The Workplace Coach

Performance management processes are designed to be a developmental approach to helping the employee achieve the required standard of performance for the role they are in. This is a remedial process where the manager works with the employee to guide, coach and mentor them to build the skills and capabilities to be effective at their job. Typically, this will be about setting clear expectations, having specific and measurable KPIs, regularly reviewing progress, promoting skill development and providing opportunities for the employee to demonstrate that they are learning and growing towards being an engaged and productive member of the team.

The theory is good, commendable even, but it doesn’t take long for the whole apple cart to start getting a bit wonky. These processes are usually conducted over a ‘reasonable’ period of time. In other words, the review period will be for as long as the manager believes is ‘reasonable’ for the employee to learn how to operate at the required level of proficiency or output. Failure to achieve the required standard within the ‘reasonable’ period will have a punitive outcome, like demotion or termination of employment.

Suddenly, what was meant to be a constructive, collaborative and developmental process, with manager and supervisor working together to ensure the Padawan is getting the direction and guidance they need to become a fully fledged Jedi in their own right, has taken a nasty turn.
(Yes that was a Star Wars reference)

What do you think an employee thinks when they get told they are going to have to participate in a performance management process? Unfortunately, what should be a great opportunity for growth is often seen as a direct threat to their continued employment.

Perhaps even more unfortunately, that is exactly the attitude that many managers bring to the process too. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve heard a manager say that they are going to ‘performance manage’ someone out of the organisation.

Okay so now we’ve got a manager who has identified a problem employee, and they intend to put this person through a process which will have a predetermined outcome, and we have an employee who suddenly realizes that their manager is not on their side after all and is probably out to get them. Not a great place to be for either side.

Here’s the hot tip: If you create an adversarial performance management process you should expect a fight. There are five things you NEVER ever want to do in a performance management process:

• NEVER bring a knife to a gunfight. (Make sure you have evidence)
• NEVER assume that the problem employee will see things your way.
• NEVER forget that this process might land you in court.
• NEVER go into a performance meeting without a set agenda.
• NEVER start a performance process without talking to HR first.

I’m not going to go into how to run an effective performance management process here. I truly believe that 9 times out of 10, if you have reached a point where you are involved in a ‘formal performance management’ process, then you are either going to have to sack someone in coming weeks or months, or you are the sackee. I can count on one hand the number of these processes that I have seen end well, which is why I coach people to manage their teams in such a way as to never need a ‘formal’ performance process.

If you are currently involved in a ‘formal’ performance management process and it feels uncomfortable or adversarial, whichever side you are on, my advice would be to call a temporary ceasefire, and see if you can negotiate an outcome that is mutually beneficial, like a separation agreement. Performance management processes are extremely stressful for both sides, can be drawn out of a long period of time, and absolutely will impact the vibe and performance of the whole team. The rest of the team can see what’s going on, and they will take sides, and that’s never good for business.

Again my advice would be to recruit, manage and retain your people in such a way that you never end up in a performance management situation. If you need help with this why not book some time for a chat with your Workplace Coach https://calendly.com/theworkplacecoach/30min