Published on Feb 06, 2025
Never has there been a more important time to get up to speed with managing the underperformance of employees effectively.
The Employment Rights Bill covers a wide breadth of topics, and is just part of the reforms that the Labour government will make to work and employment law. One of the topics that is causing employers particular concern is the removal of the 2-year qualifying service to bring a claim of unfair dismissal.
At present, most employers will recruit employees with the requirement for them to complete a probationary period. If the probation is not concluded successfully the employment will be terminated. When the law changes, an employee can still be dismissed due to an unsuccessful probationary period but will be able to claim unfair dismissal.
The government is currently exploring different ways that the probationary period (the ‘initial period of employment’ as they are referring to it) might be managed. Maybe the compensation which can be awarded for a dismissal during this period will be lower; maybe there will be the option for an employer to use a ‘lighter touch’ approach – we wait to see what the final decisions are about the law. What we do know is that there will be more pressure on managers to manage performance closely and effectively from the start of an employee’s time in an organisation.
Two years is quite a long time, and many employers take comfort in the ability to dismiss during this time. This means that some employers will not be quite as ‘tight’ in their management during the probationary period, because they know that they can terminate employment during that two year period without facing an unfair dismissal claim. That will change and, again, a manager is going to be under much more pressure to manage performance effectively from the start of employment.
Understanding how to manage underperformance has never been more topical. It is something that is difficult to do. It is not easy to sit a colleague down (someone who you work with every day, who might even have become something of a friend to you) and to tell them that they are not doing a good job. Most people go to work with the aim of doing at least a decent day’s work and being told that the output of their efforts is not acceptable is a tough message to hear.
The reasons for underperformance are complicated as well. If most people do go to work with the aim of doing a good day’s work, why do some not succeed? Is it health? Is it the pressure of personal problems outside of work? Is it an inability to do the work? Is it laziness? Is it deliberately choosing not to do what is required? Is it something else?
Managers are going to be under increasing pressure to identify the reasons for underperformance, so that it can be solved. The performance of the team is going to reflect on the manager more and more, and this is going to be a challenge for many.
To help support managers as they face increased scrutiny over the management of underperformance our expert trainer, Kathy Daniels, has developed a new self-paced online training programme. Over six modules you will learn how to define underperformance, and how to define good performance. You will explore the reasons that people might underperform and get to grips with how these can be addressed. You will then learn how to approach people management and how to start a difficult conversation. Finally, you will learn how to manage underperformance using both reward and punishment.
See more details and enrol in the course here: Successfully Managing Underperformance in the Workplace
Published on Feb 06, 2025 by Kathy Daniels