LEGAL


Putting performance back on the agenda


Natalie Thomson (pictured), Employment Lawyer at Halborns, a midlands-based law firm, discusses the importance of performance management.


How to prepare for retirement


Individuals from the local community met at Trent Bridge, home of Nottinghamshire County Cricket Club, on 12 October to find out more about how to enjoy wealth in retirement. The breakfast seminar,


entitled ‘How much is enough?’, was delivered by Smith Cooper and Shakespeare Martineau LLP. The seminar provided


information on the financial and legal aspects of: • Enjoying your wealth during retirement years without fear of running out of money


• Demystifying trusts and when to use them


• Transferring your wealth to present and future generations tax-efficiently.


Attendees were given tips on how best to protect their hard-earned wealth. Various strategies were presented to offer options for tax efficient planning for retirement, alongside the considerations an individual needs to account for in retirement. The overriding theme


identified in the seminar was the need to write a will. Sylvia Cooper, of Smith


Cooper IFS, said: “This seminar is part of our ongoing strategy to be proactive and informative in the market place. Working alongside Shakespeare Martineau in this format allows us to add another dimension to the information we can provide. The feedback after today’s seminar has been excellent and we hope to roll out some more similar events in the future.” Virginia Harvey, of


Shakespeare Martineau, said: “There should be more to life than just hard work and I would encourage anyone to take some time to plan how to enjoy the fruits of their labours.”


In our experience, people shy away from performance management, it’s a bit of a grey area. Your employee hasn’t necessarily done anything wrong, they may have been with you for a long time or they may be going through what is perceived to be a tough time. Are your hands tied or is there more that you can do? It’s quite common for the lawyers at Halborns to be


instructed when an employee is nearing two years service. The two-year mark often focuses minds and prompts employers to act as it’s the point when, generally, employees become protected by unfair dismissal legislation. One of the first questions we ask is what the issues are with this employee. The answers we often receive range from: “They’ve never really been that good’’, “they just aren’t doing what’s expected of them”, “they’re not hitting their targets”. You may ask, what’s wrong with this. The answer -


you’ve allowed an underperforming employee to drift, costing the business time and money. What can you do?


• Use probationary periods - most people put them in contracts but do they use them? Probationary periods should remind managers that they need to meet new employees at the appropriate point to tell them whether they’re doing a great job or that they’re underperforming and whether the probationary period is going to be extended or their employment brought to an end.


• Make time for one-to-ones - We often hear that people don’t have time for these but the more you do the less time they take. Talk to your staff to check you are on the same page and that they know what’s expected of them. Set out specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed objectives.


• Appraisals - Use these to their potential. If an employee is not performing, make sure the appraisal document says as much. Again, set specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, timed objectives.


HOW DOES THIS WORK IN PRACTICE? Donald has been with you for 21 months. He’s a sales executive. He talks the talk but not really getting results. His probationary period wasn’t diarised. His appraisal didn’t take place at 12 months because it was year-end and you were too busy. He told you he could sell £15,000 worth of products a month, however you’ve looked back over his sales and he’s cruising around the £7,000 per month mark. He’s had some days off recently for sickness. The first question you need to ask yourself is what


you want the outcome of this situation to be. Do you want to improve Donald’s performance or bring to an end his employment?


APPROACH ONE: CUTTING LOSSES NOW • Call Donald to a hearing. Less than two years’ service. No need to follow full disciplinary process unless your processes are contractual.


• You tell him he’s not performing and you need to let him go. Dismissal letter. Pay notice.


44 business network December 2016/January 2017


• Possible appeal. Tribunal claim? Low risk due to length of service and no known discrimination and/or whistleblowing issues


• Appeal. Low risk of claim. Need to recruit.


APPROACH TWO: DRIVING PERFORMANCE (INFORMALLY) • Call Donald to an informal meeting to let him know that you have concerns with his performance.


• Informal meeting - Donald says he feels unsupported, out of his depth and feels unwell. No one-to-ones or appraisals.


• 21 months - Set and agree targets. Identify and agree any support required. 22 months - monitor performance. 23 months – review performance.


• Performance gets back on track. Risk - ongoing poor performance when Donald has over two years’ service.


APPROACH THREE: COACHING • Three months - review of probationary period. He tells you he’s enjoying his role but feels a bit overwhelmed and out of his depth.


• You arrange mentoring with sales director. Review in four weeks.


• Six weeks later - sit down and agree targets. You decide on a staggered target starting at £8,000 rising by £2,000 every month thereafter.


• Four weeks later - on target meeting, Donald asks to go on a course to get that extra 10%. Ten months - hitting targets. 21 months – exceeding targets, promotion, mentoring others.


• Length of process three to four months. Risk – none.


While each case is different, you’ll see how the proactive approach will normally help to enable the employee and therefore your business to succeed.


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