Performance Management

Employee performance is a key factor in the success or failure of every business.  When employees do well and achieve their targets then the business succeeds.  When they don’t the business can very quickly find itself in real difficulty.

The key to any performance management is clarity as to what is required and why.  It is important that employers set clear objectives which are measurable and clearly link into an overall strategy for the business.  If employees are aware of what they need to do and how that benefits the business they are far more likely to achieve what is asked of them.

Where things do not go so well it is important that employers act swiftly to identify the poor performance and to seek to address things.  We often see employers giving employees chances to improve and avoiding the difficult discussions which reinforce to the employee that what they are doing is what is required of them, paradoxically creating more difficult conversations in the future.

Where having tried to deal with things informally it becomes clear that the issues are more serious, a full performance management plan will need to be implemented.  This should again be specific and measurable.  We would usually recommend that the plan be instigated for a minimum period of 6 months to avoid the employee slipping back into old habits and to provide evidence for the future that they can achieve the things you are asking them to do.  If they achieve their targets then the process can revert to informal day to day performance management.  If they do not then formal written warnings, final written warnings and then ultimately dismissal can follow and our team can help ensure that this is carried out effectively and fairly.

Gary Smith has provided some brief videos which set out in more detail the legal elements of misconduct, which can be viewed here.

How can we help you?

Nockolds Employment Lawyers and HR Consultants are extremely experienced in managing this really tricky area.  We are able to advise on all levels of performance management from initial coaching and motivational work, through to more formal performance management process and ultimately, if things cannot be improved sufficiently, to dismissal.