Managers Guide - Performance Improvement Discussion

Managers Guide - Performance Improvement Discussion



Applies to: all TWL Management Team

Preparation for a Performance improvement Discussion

PRE MEETING

  • Establish date, time and suitable private location.
  • Notify the team member, well in advance, of the date, time, location and what to prepare.
Review responsibilities and expectations. Compare actual performance to the performance standards. Questions to ask yourself:
  • What performance standards were not met? List specific examples. What can be done to improve performance?
  • What factors may have affected performance? What factors may have been beyond the team member's control?
  • Were expectations reasonable? Attainable?
  • What performance expectations were met? Exceeded? List specific examples.
  • How have I formed my opinions about the team member’s performance? Have I been fair and objective?
  • Have I, or any other manager, spoken to the team member about the poor performance?

PERFORMANCE IMPROVEMENT MEETING

Set the stage:
  • Establish importance by holding in a private setting with no interruptions.
  • Provide a relaxed format.
  • Have all material at hand.
  • Establish rapport immediately.
  • Clearly explain the purpose and format of the discussion.


Draft Script:

Hi Jane, thanks for coming to this meeting.

We’re here to discuss some performance issues that we’ve identified in our one to one discussions and tasks lists over the past few months. What I want to see happening today is that we can agree on where the gap is between your performance and where it needs to be. Then we can try to find out what is causing that gap and how we can overcome it. If you have any questions or don’t understand anything as we are going on please speak up. I do need you to fully take part in the meeting so your concerns can be aired and hopefully resolved.

The whole idea of this discussion is to help you improve. This needs to happen as your performance is having an impact on the wider team and on our store performance and we can’t let that go on.

Have you got any questions at the start?

CONDUCT THE DISCUSSION

Continue by discussing responsibilities and standards, clarify expectations and compare actual performance to performance standards. Use documentation to discuss specific instances of performance.

Be sure to give credit for achievement and work done well. Give specific examples and mention resulting benefit to the organisation.

Focus on important job dimensions. Don't deal with minor infractions of little significance. Discuss them at the time they occur and then forget them, unless you see a trend developing.

Apply effective communication skills :
  • Encourage the team member to talk. Ask open-ended questions. Ask for the team member’s assessment, comments and suggestions.
  • Use your listening skills and don't interrupt. Check for understanding.
  • Avoid emotionally loaded expressions, such as, "You always..." and "You never ..."
  • Focus on performance, not personality. Describe behaviours, not personality traits or attitudes. Constructive feedback focuses on specific actions, never on the individual. Discuss unsatisfactory performance. Provide specific examples and explain why these behaviours cause problems.
  • Minimize your role as a judge. Work for a collaborative environment.
  • Check for presence of barriers or constraints to performance.
  • Work for understanding, rather than complete agreement. Be supportive. Ask what you can do to be of greater help. Emphasis should be on improvement and learning for the future.. However the team member must clearly understand the consequences if their performance does not improve i.e. this will move to a disciplinary process
Matters to discuss:
  • What aspects of performance need to change to successfully perform these tasks?
  • Which skills need improvement or behaviours need to be modified?
  • Has the team member already shown they can do the work but have slacked off recently?
Establish the priorities:
  • What are the possible consequences of errors associated with these tasks/behaviours?
  • How frequently do these tasks need to be done?
  • Identify the standards that performance will be measured against for each of the task/behaviours identified.
  • Are they reasonable?
  • Are they attainable?

Script Continued:
The issue that I see most often and want to focus on, is that you do not complete tasks in order of their priority often resulting in very low priority work being accomplished, while high priority work remains incomplete and overtime is sometimes incurred. In some cases overtime has also been worked without your team leader’s permission.

Can you tell me why this is a problem for you?

Listen to what the team member has to say. You need to separate out genuine concerns e.g. the team member often gets conflicting instructions from 2 different supervisors; from vague excuses e.g. customers keep interrupting me all the time

At the end of the meeting you should be able to draw up a plan (see attached sample plan) 

Include:
  • Areas requiring Improvement
  • Action Steps
  • Support Required
  • Start and Review Dates
  • Results against Action Steps
Write up the Performance Improvement Plan with Team Member–don’t leave it for a few days after the meeting as you will loose any impetus from the meeting.

Go over the Plan with Team Member and clearly explain timelines and what support will be given and what your expectations are.

CONCLUDE THE MEETING 

SCRIPT FINISH

Thank you for your cooperation in this meeting Jane. I know it’s not easy but by following this plan it should improve matters for everyone. You must understand however that if your performance does not improve we will have to move to a formal disciplinary process.


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