Employee Performance

Support with managing poor employee performance

If only they could all get everything right all of the time

There are times when poor employee performance is an obvious disciplinary matter and you can move straight to that stage. (We can help with Employee Disciplinary too, either just to offer advice or to deal with the procedure on your behalf).

But there are also many occasions when poor employee performance falls into that horrible ‘in-between’ place: it’s not so bad that you feel it justifies disciplinary action, but equally, it simply isn’t good enough.

These are the situations that many of our clients find it very difficult to manage.

Our support will enable you to take early action with one of two outcomes:

  • Performance is raised to where it needs to be, or
  • Enough evidence is gathered to begin a disciplinary process.

Either way, we’ll be there to guide you and manage the entire situation with you.

Employee Performance - Support Options - Lighter HR

Support Options for Employee Performance

Guidance on the Essentials

You’ll have guidance on the right steps to manage the employee performance issue, be provided with all the documentation you need, and have support by phone and email for peace of mind.

Full Support

We take care of everything, including helping you to articulate the issues and setting targets, accompanying you to meetings, and helping you monitor progress. Note: As their manager, you have to be actively involved in the process all the way through.

Key Service Features
for Managing Employee Performance

Support from an assigned CIPD qualified HR consultant with at least 10 years’ experience who has dealt with all types of employee performance issues.

A clear action plan to help you take control of the situation, so you feel confident in your approach to managing poor performance.

Support in preparing for conversations that can be challenging and difficult to navigate.

Focusing on the facts, we always use a pragmatic approach to employee performance so we achieve the appropriate outcome for your business.

See our Employee Performance FAQ for more details

What our clients say…
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Employee Performance FAQ

I don’t even know where to start with this employee performance issue

You’re not alone! When employee performance is truly awful and the individual is failing to hit targets again and again then it’s likely that you’d know what to do. However, when an employee’s performance just isn’t quite right but you can’t quite put your finger on where they are going wrong, it can seem like it’s going to be a very difficult situation to manage.

This is where we can help. We’ll have helped clients with managing poor performance issues that are just like the issue you’re experiencing and we can help you to articulate it and come up with appropriate measures to help the employee understand where things are going wrong and hopefully get them back on track.

I’m worried I’ve not acted ‘by the book’…

When it comes to managing poor performance it’s possible that you’ve tried all sorts of approaches already but you know that none of them have ticked the right legal boxes in order for you to rely on them if you do move through a formal process.

Equally, your not acting “by the book” could be that you’ve really not raised the issues with the employee at all and you know that it’s not been the right thing to do.

Whatever it is that you think you may have done wrong, tell us, and we’ll help you find a way through the issue.

What process will you go through to help me deal with the situation?

Firstly, you can get it all off your chest! Managing poor performance can be stressful and frustrating, so having an objective listener to vent to can be extremely helpful (and therapeutic!)

Next, we help you get practical. We’re likely to have come across a similar situation before and we’ll talk you through tips and techniques to address the problem. We can help you prepare for difficult conversations, provide templates to set clear objectives and track progress and be there to support you if things don’t go to plan.

Finally, if you really can’t get employee performance to where you need it, we can guide you through the Disciplinary Process.

Is managing this employee performance issue going to take up a lot of my time?

We’re going to be honest and tell you that yes, it might do.

Whilst we can guide you through the process of managing poor performance and support you every step of the way, you do need to have someone who is inside your business to provide regular feedback to the individual on how they are doing and what they need to be addressing.

This doesn’t have to be you, and it may not be appropriate for it to be you, but it has to be someone who knows what the individual does on a day-to-day basis and who can provide guidance and support.

Now, we can definitely help that individual. We can train them on how to give feedback if that’s something they struggle with. We can be in meetings with them and the employee to help them make sure the employee really understands what they need to be working on. We can help them structure Performance Improvement Plans and set targets, but on this one, we can’t manage employee performance without someone who has real insight into your business.

What’s the risk of managing this performance issue without professional help?

Here are the two main risks, and how we can help manage them:

Risk 1: You don’t get the improvement that you want and need to move to a disciplinary. Support: We’ll ensure you’ve done everything right up to the point of disciplinary, which will make the disciplinary process much easier. (Your employee also won’t be surprised when they’re told their performance isn’t up to scratch.)

Risk 2: Your employee takes offence at your attempts to provide feedback, raises a grievance or resigns claiming constructive dismissal. Support: It’s unlikely an employee would get far with claims like this, but you could still end up with a lot more work on your plate, so we can support you through the process and avoid this where possible.

Our experience in dealing with challenging situations will help you effectively manage individuals and minimise the risk of the situation worsening.

If you have further questions, call us on 0203 319 1649 and we can go through the options available to you.