en
Jobs

Our industry specialists will listen to your aspirations and share your story with Belgium’s most prestigious organisations. Together, let’s write the next chapter of your career.

See all jobs
Services

Belgium’s leading employers trust us to deliver fast, efficient hiring solutions that are tailored to their exact requirements. Browse our range of bespoke services and resources

Read more
About Robert Walters Belgium

For us, recruitment is more than just a job. We understand that behind every opportunity is the chance to make a difference to people’s lives

Learn more

Work for us

Our people are the difference. Hear stories from our people to learn more about a career at Robert Walters Belgium

Learn more

Managing poor performance

Carrying out regular appraisals and identifying objectives is key to preventing poor performance.

If it becomes apparent that an employee is not performing to the standard required it is important to identify the underlying causes for poor performance.

But what happens when the usual performance management process breaks down and what steps should you take? Firstly identify the issue and secondly look at the causes of poor performance, only then you can decide what steps to take to improve the situation. 

Identifying poor performance

In order to make a determination that an employee is not performing to an acceptable level it is essential that some sort of performance measure/standard has been identified in advance and the employee has been informed of and understands what is required of them. There are a range of measurement tools you can use:

Firstly identify the issue and secondly look at the causes of poor performance, only then you can decide what steps to take to improve the situation. 

Detailed job description - to set out the outputs/outcomes of the role

Targets - the use of pre-set targets (common in a sales role) which are realistic and achievable can enable an employer to determine whether an employee is achieving the standard required of them

Quality controls - may be useful where the provision of a quality service is essential, eg, customer facing roles

Competency frameworks - which focus on the key behaviours that are required to achieve competent performance

The causes of poor performance

When it becomes apparent that an employee is not performing to the required standard it is important to identify the underlying causes. Poor performance could be related to:

  • Lack of application to the role and tasks
  • Lack of capability/skills in general
  • Lack of capability due to illness or injury


Each of these situations will call for different remedial actions, emphasising the importance of correctly identifying the cause of poor performance.

Correcting poor performance: setting clear targets

Have an informal meeting with the employee outlining the areas where their performance is in decline and agree goals/targets and a review date.

Review the performance at the review date and determine if there has been any improvement. If there has been an acceptably significant improvement then no further action should be necessary. If there has been some improvement then perhaps the employer could identify the areas where the employee needs further improvement and set a further review date.

If there has been no significant improvement the employer may contemplate the use of the disciplinary/dismissal procedure. The appropriate penalty will vary with the relevant disciplinary procedure but it is strongly recommended that dismissal for a first occurrence is inappropriate. To ensure fairness of dismissal in these circumstances the employer must demonstrate that an employee was given sufficient opportunity to improve.

 

Find out more  

Are you looking for new talent for your team? Submit your vacancy or contact one of our offices.

Share this article

Related Solutions

Looking for talent?
Salary Survey
Hiring Advice
Get in touch

Find out more by contacting one of our specialist recruitment consultants

Related Content

View all resources

5 ways to take your team from ordinary to extraordinary

The value of well-integrated, high-performing teams has long been recognised to be crucial to boost business performance. While all companies – from multinational organisations to medium and small-sized businesses – face unique challenges, there are core similarities when it comes to creating produc

Read More

Gen X, Gen Y and Gen Z: why you need all three in the workplace

Each generation has its own typical characteristics, and these can also be perceived in the workplace. For example, a generation X employee will have a different work mentality and will attach importance to different values than a recently graduated Gen Z’er. At first glance, this may seem challengi

Read More

The art of managing people

Managing people is no longer simply a responsibility - there is now an increasing recognition of the importance of the skill of people management. How well or badly a team is managed can affect employee retention, productivity, creativity and even your employees’ health. So it makes good business se

Read More

I'm Robert Walters Are you?

Come join our global team of creative thinkers, problem solvers and game changers. We offer accelerated career progression, a dynamic culture and expert training.