Managing underperformance meeting plan - template

When a new employee joins the Company or starts a new role the manager will typically 'coach' the individual to help them develop and learn the skills, knowledge and behaviours required for the role.

Over a period of time that coaching should result in a higher level of performance, with the expectation that once the individual knows how to do their role and has the required skills, they should be able to achieve fully competent performance as above.

If performance falls below the required standards at a later date, it will typically not be due to lack of knowledge or skill, because this has already been achieved.

The decline in performance will therefore typically be due to either behaviours or attitude i.e. how the skill and knowledge is applied by the individual.

It is at this stage that a manager will elect to use counselling to address the problem.

In summary coaching focuses on learning and teaching. Counselling assumes possession of the skills and knowledge required and focuses on solving the behavioural or attitudinal problem that is preventing competent performance from being achieved.

Conducting a formal underperformance meeting will make sure your employee:

  • has a clear understanding of what’s required of them;
  • has a documented plan for improving their performance;
  • is aware of the consequences if their performance doesn’t improve.

You use this plan in conjunction with our Managing underperformance – the formal steps checklist

For more information on managing underperformance, contact one of our HR Consultants.

Step by step process

Step 1: Before the meeting

Before the underperformancemeeting, you can use the template to record the details of the meeting.

  • When and where you will meet with your employee
  • Who will attend the meeting?

Attendees will include you and the employee, any witness / note-taker that you ask to attend the meeting and any support person (e.g. a co-worker, family member, friend or union representative) that the employee chooses to bring to the meeting.

Ensure that all pertinent facts are gathered before anything else occurs. These should include not only details of the issues, but also details of the employee's past performance and your expectations and performance requirements.

Any observations from other individuals, such as, complaints or witnesses' reports, should be in writing. The input must be accurate and clearly expressed. Great care should be taken to differentiate between opinions and hear-say and specific observations and facts.

Timeliness of action is an important consideration in order to ensure that issues are raised with the employee as soon as practicably possible. This need for timeliness should not be achieved at the expense of sound investigation and information collection. Clearly no decisions should be made at this point in time in relation to whether the employee has breached any policy, behaved inappropriately, or failed to perform at the expected level.

Step 2: During the meeting

During the meeting, use your summary to guide what you say to your employee, and to make sure you cover everything you need to.

Make sure youinvite the employee to respond to what you’ve said and give them the opportunity to explain their performance. Ask them what they think can be done to improve their performance. Keep an open mind, actively listen, and ask open questions when you want to find out more. What the employee says may influence how you decide to move forward with the employee.

The recommended steps for the discussion are as follows:

  1. Explainthe nature of the concern
  • Focus on behaviour or performance.
  • Make sure you understand the concern clearly.
  1. Encourage the other person to talk
  • Use your active listening skills.
  • Ask open and probing questions.
  • Be professional, using positive body language and eye contact.
  1. Explain the requirements, what needs to happen and the outcome
  • Define the reason for the discussion if you called the session.
  • Avoid judgmental words like should, must or ought.
  1. Ask for suggestions
  • What can we do? Have suggestions ready if possible.
  • Encourage the employee to identify alternatives to solve the problem or resolve the issue and consequences of each alternative.
  1. Agree on action steps
  • Be specific.
  • Set time frames.
  1. Offer support
  • Be positive.
  • Demonstrate empathy for the employee and show confidence in their ability to solve problems.
  • Provide support and resources when appropriate.
  1. Set follow-up dates
  • Keep them.

Many managers fall into the trap of believing that when they counsel an employee, they must adopt a stern or aggressive manner. This however will not enable them to develop the style of atmosphere where a positive, agreed plan can be achieved.

Step 3: After the meeting

Immediately after the meeting, make thorough notes of what was discussed in the meeting, including anythingthat you covered that wasn’t in your summary, as well asanything the employee said.

Important note:

  • this template has been colour coded to assist you to complete it accurately. You simply need to replace the red < > writing with what applies to your employee and situation.
  • Explanatory information is shown in blue italicsto assist you and should be deleted once you have finished the letter.

The information contained in this document is general in nature. You must not rely on the information in this document as an alternative to legal advice from an appropriately qualified professional. If you have any specific questions you should consult one of our HR Professionals.

Managing Underperformance Meeting Plan

Details
Date: / <date>
Time: / <time>
Location: / <location>
Attendees: / <attendees>
Purpose
what are the reasons for the meeting
Background
what has happened / not happened
Next steps
<next steps>
e.g.
  • First written warning (see template on site).
  • Put performance improvement plan in place (see template on site).

Task list / Due date
<list>
Make a list of what you need to do next, and by when.
e.g. Make record of meeting; provide copy to Sean and ask him to sign. /
e.g. Tomorrow.
e.g.Prepare first written warning; provide copy to them, and ask him to sign. / e.g. Tomorrow.
e.g. Prepare performance improvement plan; provide copy and ask them to sign. / e.g. End of week.
e.g. Schedule meeting to review performance; also review in the meantime during weekly catch-ups. / e.g. 28/04.