It is the direct responsibility of the manager to identify performance issues with the team and to evaluate this performance whether it is good or bad performance. The manager should be able to identify the key issues that indicate a change in performance. For identifying poor performance in an individual the symptoms may be that the individual appears stressed,isn’t meeting their personal targets, complaining more or is having to work longer hours to complete the same amount of work. It could also be from external sources-e. g. complaints from customers or other areas of the business that rely on their work.
From a business point an increase in wastage or budget overspends could indicate that person has performance issues. Poor performance can also be caused by personal matters away from the workplace. A good example from my workplace is that one of our team leaders was constantly overspending on his budget the winter shutdown period. When it was flagged up and investigated it was found that the overspend was due to him not looking around for quotes from different contractors and he was just accepting the first and easiest quote that he received.
He was also just using the same contractor who was then sub contracting out the work and charging more. After a brief discussion with the team leader it was found that he was having problems at home which was causing him stress and a lack of motivation as his mind was elsewhere. His work was then spread a bit to give him more time to concentrate on home life and sort himself out. This shows that the eventual performance issue may not be directly linked to the underlying cause but that small things can contribute to poor performance.
Performance issues are not always about bad performance and a manger needs to be able to handle good performance as well. If someone does seem to be performing very well and this is a sudden change it is a good idea to look at the surrounding factors to see if it is an overall increase in that persons effort or if external factors have contributed e. g. extra work force sharing load, etc… This will ensure that praise is given where it is deserved and will help to drive the team forward together.
If praise is given without checking the external factors then the manager may give praise to an individual whose performance has only increased due to other people or efforts and this may have an effect on team moral and therefore turn some good performance back into poor motivation and therefore poor performance. The manager must be careful not to overstep his bounds when dealing with performance issues as this can cause more issues. To do this they must know their own limits of responsibility. The manager has direct responsibility for his own workforce e. . his team, and so should deal with all performance issues relating to those team members-to a certain level. It is important that these matters are dealt with properly and with good communication to make sure that the issues can be resolved quickly and easily. If there is a performance issue with an employee outside of their direct reporting line then the manager should speak carefully with that employees line manager-although this should be done carefully to avoid a blame culture whereby the manger informing the line manager seems to be blaming that team.
An example would be if there was an issue with a job involving a lot of contractors. The manager should approach the contractor manager carefully and just suggest that there is an issue with the job without blaming any specific contractors outright. Also when dealing with limits of responsibility it is important to check the serious of the problem and needs to be escalated to higher management, it is a recurring problem and needs further investigate with others to help, or how clear the problem is-if it has causes outside of work and may require other more qualified people to deal with it e. . HR departments, etc… 2. (a) If a performance issue is recognised then the best course of action must be taken to resolve it quickly. First you must sit and carefully identify what exactly the problem is. It is important to find the cause and not just assume that a person is performing poorly / well. One way to investigate a performance issue is to quietly arrange a meeting with the person/ people involved and have a quite word with them about the issues. This sometime may be enough to solve the issue or at least find the root causes.
The questions asked during these talks are also very important as you don’t want to seem like you are accusing the employees straight away as this will cause a defensive response and this can hamper the managers efforts to find out information. This talk should also highlight if there are any greater issues that will need to be dealt with by other managers or departments. For identifying areas to help and support employees to improve their performance the ASK-ABE model can be used (Ian Favell (2004-a) The Competency Tool kit).
The ASK (Actions,Skills,Knowledge) part can be used to identify the employees capability to do the tasks and use the ABE (attitude, behaviour,emotions) to find out if there are any behavioural or other reasons for the poor performance. Using this method should help identify any problem areas and therefore resolve the performance issue. It is also important to look at your self as a manager to make sure that you are not contributing to the poor performance. This is because the managers management style can contribute to the teams performance.
In the book Huczynski and Buchanan ,(1991),Organisational Behaviour (2nd edn) the authors state that managers need to take into account their own management style, the needs of their employees, demands of the job and workplace and cultural values to ensure that their style does not cause any performance issues. An example for my workplace was when our new Head of Department joined. He had a very autocratic approach and was constantly questioning other employees and managers decisions.
He was doing this to quickly find out about the business and to assert his authority but it had a serious negative effect on the employees and so reduced performance as a lot of engineers stopped making decisions for themselves thereby slowing the work down. 2. (b)If I was to carry out a counselling session with one of my engineers I would first make sure that I had all the relevant information relating to that person. This would include their bi-monthly report sheets that we fill out and their Personal Development Plan.
I would use these to check and see if the issue(s) have been raised before and also what was agreed. I would then go through the problems by myself to clearly identify what I think are the main causes and what the seriousness of the problem is and also to come up with a few ways to fix the problem so I am prepared beforehand. This would help me when I am discussing with the employee. For the actual counselling session I would agree a time with the employee-face to face- and arrange a suitable place for carrying out the discussion, somewhere quiet and without other walking around.
