Addressing Poor Performance

We get it! You didn’t set out to recruit a poor performer; and they probably aren’t deliberately underperforming, but it isn’t working out. Perhaps they used to be a great employee and seemingly out of nowhere performance has taken a dip? In any case, you’ve probably been wanting to address it for a while now, but you’ve put it off and now you’re starting to see and feel the impact.

At Gravitate HR, we are regularly engaged to support organisations with the formal and informal approaches to addressing performance issues at all stages. We wanted to share some key approaches and suggestions which could help.

1. Share the concerns

In many cases, we establish that the employer has not raised or communicated the concerns they have with the employee.  There can be a variety of reasons stopping this conversation and one way of assisting is to facilitate a discussion on those concerns. The employer can set out the concerns they have, giving examples where possible, explain what support could be provided to help the employee and together they can work on a timeline for improvements to be made. 

Having an authentic conversation can often help identify the root cause of the problem, provide clarity on what is expected and nip issues in the bud before they escalate into something worse.  Our role is to facilitate that conversation, help to open it up, keep it amicable and constructive and work towards a workable solution.

2. Wellbeing Check

In many cases, the employee may be experiencing issues (inside or outside of work) which are impacting their performance in work. A wellbeing check forming part of the discussion, can identify any health and wellbeing implications impacting performance. 

This approach allows for a constructive discussion from the perspective of help and support for the individual, and an assessment of what support might be available to help mitigate the wellbeing issue.  This conversation can link back to what is required in the performance of the role and how this can best be managed by the individual, their manager and possibly the wider team.

It comes from a place of care with an expectation of support and a positive outcome, putting the individual at the centre of the way forward

3. Formal Performance Management Process

An informal approach will generally always produce better results. However, formal processes are available where the informal has been unsuccessful at resolving, or where the performance issues are to an extent that informal is not appropriate. These are generally referred to as capability issues and dealt with via formal capability procedures but may also be related to conduct.

Although such processes can be lengthy and often difficult for all concerned, this is the appropriate formal approach to addressing and improving performance up to the desired standard, allowing for the employer to take appropriate action if matters do not improve. 

Such processes can involve the following:

• Setting out the performance concerns.
• Highlighting what ‘good’ performance looks like.
• Setting and agreeing SMART objectives. 
• Identifying what support or training needs the employee may have to help them achieve the desired standard of performance.
• Actively managing performance against set objectives and giving regular feedback, acknowledging and rewarding progress and achievement whilst encouraging focus on development areas.

A clearly defined policy and procedure relating to how formal performance management will be approached through capability/conduct procedures, is a helpful tool to have in your toolbox.

4. Exit

Unfortunately, it is not always the case that performance can be improved, or the situation that the employer and employee are in is resolved to everyone’s satisfaction. In these circumstances, an exit may arise following a formal process which has allowed sufficient time for improvement to be made, sufficient support offered and an escalation of the different warning levels within the policy.

In many cases however, it is to the benefit of both the employer and the employee to explore alternative means of reaching a conclusion to the situation.  This could involve a protected conversation leading to a settlement agreement. This subject matter is an entire blog article in itself, but in summary, the parties would agree and sign off a legal document bringing the employment relationship to an end in lieu of any further informal or formal proceedings being undertaken. The employee would receive their contractual entitlements as well as a settlement sum for loss of office, allowing them to move onto new opportunities and a fresh start in their career. The employer is able to focus on restructuring or replacing the employee with a more suitable resource without a lengthy and time-consuming process.

5. What it is not

You should not deal with poor performance through redundancy or restructure as a means to avoid a performance improvement process. Where the role still exists and the work still needs to be completed, there is no redundancy.  This type of approach can lead to risky claims for unfair selection for redundancy as there is not a legitimate business case to support the redundancy proposal.

6. Seek Advice!

In all circumstances and situations set out above, the best first step an employer can take is to take advice on the matter. This allows an early intervention from an HR professional to appraise the situation, set out the various considerations and approaches, factor in the human element and support whichever route is required through to conclusion.  Any avoid costly mistakes by taking inappropriate actions.

If you are having performance issues within your team, or would benefit from the implementation of robust policies and procedures in this area – see how we can help! You can contact Gravitate HR on 0141 459 7458 or book a 20-minute call with one of our team.