Being an employer is not always easy. There are many stresses and conflicts that need to be dealt with, including meeting with employees that are failing to perform as desired. This is challenging as you need to adopt a fair approach even when it is damaging your business.
If you don’t follow the correct process you are likely to upset the employee. Even if you don’t fire them they can feel like they have no choice but to quit and could then seek the assistance of an unfair dismissal employment lawyer. It then becomes a messy court case and potentially a time-consuming and costly process.
Following the procedure set out in your own handbook is essential, what can still be difficult is knowing when to start the procedure. Fortunately, there are several key signs that you need to take action on an employment issue.
Performance Issues
The most obvious sign that you need to take action is when the performance of an employee has noticeably dropped. Everyone has bad days and can struggle to get the work done. But, if the performance is consistently reduced, you need to take action.
If the employee is generally good and the performance drop is noticeable but not terrible, an informal chat s a good starting point. This will hopefully help you find out if they have any issues influencing their work. You may be able to support them while they deal with the issues and they can then improve their performance.
Attitude Change
More concerning is when an employee appears to have had an attitude change. An employee that was usually cheerful and friendly but then becomes surly s a cause for concern.
Hey aren’t just going to lower productivity, they are likely to damage morale which can have an array of knock-on effects on the business.
Of course, it’s still a good idea to have a chat with them as there may be a good reason for the change in attitude.
Tardiness
Arriving late and leaving early is a sure sign that an employee is no longer committed to their job. This can be for a variety of reasons but you can be certain that other employees will notice. In other words, you need to deal with the issue promptly to avoid damaging staff morale and causing other issues in the workplace.
An employee that clearly doesn’t want to be at work is not a good employee. It’s a sign you need to take action.
You’re Thinking About Termination
Thinking about terminating an employee is a tough decision. It certainly shouldn’t be a decision that is taken lightly. But, the mere fact that you are considering it means that you already know the employee is detrimental to business, even if you don’t want to admit that to yourself.
In this instance, the sensible approach is to start the disciplinary or review process and give the employee a chance to improve.
Naturally, it is essential that due process is followed every time you need to review or terminate someone.