To start off the meeting I would first ask the employee how they are getting on and if they personally think there are any issues. This would help bring to light any other issues in the workplace and hopefully the employee would bring up the current issue in hand. From the initial discussion about how they are getting on I would guide the discussion towards the relevant subject e. g. “ I’m glad to hear that you feel you are getting on OK with work, unfortunately there are a few issues that have came up over the last few days/weeks/etc. hat I would like to get your opinion on. ” This would then lead us into discussing the performance issues directly. From this point I would use the TOUCH ARM method to guide me through the session. For the first part (Trust) I would reassure the employee that I am there to help and get everything back to normal and working well. Also that anything said is purely between us and will be treated confidentially. For the second part (Openness) I would ensure that I am honest with them and only tell them information that is true and not just people opinions. 2. (b). cont)… I would also let them know the full extent of what could happen so that there are no surprises later down the line. For the third part (Understanding) I would ask them to clearly give there explanations to the events or behaviours so that I could have a more informed perspective of the reasons and hopefully understand their viewpoint better. This would also help with the trust part. So I could ask for example; “Just so I fully understand could you explain your reasons and background to these events so that we can both work together to fix this problem. For the 4th part ( Choices ) I would then use the few ways I had decided on before hand as well as any that have occurred to me during the discussion to talk with the employee about ways to fix this problem. I would also offer the employee the chance to offer some solutions themselves and try to get them involved. After we have discussed solutions I would then try and guide them onto the solution I think is best (Harmony) taking into account there views. This would be about discussing all avenues available and coming to a conclusion that they feel is beneficial without them just agreeing to anything to finish the meeting.
After this we would agree what actions we would take to resolve the issues (Actions). These actions should be obvious from the course we have agreed to take to sort the problems. These actions, if they are set objectives, should be made using the SMART model. This would then lead on to agreeing a review date /further counselling ( Review ). This would depend on the actions agreed e. g. a long term action may require a few reviews to make sure it is on target while a short term one may just need a review afterwards to ensure it has worked.
After agreeing review dates we would then agree how we would monitor (Monitor) the actions and progress of the employee. This could be for a set period e. g. probation period, or just till their performance is judged to have improved. To finish I would end on a positive note; “Thank you for your time and I feel that we have definitely achieved something today and we should hopefully both see the benefits of it soon. If you have any further issues don’t hesitate to come and talk to me about them. We would then wait and with the agreed actions,reviews and monitoring would hopefully see an improvement in that employee’s performance. 3. (a) Task – Completing the rebuild of the 3rd train on the Stealth Ride Issues – The employee does not seem to have the self motivation to enable him to carryout the rebuild on the 3rd train. This means that the rebuild is falling behind schedule and therefore will not be completed in time for the busiest period. Actions- 1. Employee feels isolated as when he is over at the workshop doing the rebuild he can sometimes be on his own.
Therefore it has been agreed that there will always be a minimum of two people working in the workshop and that it will be clearly displayed on the rota who will be working in that workshop after morning checks. The employee has been given responsibility to make sure sure all other engineers are aware that they are on the rebuild and to report to duty manager by 10am if there is any problems. Also a daily work sheet is to be handed in to the duty manager stating what was done, what went well and any problems that arose. 2. Employee says that he is busy making sure the rides are running and has to attend shut-downs.
It has been agreed that all engineers working on the train rebuild will be excluded from ride shutdown calls. This has been reported to all duty team leaders and managers. Employee has been told to write down all notes regarding his rides after start up and to pass these to another designated engineer to ensure that his areas runs smoothly. A copy of these is to be passed to the duty manager Review- another meeting is scheduled for 1 month to go over how the employee feels the rebuild went and how to improve for the next train.
Also to go over any further issues or actions. Monitor- There will be a weekly meeting on Thursday afternoon to monitor the rebuild and ensure work is being carried out 3. (b)Disciplinary procedures may be invoked at work when an employee has not met the companies expectations. This can start off as consistently turning up late for work, Behavioural issues within the team, failure to complete work to the required standard or something more serious e. g. turning up for work still above the legal alcohol limit or failing a drugs test.
When a disciplinary procedure is started it is my role as a first line manager to carryout the investigate phase. This involves talking to all parties involves and having a discussion about the events and would be classed as the informal stage as suggested by the ACAS code of practise 1 (2003) Disciplinary and Grievance Procedures. After I have completed my investigation I would pass my findings to my line manager how would then decide if a formal meeting is required. Due to our companies procedures each stage in the procedure has to be carried out by a senior manager e. investigation=Area Team Leader, formal meeting=Area manager, appeal=Head of department. The investigation is important as it lets the company find out if there are any issues that have caused the problems such as hidden conflicts within the team or problems at home and can sometimes find solutions without going to a formal disciplinary meeting. The employee is allowed a mentor at all meetings and although this person can’t answer any questions or speak for the employee they can ask for an adjournment at any time.
Grievance procedures may be invoked at work when an employee feels bullied or unfairly treated by managers or other employees. As mentioned by Isobel Emanuel (1994) The Managers guide to solving Personnel Issues, our grievance procedures are dealt by the immediate superior/line manager unless this is the person that the problem is with. In this case the employee can go straight to the HR department. My role in grievance proceedings in the same as with disciplinary proceedings and I would carry out the investigation phase.
All statements are kept and all parties involved are allowed to read these before any further matter is taken. As mentioned by Malcolm Peel,(1993), Introduction to Management one of the clear points for complaints procedures is to make and keep good records of every case. Records are very important as they provide any evidence of previous issues raised with that employee and show that all the necessary and legal required paperwork has been completed should the case be refereed to appeal or tribunal. Word Count: 2618
