Manage Follow Up

During the formal feedback session or performance review you may identify areas for improved performance. When this happens you will need to write and agree upon a performance improvement plan with the employee. Performance improvement plans occur during the review stage of the performance management process.

Performance improvement plans describe what an employee needs to do in a specific area of their job. The plan should state what objectives have been set, when they should be achieved and how they are going to be achieved. The plan should also state what support will be provided, the responsibilities of each party, and the consequences if objectives aren’t met.

The following extract is adapted from the Fair Work Ombudsman’s template for a performance improvement plan. Some of the fields have been filled in with examples.

^{(Adapted from Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

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With sufficient training and the appropriate processes and tools in place, managers should be able to handle the bulk of day-to-day performance management activities themselves. However, in some cases you may need to seek assistance from a human resources specialist. According to Bliss and Mathews (2007) human resources specialists can assist managers with the following:

• Accommodating a disabled employee
• Dealing with serious employee misconduct
• Terminating employees
• Responding to harassment
• Discrimination complaints
• Threats of workplace violence 
• Investigating significant workplace incidents

Not all organisations will have a dedicated human resources specialist on staff, in which case you should speak to your manager or supervisor for advice.

While it’s important to manage poor performance, it is equally important to recognise and reward good performance. Positive reinforcement can be just as effective, if not more effective, than negative reinforcement – and it doesn’t have to be expensive either. Recent studies have found that cash rewards are actually less effective than non-cash rewards at motivating employees (Nelson and Economy 2010). It was also found that cash rewards don’t establish a link between behaviour and reward. The final problem is that cash based incentives are usually only given out once a year, when in actual fact recognition should be given as soon as possible after the result, event, incident or behaviour to be effective (Nelson and Economy 2010). Nelson and Economy (2010), suggest the

Following incentives for rewarding good performance

• Give an employee personal or written congratulations for a job well done. Do it timely, often, and sincerely.
• Acknowledge employees in a public setting such as a company newsletter or department staff meeting, for maximum value.
• Offer time off or flexibility in working hours.
• Take the time to meet with and listen to employees — as much as they need or want.
• Give employees specific and frequent feedback about their performance. Support them in improving performance.
• Publicly recognize, reward, and promote top performers; deal with low and marginal performers so that they improve or leave.
• Provide information on how the company makes and loses money, details on upcoming products, and specifics on services and strategies for competing. Explain the employee’s role in the overall plan.
• Involve employees in decisions, especially decisions that affect them. Involvement equals commitment.
• Give employees a chance to grow and develop new skills; encourage them to be their best. Show them how you can help them meet their goals while achieving the organization’s goals. Create a partnership with each employee.
• Give employees a sense of ownership in their work and their work environment. This ownership may be symbolic — for example, business cards for all employees, regardless of whether they need them to do their jobs.
• Strive to create a work environment that’s open, trusting, and fun. Encourage new ideas, suggestions, and initiative. Help employees learn from mistakes; don’t punish them for their missteps.
• Celebrate the successes of the company, the department, and the individuals within. Take time for team- and morale-building meetings and activities. Be creative and fresh.

^{(Nelson and Economy 2010, 44)}

Praise is one of the most effective and desired motivators of employee performance and can come in many forms. Four of the most effective types of praise are:

• Personal praise: Face-to-face thanks and acknowledgment for a job well done
• Written praise: A written note or formal letter of thanks
• Electronic praise: Personal thanks and acknowledgment via e-mail or voice mail
• Public praise: Recognition in front of one or more other people, in a public forum such as a meeting or broad form of communication such as a newsletter or newspaper

^{(Nelson and Economy 2010, 51)}

The following extract explains some different kinds of rewards as well as examples of employee rewards offered by real life organisations.

• Low-end rewards: This can include items like gift cards from Starbucks or Amazon.com; gas cards; car wash or discount restaurant coupons; gift certificates; or treats such as a pizza, donuts, or even a bouquet of flowers.
  Jeanette Pagliaro, co-owner of Visiting Angels, an elder-care service that operates throughout the United States, often gets positive feedback from clients or supervisors about her employees. Employees who garner such pointed recognition receive Angel Bucks, which they can use to buy prizes at a company-sponsored auction.
• Symbolic recognition: This recognition can take the form of tokens, pins, ribbons, a certificate, or a plaque that has special meaning.
  Busch Gardens in Tampa, Florida, supplies tokens to all supervisors to give to employees to reinforce core values. Employees can redeem the tokens in their pay checks for $10, but most employees who receive the tokens prefer to keep them and forgo the money.
• Time off: Use time as an award itself by providing a voucher for a long lunch, a free afternoon, or an additional day off.
  At Greenough Communications in Boston, Massachusetts, high-performing employees are awarded by being able to leave at 3 p.m. on Friday. JS Communications in Los Angeles, California, recently gave employees two free “I Don’t Want to Get Out of Bed” days to use in the forthcoming year.
• Employee perks: You can make simple, low-cost benefits available to all employees. Soft drinks, fresh coffee, bottled water, snacks, and the use of a company fitness room are great for company morale.
  Best, Best and Krieger has held fast to simple employee perks such as “Bagel and Donut Friday” and an annual holiday party as a way to bring employees together in a social setting. Employees at California-based Kiner Communications, a public relations firm, enjoy baskets of fresh fruit and attend a company-sponsored holiday party each year.

