Record the right things during a performance issue and find the rules that apply.
After the conversation with Ravi in lesson 5.3, When someone is falling short, his note was in his one-on-one document by that afternoon. Records like that are less common than they should be. When a performance problem goes on for weeks, many new managers look back and find very little to work with: a hazy recollection of something said in March (a made-up month for this example), a chat message that may or may not have raised the issue, and a pile of impressions. If things turn formal, or the person feels they were treated unfairly, impressions help neither of you.
Simple notes do the job best. Put a date beside what was expected, what actually happened and what the two of you agreed. If you already keep the shared one-on-one document from lesson 2.3, A shared document that makes each meeting count, you will find most of this is written down already. A complete set of notes on a performance issue has six parts:
the expectation, and the date you made it clear, pointing to the goals sheet or team expectations where it is written down dated examples of where the work fell short, described as facts and not as your opinion of them the person's account of why, kept close to the words they used the agreement you reached the support you put in place the date you will review progress
Give the person a copy, the same day if you can, the way Ravi's note went into his document that afternoon. A copy lets them correct anything they recall differently. It also shows them that nothing is being kept behind their back. If the matter is taken further, the copy is evidence that they knew about the problem and the plan.
When you choose your wording, imagine the notes being read out in a meeting with the person sitting there, since that could happen one day. Record facts and agreements only. Don't speculate about why someone behaved as they did, and don't comment on their personality. Health, family and private life stay out of the notes as well, unless they relate directly to an adjustment you have both agreed.
If there is an HR team or an HR person, go to them early. That means before any formal improvement process begins, and preferably as soon as you can see the problem will not sort itself out.
Going early helps in four ways. HR knows the company's performance management policy and the steps it requires. They may know things about the person's history, or about support the company provides, that you have never heard of. They can check your plan against the way similar cases were handled before, which bears directly on fairness. And if things end in a formal process or with the person leaving, HR will be part of it regardless, and it goes far better when they have been involved from the beginning.
Smaller companies often have no HR function. There, the owner, or the person who looks after employment matters, fills that role. Some small businesses use an external HR adviser instead, and you would go to that adviser.
When informal support has not worked, many companies move to a performance improvement plan (PIP), a written plan setting out specific targets, the support offered and a review period. Companies have different rules on when a PIP is used and what has to go in one, so your own company's policy decides. Never begin a PIP without HR.
What follows tells you where to look. It is not legal advice. Employment rules are revised from time to time, and your company's own policies may add steps.
TAFEP, the Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, is where you will find the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices, which help organisations adopt fair and merit-based employment practices. Under these guidelines, employers are expected to treat employees fairly and on merit, including in how they manage performance and how they reach decisions about people. Read them from start to finish once. TAFEP's website explains them in everyday language and gives examples.
Singapore has also passed a Workplace Fairness Act. Check the MOM and TAFEP websites for what it covers, when it comes into force and what it currently asks of an employer your size. This course leaves those details out on purpose, because they are likely to change.
For wider employment terms, such as notice periods and the legal requirements when someone's employment ends, start with the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) website. To find out what applies in your own workplace, look at your company's employment contracts and ask its HR team.
Fair treatment mostly comes down to consistency and evidence. If two people on your team miss the same kind of target, each should get the same kind of conversation and the same kind of support.
Base decisions on documented work. Getting on well with someone, seeing yourself in them, or hearing them speak up often in meetings are not grounds for a decision. If your team is multicultural, take extra care that you are judging the work itself. Someone's accent or way of communicating can colour how you rate them, and that is separate from their output.
Before any serious decision about someone's performance, picture another person reading your notes. Would they come to roughly the same view as you? If your answer relies on things that are not in the notes, either add those facts or think again about the decision.
Do this now, while nothing is urgent: find out where your company keeps its performance policy and who you would call about a problem like this. If there is no HR team, that will be the owner, whoever handles employment matters, or an external HR adviser.
Find your company's performance management policy, write down who to contact in HR, and bookmark the TAFEP and MOM pages on fair employment.
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