Performance Improvement Processes
Navigate performance issues with confidence. Our experienced HR consultants work alongside your business to implement performance improvement processes.
Managing poor performance can be one of the more challenging responsibilities for a manager. It can be difficult to know how to address concerns without damaging the relationship with the employee, while still ensuring performance expectations are clear and your organisation is taking appropriate action.
A well-managed performance improvement process provides a structured and supportive way to address performance concerns. It gives the employee a clear understanding of what is expected, an opportunity to improve, and appropriate support along the way — while giving the employer a fair and reasonable process to follow.
At Positive People, we help managers and organisations navigate performance issues with confidence. Our experienced HR consultants work alongside you to understand the situation, identify the underlying concerns and develop a practical approach that is appropriate to the circumstances.
When is a performance improvement process appropriate?
Performance concerns can arise in many different ways.
An employee may:
- Consistently fail to meet agreed performance expectations
- Make repeated errors or fail to complete work to the required standard
- Struggle to meet deadlines or productivity requirements
- Require ongoing support with aspects of their role
- Fail to demonstrate the skills or behaviours required for their position
- Have received previous informal feedback but show insufficient improvement
Before commencing a formal process, it is important to understand why the performance issue is occurring. There may be training or development needs, unclear expectations, workload issues or other factors contributing to the situation. Taking the time to understand these factors can help ensure the response is appropriate and focused on achieving improvement.
A clear and supportive process
A performance improvement process should not come as a surprise to an employee. Wherever possible, performance concerns should be raised early and discussed openly, giving the employee an opportunity to understand the concerns and respond.
Depending on the circumstances, the process may include:
- Clearly identifying the performance concerns
- Setting clear and measurable expectations
- Discussing the concerns with the employee
- Understanding the employee’s perspective and any contributing factors
- Identifying appropriate support, training or resources
- Developing a performance improvement plan where appropriate
- Setting realistic timeframes for improvement
- Regularly reviewing and documenting progress
- Providing on-going feedback and support
- Assessing whether the required improvement has been achieved
Our consultants can help you prepare for difficult conversations, develop appropriate documentation and ensure that expectations and timeframes are clearly communicated.
Supporting better performance
The goal of a performance improvement process should be to give an employee a genuine opportunity to succeed. A structured approach can provide clarity for both the employee and manager, remove ambiguity around expectations and create a clear pathway towards improvement.
Where improvement is not achieved, despite appropriate support and a fair process, we can also advise you on the appropriate next steps.
At Positive People, we take a practical and people-focused approach to performance management. We work alongside managers to ensure performance concerns are addressed early, fairly and consistently, while helping organisations maintain strong performance standards.
