Nov
19
Disciplining for poor performance
Filed Under Management Training
One main reason why a manager may need to bring about disciplinary action with their staff is for:
Inadequate Performance
An employee may be expected to reach and maintain a certain level of performance. This may be in the form of a sales target, a manufacturing target, even customer service target and more.
If the employee falls below these expectations the manager will need to take corrective action.
However, it is important to remember, the targets and expectations placed on the employee should have been made clear beforehand. They should have been specific, measurable and timed.
It is very difficult to discipline a poor performance by an employee, if the standards have not been explicitly set earlier on. They ought to have been written down and not in the form of a psychological contract.
A good manager will, after discussion with the employee, do their upmost to investigate possible indirect reasons why targets have not been met. This will include, if appropriate, consideration as to whether they were fair and achievable to begin with.
The manager should also agree with the employee an appropriate and measurable improvement required, and within an agreed timescale. Opportunities may be made to provide the employee with support and mentoring to achieve to achieve this target. The disciplinary procedure should be looked at as an opportunity for the employee’s personal development. What if the poor sales performance can be traced by to an inadequate sales training course?
Once the targets are back on track, a manager should formally review the success and confirm with the employee that this represents a closure of that disciplinary procedure.
Related posts: