I have shared with you before my thoughts on why annual appraisals don’t work.
Just meeting up once per year to discuss performance is not effective.
However, by moving to a more regular, but less formal approach of one to one sessions with your team, are you exposing yourself to greater risk?
What do mean by risk? Grievance, or worse, claims of unfair pay awards or even constructive dismissal.
If you handle the sessions with your team appropriately, you won’t be at risk. In fact, I would argue the reverse – after all, any performance issues should not come as a surprise, and you will have given your employee plenty of opportunity to work on any areas in need of development.
So, how should you handle it appropriately to ensure you don’t have a problem?
- Even though it is informal, still follow an agenda or pattern of discussion, giving the employee time to talk too
- Follow your company policies and procedures – don’t be tempted to cut steps if there is an issue to be tackled
- Tackle poor performance – don’t avoid having difficult conversations, as they just escalate over time
- If you need to instigate disciplinary proceedings, you need to tell your employee that’s what you’re doing – not to try and slip it into an informal discussion
- Document everything – this doesn’t have to be a stuffy overly formal document. Even just an email to follow up your session, reminding your employee what you have both agreed. If there is a grievance, it is very hard to back up your actions without documentary evidence.
If you would like help with implementing effective performance management in your business, please contact us on 01256 328 428.