Performance Management – Questions, Tips, and Initial Advice
Summary
Performance management should support employees to meet reasonable expectations through clear goals, feedback, and a fair opportunity to improve. Formal steps should follow policy and ensure procedural fairness before any disciplinary action is considered.
Questions
- What performance concerns have been raised and how have they been documented?
- Has a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) been issued? What are the objectives and timeframe and are they reasonable?
- What support/training has been offered?
- How will progress be measured? Meeting schedule?
- Has an informal approach been attempted in the first instance?
Preliminary Advice
- Request written objectives, measurable targets, and realistic timeframes.
- An informal approach should always be taken in the first instance.
- Ensure supports (training, mentoring, workload adjustments) are offered and documented.
- Keep notes of meetings and feedback; confirm agreements in writing.
- Ensure concerns are documented throughout the process e.g. feedback not being provided, alleged support not being provided
- If there are valid performance concerns, the best approach is often meaningfully engaging in the process.
Things to Remember
- PIPs are supposed to be a tool to support and improve performance, but they are often used as punishment and as a means to terminate.
- Goals in a PIP must be specific, measurable, and achievable within rostered hours.
- There should be a policy that outlines the performance management process.
- In NSW Health, the Government Sector Employment Act and Rules provide valuable information about what must be contained in a performance management process, and what actions can be taken.
Escalation/Referral
- Industrial Officer: If the PIP appears unreasonable or is used to manufacture a dismissal case.
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