How do I tackle the issue of an underperforming Employee?

What is poor or underperformance

Underperformance, or poor performance, is a failure to perform the duties of the role or to perform them to the standard required by the business. Underperformance or poor performance can often be confused with misconduct or poor conduct.

Identify the possible causes of underperformance

Identifying the underlying causes of underperformance issues at an early stage can prevent problems from escalating and help you decide whether to take an informal or formal approach to performance management.

Ask yourself, could the underperformance be related to disability, health, or perhaps family or personal problems outside of work. If necessary, provide the employee with additional support, supervision and training.

In addition, consider the following:

• Is the employee clear about your expectations?

• Have you provided sufficient training or instruction to allow the employee to carry out the work they are tasked to do?

• Is the workload too high?

• Did you hire the wrong person for the job?

• Is there ineffective or poor internal communication within the organisation or management?

Once you have considered the above, a plan for improvement can be created.

Creating an informal action plan

Before talking formal action, ACAS guidelines state employers should ensure the following:

• The employee is clear as to what is expected of them

• You have provided feedback on their performance

• The employee is clear about the gap between their performance and the required performance

• You have an agreed plan outlining what improvements you expect of them, by when and the support you have provided to help them improve their performance

• The agreed action plan has been in place for long enough for the employee to demonstrate some improvement – e.g. 3 months rather than 1 month

• You have been clear to the employee about what will happen if their performance does not improve

• You have a clear audit trail of all of the above

Continue to monitor the employee’s performance against the set targets and meet at regular intervals to note progress during each review meeting.

When performance problems persist or escalate, they should then be dealt with on a formal basis.

Creating a formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) using SMART objectives

Before considering disciplinary action, a formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) should be developed. A PIP should be used when there is a commitment to help the employee improve and not as a way to start the termination process. A structured plan, with time-sensitive goals can be an appropriate next step if informal action has not resolved the underperformance issue.

You should clearly explain to your employee that the consequence of not meeting the objectives set in the plan may lead to formal disciplinary action.

What if there is still no improvement in performance?

If, despite implementing the former stages above, there is no improvement in performance, you may need to proceed to the formal stage of a disciplinary process, which will involve:

• Inviting the employee in writing to a formal disciplinary hearing, giving reasonable notice – as may be defined within your disciplinary policy

• Allowing the employee the opportunity to be accompanied by a work colleague or union representative

• Clearly setting out the reason for the disciplinary hearing

• Allowing the employee to provide their own feedback and any evidence before making a decision on the level of sanction

• Setting out the sanction at the end of the meeting and following up in writing

• Allowing the employee the right of appeal within five days of receiving the decision in writing

Sanction or dismissal protocol

UK employment law recognises that small businesses may not be able to sustain an underperforming employee for a lengthy period of time, even though it should be the last possible resort. The main aim of the performance management process is to improve performance, however, it is reasonable to dismiss an employee who is not meeting required standards, as long as you have followed a fair process, as set out in your own company policies and in line with the ACAS code of practice on Disciplinary and Grievance procedures.  http://www.acas.org.uk/index.aspx?articleid=2174

If you have any further questions on the subject matter then please contact Karen Scott on 07762 629 448 or get in touch by clicking here.