^{(Nelson and Economy 2010, 60)}

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As you will remember from earlier in this module, underperformance at work is often caused by non work related issues. Employee underperformance can be cause by a range of personal issues relating to:

• Addiction
• Alcohol
• Bullying
• Debt
• Drugs
• Education
• Family 
• Financial hardship
• Gambling
• Grief
• Harassment
• Health problems
• Housing
• Immigrations
• Marriage
• Relationships
• Stress
• Trauma

Many organisations provide or offer access to support services to help deal with these issues. Often these services are called employee assistance programs and may include:

• Mental health services
• Chaplaincy
• Peer support
• Counselling
• Financial support/advice
• Legal support/advice
• Support for people with disabilities
• Flexible working arrangements
• Health/wellbeing programs

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Employee assistance programs are especially common in highly stressful occupations. Even if your organisation doesn’t directly offer employee support you should become familiar with some of the external providers below in case one of your employees requires additional support or assistance. Such services include:

• Anglicare
• Australian Red Cross
• Beyond Blue
• Job Access
• Lifeline
• National Legal Aid
• Relationships Australia
• St Vincent De Paul
• The Salvation Army
• The Smith Family
• Wesley Mission

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While in most cases employee performance will improve with monitoring, feedback, coaching, and support, occasionally you will need to counsel employees who continue to perform below expectations. While there are many definitions of counselling, it is generally agreed that “counselling is a process which involves bringing about sequential changes over a period of time leading to a set goal” (Regis 2008, 322). In this section we will be discussion counselling as it relates to the workplace and performance management context. In the workplace, performance management counselling involves a line manager or other superior working with an employee to improve their performance against agreed performance criteria and usually occurs during the review stage of the performance management process.

Most organisations will already have a process in place for managing underperformance; however, if your organisation doesn’t have an adequate procedure in place the Fair Work Ombudsman (2015) provides the following best practice guide to managing underperformance:

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

If all of the above steps have been completed and employee performance has still not improved you may need to consider the following options:

• Having another performance management meeting with the employee if it would be useful
• Providing additional training
• Changing the employee’s duties (if appropriate)
• Issuing a first or additional warning
• Clearly explaining the possible consequences of not improving, including if termination is a possibility.

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

According to the Fair Work Ombudsman, managers should issue employees with written warnings before terminating their employment. If you do decide to use a warning system it will be taken into consideration by the Fair Work Commission should an employee make an unfair dismissal claim against the organisation. If you do decide to issue written warnings as part of the disciplinary procedure you must ensure:

• The reason for the warning is clear
• All details are recorded in writing
• Clear expectations for future behaviour are set
• The warning is fair and reasonable

Setting

Smiling Clowns, Inc. provides live entertainment for children’s parties, corporate functions and other private events. Smiling Clowns has approximately 75 employees, many of whom work part time. The majority of the employees work as clowns, but the company also employs jugglers, magicians and balloon artists.

Background

Angela Watson wanted to be an entertainer her entire life. She majored in theater in college and trained under Bobo, one of the most famous clowns on the East Coast. Although Angela does not make much money, she normally enjoys her work and sees herself doing this line of work for the foreseeable future.

When she first started working for Smiling Clowns, Angela told her employer that she would go to Balloon School on weekends to learn how to make balloon animals. Angela considers herself more as a thespian, though, and thinks that making balloons is beneath her. Consequently, she has been putting this off, but she is looking forward to attending Clown Camp during the summer so she can fine-tune her clown skills.

News of this incident made its way back to her employer. Angela’s immediate supervisor, Chris, called her to his office to discuss the incident. Chris likes Angela and knows she is a good worker who is going through a tough time. Chris would like to meet with Angela to discuss her low performance (including tardiness and leaving parties early) and ways to improve it.

Outcome

Possible outcomes that could be reached between the employee and employer:

1. PIP. Sample goals: Angela will reduce client complaints. She will arrive on time to assignments 100 percent of the time. Angela will not leave assignments early. Angela will receive a 4.5 or better average on client satisfaction surveys.
2. Additional assignments. Angela will be given extra assignments so she can make extra money to relieve financial stressors.
3. Additional training. Angela will be given additional training (including Balloon School) so she will have additional skills. This will expand the types of assignments she can take.

In addition, Chris should refer Angela to the company’s EAP to help her resolve some of her personal problems, although it would not be advisable to compel her to call as a condition of continued employment.

