This article explores effective strategies for managing poor work performance within the employment relationship. Employers have the responsibility to establish reasonable performance standards and ensure that employees adhere to them.
When an employee consistently fails to meet these standards, employers must address the issue in a fair and constructive manner.
This article outlines the steps that employers can take to assist underperforming employees, including assessing performance, conducting counseling sessions, establishing improvement plans, and monitoring progress.
The importance of procedural and substantive fairness in the dismissal process is also emphasized, highlighting the need for a comprehensive approach to addressing poor work performance.
- Introduction: When employees enter into an employment agreement, they implicitly commit to fulfilling their job responsibilities according to reasonable performance standards set by their employer. However, instances of poor work performance may arise, where employees struggle to meet the required standards due to factors such as insufficient skills, qualifications, knowledge, or efficiency. In such cases, employers have the obligation to address these performance deficiencies in a fair and supportive manner. This article examines the steps employers can take to manage poor work performance effectively.
- Establishing Performance Standards: Performance standards should be clearly communicated to employees, either verbally, in writing, or through established targets and objectives. Employees should have a reasonable understanding of these standards or be expected to acquire such knowledge. Compliance with performance standards ensures the smooth functioning of the employment relationship.
- Assessing Performance: Employers need to conduct a comprehensive assessment of an employee’s actual job performance in comparison to the established requirements. This assessment involves identifying specific areas of underperformance and noting any shortcomings related to targets, objectives, or applicable standards. Gathering evidence and relevant information about the employee’s qualifications, experience, and personal circumstances is essential to ensure a factual basis for addressing poor performance.
- Counseling Sessions: To address poor work performance, employers should arrange counseling sessions with the employee. These sessions should be conducted in a fair and transparent manner, ensuring that all relevant parties are notified and that the employee has the opportunity to bring a representative if desired. The counseling meeting should involve a clear explanation of the purpose, an overview of performance expectations, and a discussion of positive and negative performance areas. Employers should provide evidence to support claims of poor performance and actively listen to the employee’s concerns.
- Developing Improvement Plans: During counseling sessions, employers and employees should work together to establish a reasonable plan of action to improve performance. This includes setting specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART) objectives for the employee. Identifying learning and development needs, considering structural obstacles, and ensuring necessary resources are provided are crucial aspects of these improvement plans. Clear action steps and a defined timeframe for improvement should be documented in writing.
- Monitoring and Follow-up: Following the counseling session, employers must monitor the employee’s progress based on the agreed-upon improvement plan. Scheduled follow-up meetings should be conducted to assess any improvements made and identify further areas for development. It is essential to maintain accurate records of these interactions and evaluations.
- Procedural and Substantive Fairness in Dismissal: In cases where an employee’s poor work performance persists despite appropriate evaluation, counseling, training, and guidance, dismissal may become necessary. However, employers must ensure both procedural and substantive fairness in the dismissal process. Procedural fairness entails establishing that poor performance, rather than misconduct, is the issue at hand, identifying the causes of poor performance, meeting with the employee and relevant managers to understand the reasons behind underperformance, and giving the employee an opportunity to rectify the problem. Substantive fairness requires that dismissal be considered only when all other reasonable options have been exhausted, and the employee continues to perform unsatisfactorily.