Is it Stay or Go?

Scott had employed Ian for 9 months and as time had gone by he was getting more and more dissatisfied with Ian’s attitude and lack of interest in taking more ownership and responsibility as part of his role.

So Scott contacted us and when we spoke it was apparent that there had been niggling concerns from the start of Ian’s employment but they weren’t addressed as he was ‘doing his job’ and the was ‘no time’.

Ian hadn’t been given any objectives or outcomes to meet when he joined, there were no scheduled review meetings (there was nothing to review!), Ian had been left to his own devices to carry out the tasks detailed in his job description and the probation period clause in his contract of employment meant that he was automatically confirmed after 3 months.

Now I can’t say 100% who was to blame about Ian’s lack of motivation, but in resolving the situation, it was apparent that there wasn’t a strategy in place to get Ian working in the way that Scott wanted him to.

Having an induction strategy is vital to being able to have enough evidence to decide should you new employee stay or go.

Here are some practical tips to get the evidence that you need to confirm, extend or fail an employee during their probation period and remain legislatively compliant:

Probation Clause

First things first, ensure that your probation clause states that it is only completed when confirmed in writing.

Clear, SMART objectives

During the first week of employment set objectives for the first 3-6 month, ensure they are clear and easily monitored.

Regular Reviews

Meet with your next starters once a week during the first month and at least fortnightly thereafter. Have a template to ensure you are reviewing how they are progressing against your objectives and well as ensuring that they have been provided with the support and training that they need to succeed.

Evidenced Feeback

Give clear objective feedback, so that there are no grey areas, it’s not how you feel, it’s what the evidence is showing you. For tips on having that ‘difficult conversation’ read our article here.

Extend or Terminate

If your new employee isn’t achieving the objectives that you have set for them, and you can demonstrate that they have been given the support and training needed to be successful. You have to decide whether to extend their probation period or terminate their contract. If you’ve been having the regular review sessions as discussed above and there has been little or no improvement, terminate, However, if there has been an improvement and there are just a couple of minor issues it may be worth expending the probation period for a month or two.

Document all of the above

Always, always, always ensure that you document your objective and review meetings.

Our Management Fundamentals online training will provide you with the practical skills you need to manage, motivate and develop your team, check out the details here.

When you need to have that difficult conversation

This morning I was showing my husband some new abs exercises and he was saying that he was finding some of the moves challenging (I was sharing the torture I have to endure at my boot-camp class!), when my amazing five-year old put her hand on his shoulder, looked him deep in the eyes and said “Daddy, you just need to keep practising and you’ll get better”. We laughed because she sounded like me at homework time! I try to make homework fun and give feedback that builds my girls confidence and encourages them to keep pushing for excellence.

This can be very similar to dealing with staff issues, it can be hard to balance providing constructive feedback that motivates, rather than frustrates. And of course everyone is different, which means you need to flex your style of delivery to ensure that your word will be heard as intended.

It’s always best to address issues as they occur (or as soon as you are aware), rather than storing them up for the next scheduled meeting or performance review. I always say that if someone is over achieving or underachieving they should know about it before going into a formal meeting or appraisal (unless it’s a gross misconduct issue).

We all know that no one is perfect and we all make mistakes, so expecting perfectionism from your team is unrealistic. However, there are basics that need to be delivered, processes and procedures that need to be adhered to.

So, the first step in dealing with staff issues, is to ensure that they are aware of what is expected of them through establishing SMART objectives and having an employee handbook that details policies and procedures, around behaviour and the sanctions for not adhering to them.

Does your team have SMART objectives set? If you need a reminder on setting objectives, check out my video here https://youtu.be/OojcB63lVy8

Does your team know what is expected of them? And how their work relates to the success of your business?

It is important to get confirmation from your team that they have heard and understood what you told them, I generally get my team to send me their objectives after we have discussed them, so that I can be sure they have understood what I relayed and not made an assumption.

Once you know that you and your team are on the same page, you are in a much better situation when it comes to dealing with any performance issues that arise.

Here are some tips to help you to discuss poor performance:

• Listen before you speak – Get the back story, make sure there are no extenuating circumstances. Remember that sometimes your team needs your support more than your wrath!

• Be prepared - Stick to facts. Provide examples of issues and show what good looks like.

• Don’t get emotional – The majority of the time people aren’t purposely making mistakes, they will feel bad, don’t make it worse by adding your feelings to it.

• Set clear objectives going forward and review them at least weekly, to ensure that improvements are being made.

Next week we will look at the difference between conduct and capability and the best ways to address each type of performance issue