How to manage performance

Many businesses fail to deal with under-performing staff, which can affect morale, productivity and quality of service. A sound operation where all employees are motivated and performing to their best abilities will bring significant business benefits. Here's some advice about what you can do to make sure your employees are performing well.

New starters

You can take action as soon as a new employee joins the company. It's important to develop a positive relationship with your employee as soon as you can. Most problems at work occur because of a lack of understanding and communication. Therefore, make clear what the person's role is and what you expect.

Here's what you should give your new starter:

• a job offer letter
• a contract of employment
• a job description
• a staff handbook with policies and procedures outlined

An induction is crucial for a new employee. A good induction should make the person feel welcome and learn a bit about the company. It should also include information about individual and company expectations and how progress will be reviewed and when.

Reviews and appraisals

Here are some tips for conducting a performance review:

• Be prepared and have an agenda
• Make the person feel comfortable
• Express the level of satisfaction in your employee's work
• Discuss where the performance has been both good and bad
• Provide relevant feedback
• Revisit the list of expectations laid out during the induction
• Ask the employee for his or her views and listen to them
• Address any problems
• Write up all findings and let all parties have signed copies
• Create a set of action points and further review dates

By making sure that your employee understands exactly what is required and by monitoring progress and taking corrective action as soon as things go wrong, you should generally be able to avoid moving to formal action. However, if you have recruited an under-performer, an unsuitable person or are in a situation where your best efforts to increase performance just haven't succeeded, then you will have to look at taking disciplinary action.

Disciplinary action

Despite being an option, disciplinary action should be your last resort. You should be able to use your skills to manage, train and coach the individual to perform to the required level.

However, the following areas are examples that should merit action:

• Poor time-keeping
• Unauthorised absenteeism
• Failure to follow instructions
• Harassment
• Breach of company policy
• Theft
• Assault

There are various disciplinary stages, although these can vary throughout companies. Typical disciplinary stages include:

• Stage 1: verbal
• Stage 2: first written warning
• Stage 3: final written warning
• Stage 4: dismissal

A disciplinary procedure should be in writing and should adhere to the following:

• The employee that the procedure relates to should be specified
• All matters should be dealt with quickly
• An indication of the disciplinary action that might be taken should be provided
• The employee should be told of the complaint against them and be given full opportunity to state their case before a decision is taken
• The employee should have the right to be accompanied by a trade union representative or fellow employee of their choice
• The employee should not normally be dismissed for a first offence, other than gross misconduct
• No disciplinary action should be taken before there has been a full investigation
• An explanation of the penalty should be given
• The employee should have the right to appeal

The rights of the employee

Generally the following applies, but always check your company policy:

• A minimum of 24 hours' notice must be given of a meeting that may lead to action
• The right to have a witness who should be an employee of the company
• The right to have a fair hearing which includes the right to tell their side of the story
• Written confirmation of the decision
• An adjournment if further investigations are necessary
• The right to appeal against the decision

Things to remember:

• Notes should be taken of all key points during the meeting
• Write up your notes immediately after the meeting when the circumstances are still fresh in your mind
• If the employee appeals, any decision can be overruled if any part of the procedure is not followed
• For each warning, the employee has the right to appeal within seven days
• The outcome of the meeting should never be decided prior to the interview, and it is always advisable to adjourn before giving the decision
• A verbal warning must remain on file for six months and a written warning for a year. After this time they must be removed.

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