It takes a serious investment in time and resources to fill a position, so when an employee shows signs of struggle, it’s in the best interest of the company to take action and find a way to rectify the issue.
Despite the fact that helping an employee get back to a strong performance level may seem like a logical step, according to an article from HR Morning, 29 percent of employees are afraid they could be laid off, a 2013 Gallup Survey reported.
As the article details, one strategy that HR and management take when dealing with workers who have not been meeting performance standards is to threaten them with termination. This approach can actually make the situation worse, rather than improving it.
So what steps can HR take to work through these difficult situations?
Skirting around the issue may only make it worse. It is recommended instead to address performance trouble head-on. Let the employee know exactly where he or she stands. An environment in which the worker is panicking about losing their job can actually cause performance to suffer even more.
It is up to HR to determine a workable solution for these problems. By using employee performance history, HR can see where things started to take a turn for the worse and determine what’s going on before taking drastic action like firing. Helping employees get back to a productive state will help improve retention rates.
To accurately track employee performance histories over time, a reliable HR system is needed. HR Software Solutions will help select and implement the HR system that works best for the unique needs of your company, ensuring that performance and other issues are handled as efficiently and effectively as possible.