When Performance Needs Improvement

When performance needs improvement, the decision that matters is made weeks before any formal plan. Most improvement plans fail because they begin after the manager has already privately concluded it will not work.

By that point the plan is documentation for an exit rather than an attempt at improvement, and the employee usually senses it immediately.

The useful window is earlier, and three questions open it.

Has the standard been stated plainly? Not implied through hints or a lukewarm review. Said, in words, with an example of what meeting it looks like.

Is anything in the way? Unclear priorities, missing training, a system change, or something happening outside work.

Has anything changed recently? A capable person whose performance drops usually has a reason, and it is worth finding before formalising.

If the answer to the first is no, the process has not genuinely started yet.

The Fair Work Ombudsman covers performance and dismissal. This is general information rather than legal advice, and obligations vary by state and territory.

See Sentrient’s performance improvement plans and performance management training.