Managing staff can be frustrating, one minute they are performing well and then suddenly it is as if their performance falls off a cliff. What do you do if this happens?
A. Get rid of them?
B. Put them on a performance improvement plan?
C. Sit down and have a conversation?
Hopefully, it is answer C in the first instance. Whilst as things currently stand, at the time of writing this, in the UK you could (possibly as long as there’s no discrimination involved and they have less than 2 years service) go for option A. It is expensive to recruit and train, by this point you have invested time and money in them and they have been doing a good job. Therefore, unless they have done something terrible it makes sense to get them back on track.
Similarly, whilst performance improvement plans (PIP) can be helpful, they aren’t necessarily the first thing you want to do. So, lets park PIPs for now and revisit them later in this article.
If your employee has been performing well to date and then things start to go wrong, there is normally an explanation for the performance dip. It is easy to think that you don’t have the time to work with them and try to figure it out. If they are making mistakes, it can be time consuming to rectify them and make a plan to get things right. The truth is though, that if you don’t take the time to work with them, you will have to take the time to dismiss them, recruit and train someone new. Where would you rather invest your time?
So what should you do?
Well in the first instance, schedule a one to one meeting with them, hopefully you are having these meetings on a regular basis anyway. Don’t wait for the next meeting, get something in the diary. Now, most employees will panic at an unexpected meeting from the boss and the chances are they know they haven’t been on their A game. Therefore, don’t just send the invite without an agenda. The purpose of the meeting is to provide support and guidance, think about how you can position the meeting, so they attend feeling reassured. You could say that you want to talk about their workload, discuss whether their deadlines are realistic and discuss development plans. You could ask them to think about areas they need help and support as well as ideas for improvements on current tasks.
Now you have set the scene for the meeting and asked them to think about and suggest areas for improvement. Things often go wrong for a reason, whether it is lack of processes, communication or some other issue. You goal is to have an open conversation and get to the bottom of the problem and then put a plan in place to overcome it.
Employees rarely do things wrong on purpose, normally there is a reason behind mistakes. This could lack of understanding, high workloads, demands and deadlines meaning work is rushed, capability issues or distractions. We tend to think that employee’s personal lives end at 9 am when they start work but that simply isn’t the case. We all have a lot going on and often employees are juggling work, children, elderly parents and relationships. These things can be distractions which mean we aren’t paying as much attention at work as we should be.
The other area which can have an impact is mental health issues and for female employees the menopause can have a massive impact at work. Conditions such as anxiety, depression and stress can affect performance at work.
How to approach the meeting.
The meeting is scheduled and you have sent an agenda. You need to make sure that you have clear examples of the areas of concerns, what mistakes have been made, what is the impact of those mistakes? If up to this point your employee has been performing well then be very clear on this fact, you are highlighting your concerns based on previously having no concerns. You need to outline that to date these tasks have been completed without issue and then outline what the concerns are. Then give your employee space to comment and talk about what is causing the issue. Ask open questions such as;
✅How are you finding your workload?
✅Why have these mistakes started happening now?
✅How are you feeling?
✅How can I support you?
✅What support do you need?
If your employee is struggling because of a workload issue then you can find a solution, perhaps they need help in prioritising urgent tasks or deadlines rather than trying to get everything done at once. Perhaps there is another member of the team that some tasks can be delegated to.
If it is a capability issue, what training can be provided or do they need more time to complete tasks, can information be given to them earlier so that they have more time, is there another experienced member of staff who can mentor them and spend time supporting. Sometime with capability issues if the problem persists it is necessary at that stage to formalise the process and use a PIP, this tool should be used to clearly outline expectations, actions and deadlines and used as a follow up tool. It will highlight if there is an issue which despite training, support, extra time, reduced workload, is not improving. If this is the case it maybe that the employee is not suited to the role and a more difficult decision will need to be made.
Maybe processes are broken, in which case work together to fix them. What currently happens and where is it going wrong. This may take some trial and error, you will have to fix the process and follow up to make sure the improvements work. Implement check lists, start each day with a 10 minute catch up, what tasks are outstanding, what are urgent, has anything been missed. Maybe a spreadsheet to track tasks or other technology to track in real time and update so everyone knows what is happening. Mistakes often happen due to lack of communication.
If your employee is struggling due to health issues, then you will need to understand how this impacting them, what conversations they have had with their GP (if any) and what support they need. Are there any reasonable adjustments you can make for a period of time, is it worth a referral to occupational health for recommendations? Have an open conversation, let them know they should come to you if they are struggling and not suffer in silence. Keeping an ongoing dialogue and giving them the confidence to talk to you about any problems will keep mistakes at bay and help you manage the situation.
Lastly, personal issues, these are the trickiest to deal with because you can’t solve the problem. There are times when you might be able to put adjustments in place to support, for example if they are struggling with childcare or caring arrangements, can their work pattern be altered? Adjusting start or finish times, working from home (this can always be a temporary arrangement), a reduction in hours or maybe a change of job role. For other issues it maybe that you can only be a soundingboard and you may have to have a difficult conversation around not bringing those problems into the workplace, no personal calls at work, no texting or using mobile phones. You are still paying them to do a job and whilst a little understanding goes a long way there do still need to be boundaries.
In conclusion, when problems arise it can be all to easy to jump to conclusions about what is happening. Investing time to coach, review processes, understand what is going on and maybe making some adjustments could save further issues down the line. It may also mean that you don’t lose a good employee and if this investment pays off you will have a loyal employee who will work harder for you and you will have created a supportive culture.
Got a staff issue? Contact me so you have the confidence to address performance issues, my Be Dynamic package will give you the opportunity to talk about your staff issue and walk away with a clear action plan. Experienced HR support when you need it, email me at bev@bdhr.co.uk.
