Guidance on performance management

Nobody takes on an employee with the expectation that they won’t be able to do the job. But the sad fact is, that from time to time an employee will struggle to meet the performance that is required of them.

Set clear expectations

Your first role as a manager or owner of a business is to know very clearly what you are expecting of an employee.  This then needs to be clearly communicated to the employee from well before they first accept the job. This is achieved by taking the time to prepare quality Employment Contracts and Job Descriptions, and to identify relevant Key Performance Indicators (KPIs). You also need to consider whether the employee is covered by a Modern Award and the outcomes required to justify their pay level. Of course, this is not a one-off task, you then need to keep these up to date and refresh them as the employee’s career progresses.

Monitor ongoing performance

Next, you need to have in place systems to quickly identify when an employee is not meeting their required levels of performance. This is likely to include regular performance reviews, as well as the collection of data to monitor objective performance.

Proactively manage underperformance

If you have all this in place, then the next bit is relatively easy – performance management. If your employee is not meeting their required level of performance, you need to swing into action and help them rectify things. It isn’t your role to do their job for them, but it is your role to let them know when they are not measuring up. There is no point in stewing over an employee’s lack of performance. You need to let them know in a constructive way.

In short, poor performance is a failure on the part of your employee to meet their agreed Job Description, including KPIs. This is different to ‘misconduct’ which is unacceptable behaviour in the workplace.

If your employee does not, or cannot, improve their performance up to the agreed level, then the next port of call is potential termination. But you can’t skip straight to this step. You need to start out (right from the time of employment) by setting clear expectations and then measuring their performance against those expectations. There should be no surprises either for you or for the employee when they are terminated for poor performance.

What if things aren’t so clear cut?

If you follow the above steps – then chances are you will not end up with an unfair dismissal or unlawful termination claim being made against you.

However, life is never that simple – or organised.

If you are dealing with an issue of underperformance, but don’t yet have in place the foundation on which to justify termination, then call us on 1300 88 23 86 for a no-obligation chat about how you can put in place more effective systems, while also effectively dealing with your problem employee. Provided the correct steps in performance management are followed, an employee will not have grounds to make an application at the Fair Work Commission.

If you have terminated an employee for poor performance, and have now been hit with a claim for unfair dismissal or unlawful termination, then definitely call us on 1300 88 23 86 for help formulating your strategy to respond.