversations and don’t know how to deal with performance problems then it is strongly recommended that you train them in this area. Sometimes performance problems can be entirely unrelated to work. You may have an employee who has previously performed well whose performance suddenly dips. In such instances this often relates to a change in their personal life, it could be that they are suffering from stress or another illness which is impacting them. It could be relationship problems or that they have received bad news about a friend or relative. It is important therefore to not make assumptions and to create an environment in which employees are willing to engage in open and honest dialogue to that you can understand what is going on.
Informal or formal?
In the first instance, and depending on the extent of the performance issues, it may be possible to resolve matters informally without going into formal capability processes. If you are able to come to a resolution informally that’s great but it is still important to at least make some sort of notes regarding the issues, improvements and expectations in case the problems recur. If a formal process is needed then make sure that you take any advice you may require. Again having records of meetings and discussions is vital so that all parties involved understand what is going on. When discussing poor performance it is essential that as an employer you are clear with your expectations. Using a performance improvement plan provides a clear, structured framework for everyone. Meet with the employee to talk things through in relation to their performance and gather their input rather than simply imposing a plan on them. That way you should get higher levels of engagement from the employee as they have had the chance to contribute to the plan and there is then an added level of ownership and accountability. In terms of the plan itself, it should include a clear description of the area or areas of development/improvement, what the desired outcome is, a timeframe by which the improvement is needed, what support will be provided and how improvement will be measured. Avoid setting targets that are too easy or too difficult to achieve as being unrealistic will help nobody in the long run. Whatever timescales you set should be reasonable. You can’t expect vast improvement in a short space of time, and having clearly documented support and measures helps an employee to understand what they can expect from you as an employer and ultimately what success looks like. Don’t just create a plan and then leave the employee to it. Have regular check ins, even if they are quite short meetings they help to monitor and assess progress and they provide an opportunity for the employee to ask questions and also for you to provide any help and guidance that might be needed.
Stay or go?
Hopefully with the right levels or support an underperforming employee will be able to improve and be able to demonstrate that they can meet the requirements of their role on an ongoing basis. If that is the case and they are able to satisfy the criteria set out in their performance improvement plan then it is signed off as complete. You might want to keep a closer eye on their performance at least in the short term to make sure that it doesn’t drop back off but otherwise things return to normal. If performance doesn’t improve then you enter into the realms of formal warnings, updating performance plans with additional support in whatever form that takes and potentially if that doesn’t have the desired effect then further warnings which could ultimately lead to dismissal on the grounds of capability. Before it gets to that stage make sure that you take expert advice and that you have a comprehensive bank of evidence to support any decisions you make.
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Why not also check out our blog on a similar topic Managing Performance – 3 Things You Need to Know
We also have a YouTube channel with loads of handy videos outlining various HR related scenarios.
