The new Government is planning/consulting for unfair dismissal rights to apply from Day 1 of employment (apparently with a more limited version during the probationary period). So, when it comes to poor performance dismissals the 'they have under two years service so no need to follow any real procedure' could become a thing of the past. Non-contractual disciplinary/performance processes have also aided this approach up to now.
In the future, if I have a member of staff who has been with me for 8 months, is outside of any probation, and is poorly performing I will no doubt be told by HR that I need to have some kind of performance improvement plan drawn up with key objectives/deliverables. And that is indeed required to give the opportunity to improve but also provide a legal audit trail if ultimately hurtling towards dismissal. But it is these same plans and objectives that are often the problem - and don't really help in any unfair dismissal claim.
Here's an example: One of David's areas of underperformance is around what others see as an aggressive/unhelpful approach to others in the team. David's Manager writes the following objective for him to focus on: 'Provide a helpful and courteous service to your colleagues at all times'
This is just lame job description language - it's a piece of advice, a statement and David's response will be "I do"! The objective is subjective, its open to opinions, there will be debate back and forwards around whether it's being achieved or not! When the manager then confirms David has underperformed on this and now faces formal action, he will be outraged at the injustice and guess what - you now have conflict and any dismissal will be met with a claim - particularly if there continue to be no tribunal fees!
The objective rewritten? How about: 'Ensure 90% of emailed questions/requests for help are responded to within 24 hours and without any follow-up emails needing to be sent by colleagues (as a result of the answers/help given not being complete/sufficient/satisfactory.)' - This will be easy to 'sample' as the manager - just look every few days at a day of emails to see the responses David is providing and how they are being received.
Plus 'Reduce by 50% the number of times people are telling me (your manager) that your manner/how you speak to them makes them less likely to want to approach you for help/answers - currently I am hearing this 4-5 times a week'
This is factual, observable, indisputable - the thing you want as manager is either happening or it isn't - because ambiguity and debate is not your friend when trying to manage poor performance! It's why we focus so heavily on difficult conversations and 'proper' objective-setting in our Painless People Management Programme.
