Managing Poor Performance

It is important to address performance concerns in day-to-day management at the earliest opportunity to clarify expectations and enable the employee an opportunity to improve before the formal process. Following this formal procedure ensures concerns are dealt with in a timely, fair and consistent manner and supports a fair dismissal if reasonable expectations are not achieved.

Feedback

• Provide regular feedback in one-to-one meetings; both positive performance and where

performance falls beneath expectations.

• Ensure feedback is evidence based and in line with the expectations set out in the job description or

annual objectives (if they exist)

• Do not wait for the appraisal; appraisals should be a summary of performance, with no surprises.

Discuss

• If performance becomes an issue, arrange an informal face-to-face meeting with the employee as

soon as possible to dicsuss your concerns. Be specific and constructive.

• Listen to the employee and allow them to put forward any context or mitigating circumstances and

to give their point of view.

• Agree a plan for moving forward which may include identifying set targets within agreed timescales

and any reasonable support or training that the employee may need to improve their performance.

Agree a review date.

Formalise

• Where informal feedback does not lead to adequate performance, invite the employee to a formal performance

hearing.

• Put this in writing as soon as you have told them; include examples of poor performance; notify the employee of

their right to be accompanied; explain the stage of the procedure.

• At the performance hearing, give the employee an opportunity to respond and consider the causes of poor

performance. If it is found that the employee's performance does not meet the required standard, you can issue them

with a first written warning and the right of appeal. This should outline the problem, the required improvement,

timescales, any help that will be given.

Conclude

• If the employees performance fails to adequately improve, invite the employee to a further performance hearings

which should follow the format of the first.

• Where performance fails to meet the required standard at the second stage hearing, the outcome will usually be a

final written wearning.

• Where performance fails to meet the required standard at the final stage hearing, the outcome will usually be

dismissal or redeployment to an alternative role.

• You should notify employees of their right to appeal against the outcome of any formal stage.

Poor Performance or misconduct?

Sometimes it can be difficult to tell whether the problem is one of poor performance or misconduct. As a general rule, ‘can but won’t’ would be misconduct whereas ‘willing but not able’ is poor performance/capability. If the issue is a case of misconduct it should be dealt with under the Disciplinary Procedure.

Decision to dismiss

It is important that any decision to dismiss is taken only after the appropriate hearing. Dismissal for poor performance should never come as a surprise to an employee.

This document was commissioned by the National Association of Local Councils (NALC) in 2019 for the purpose of its member councils and county associations.

Every effort has been made to ensure that the contents of this document are correct at time of publication. NALC cannot accept responsibility for errors, omissions and changes to information subsequent to publication.

This document has been written by the HR Services Partnership – a company that provides HR advice and guidance to local (town and parish) councils. For more information about their services, contact them on 01403 240 205