Poor work performance can be summed up as the failure on the part of an employee to meet and maintain the employer’s required standard of performance. This may be related to either a failure on the employee to meet the quantity or the quality of the output required by the employer. Reasons for this failure could be due to a lack of skill, knowledge, qualifications or efficiency on the part of the employee.
Can I dismiss an employee for Poor Work Performance?
Poor Work Performance falls under Incapacity and as such disciplinary action may not be instituted as generally this is not due to fault of the employee. Employers must seek to correct and improve the performance of the employee rather than attempting to first dismiss.
What should I do as an employer where an employee is not performing to the required standard?
The first step is to conduct an assessment to identify the cause of the poor performance. In order to do the same, the employer should meet with the employee and his supervisor or manager and determine the following:
- Whether the employee is failing to meet the requirements of the employer in terms of quantity, quality or both.
- Whether there is a skills or training gap.
- Whether there are other factors influencing the poor work eg. Not having necessary tools or equipment.
- Whether there are any personal circumstances affecting the employee’s performance.
If the assessment indicates poor work performance, the employer should proceed with counselling of the employee.
How does the Counselling process work?
In order to proceed with counselling, the employer should host a counselling meeting with the employee concerned and invite all relevant persons eg. Supervisor. The employee should be given reasonable notice of the meeting and be given the opportunity to be represented by a co-employee or Shop Steward.
The following must be discussed and recorded during the counselling meeting:
- Presentation of the performance standard of the employer.
- Evidence proving that the employee has failed to meet these standards.
- The impact of the poor performance on the operations of the business.
- An opportunity must be given to the employee or their representative to make submissions.
- The employer is to propose and agree with the employee on a plan of action to improve the employee’s performance. The following should be included in the action plan:
- Objectives that the employee is expected to achieve.
- Proposals from the employee in order to improve.
- The training or coaching that will be given to the employee.
- A written summary of the objectives along with time frames and reporting expected from the employee.
Upon conclusion of the counselling, the employer must monitor and evaluate the improvement made by the employee periodically as agreed to during counselling.
What happens where the employee’s performance does not improve?
If the employee’s poor performance continues, the employer may either extend the counselling period or consider holding a poor work performance enquiry against the employee.
As with all practices in the workplace, fair procedure must be followed and the termination must be concluded for fair reason. Ideally the employer should prove in the enquiry that the employee failed to improve their performance to the required standards despite being given reasonable time and opportunity to do so. The termination should be the only remaining option available to the employer.
The poor work performance process is not a one size fits all and as such, the process will generally need to be tailored to the specific circumstances that is experienced in the workplace. Kindly contact your nearest ECA office should you require assistance with matters of this nature.
Shainel Mohanlall, Regional Director – ECA KZN