^{(Society for Human Resources Management 2010, 12)}

If all performance management procedures have been followed and an employee’s performance still hasn’t improved their employment may need to be terminated. Termination should always be a last resort and should not be considered unless the employee has been given sufficient opportunity to improve their performance. When terminating employees there are a few legal considerations you should keep in mind such as:

Minimum Notice Periods

When an employee is terminated, the employer is required to give them a certain amount of notice. The notice period starts when notification of termination is given and ends on the employee’s final day of work. The legal minimum notice period depends on how long the employee has been working for the company and has been summarised in the extract below.

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

Employees over the age of 45 are also entitled to an additional one week of notice on top of the minimum notice periods outlined above.

Employers also have the option to pay the employee in lieu of notice. This means the employee receives the same amount of pay they would have received had they worked the full notice period without actually having to keep working. Payment in lieu of notice should also include any applicable incentive pay, bonuses, loadings, allowances, penalty and or overtime rates.

A modern award, enterprise agreement or employment contract may set out longer notice periods than those described above and you should check the relevant industrial instrument that applies to your employees before terminating an employee.

Employers are not required to provide notice or payment in lieu of notice if an employee is terminated for serious misconduct. Serious misconduct occurs when an employee:

• Causes serious and imminent risk to the health and safety of another person or to the reputation or profits of their employer's business or
• Deliberately behaves in a way that's inconsistent with continuing their employment.

Examples of serious misconduct include:

• Theft
• Fraud
• Assault
• Being drunk at work
• Refusing to carry out work duties.

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

Employees terminated for serious misconduct are, however, still entitled to their final pay.

Final Pay

Final pay is the amount of money you are required to pay a terminated employee on their last day of work or on the next regular pay day. Final pay should include all of the following:

• Outstanding wages for hours they have worked, including penalty rates and allowances
• Any accumulated annual leave
• If it applies:
  • Annual leave loading
  • Accrued or pro rata long service leave
  • Redundancy pay

Sick and carer’s leave is not paid out when employment ends.

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

Unfair Dismissal

Unfair dismissal applies when an employee is dismissed in circumstances which are:

• Harsh
• Unjust
• Unreasonable

In determining if a dismissal was harsh, unjust or unreasonable the Fair Work Commission will consider the following:

• Whether there was a valid reason for the dismissal related to the employee’s capacity or conduct
• Whether the employee was notified of that reason and given an opportunity to respond
• Any unreasonable refusal by the employer to allow the employee to have a support person present to assist at any discussions relating to dismissal
• If the dismissal related to unsatisfactory performance by the employee, whether they had been warned about that unsatisfactory performance before the dismissal
• The degree to which the size of the employer’s enterprise and the degree to which the absence of dedicated human resource management specialists or expertise would be likely to impact on the procedures followed in effecting the dismissal
• Any other matters that the fair work commission considers relevant.

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

An employee may only make a claim of unfair dismissal if they were employed at the business for at least six months (twelve months if they were employed by a small business).

Unlawful Termination

All employees are protected from unlawful termination under the Fair Work Act 2009. Unlawful termination is when an employee is dismissed for any of the following reasons:

• A person’s race, colour, sex, sexual preference, age, physical or mental disability, marital status, family or carer’s responsibilities, pregnancy, religion, political opinion, national extraction or social origin (some exceptions apply, such as where it’s based on the inherent requirements of the job)
• Temporary absence from work because of illness or injury
• Trade union membership or non-membership
• Participation in trade union activities outside working hours or, with the employer’s  consent, during working hours
• Seeking office as, or acting as, a representative of employees
• Being absent from work during maternity leave or other parental leave
• Temporary absence from work to engage in a voluntary emergency management activity
• Filing a complaint or participating in proceedings against an employer.

^{(Fair Work Ombudsman 2015)}

Termination Procedures

Some organisation will already have termination policies and procedures in place in which case you should follow them, however if your organisation does not have termination procedures in place they should be developed. Termination policies and procedures may relate to:

• Performing exit interviews
• Returning company property (e.g. identification, uniforms, credit cards, phones, cars)
• Discussion of confidentiality and/or non-compete agreements
• Deactivating email and other accounts
• Forwarding calls and emails
• Removing personal files from work computers
• Informing supervisors of all relevant usernames and passwords

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This section of the module you have focused on managing follow up. In this section you have learned how to write and agree performance development and improvement plans, seek assistance from human resources specialists, reinforce excellent performance, and monitor and coach individuals with poor performance. You have also learned about the importance of providing access to support services, counselling individuals who continue to perform below expectations, and terminating staff in accordance with legal and organizational requirements.

Fair Work Ombudsman. 2015. Employee Entitlements. Accessed May 14, 2015. http://www.fairwork.gov.au/employee-entitlements.

Nelson, Bob and Economy, Peter. 2010. Managing for Dummies. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.

Regis, Richard. 2008. Strategic Human Resources Management and Development. New Delhi: Excel Books.

Society for Human Resources Management. 2010. Employee and Labor Relations. Accessed May 27, 2015. http://www.shrm.org/education/hreducation/documents/hall_managing%20 and%20responding%20to%20poor%20employee%20performance_instructor%27s%20manual_final.pdf.