You will know what to record during a performance issue and where to check the rules that apply.
When a performance problem drags on, many new managers find that their records are thin. There is a vague memory of a conversation in March, a chat message that might have mentioned it, and a lot of impressions. If the situation becomes formal, or the person disagrees with how they were treated, impressions are not much help to anyone.
This reading covers what to record during a performance issue, when to involve HR, and where in Singapore to check the rules that apply. Treat it as a map of where to look rather than legal advice, since employment rules change and your company's own policies may add steps.
The most useful record is the simplest one: dated notes of what was expected, what happened, and what was agreed. If you have been keeping the shared one-on-one document from lesson 2.3, A shared document that makes each meeting count, much of this already exists.
For a performance issue, make sure the notes cover the expectation and when it was communicated, with a reference to the goals sheet or team expectations if it's written there. They should hold the specific examples of the gap, each with a date and the facts rather than your judgement of them. Add the person's explanation, in their words as far as you can. Finish with what was agreed, the support you offered, and the review date.
Share the notes with the person. Ravi's note from lesson 5.3, When someone is falling short, went into his one-on-one document the same afternoon. Sharing gives the person a chance to correct anything they remember differently. It makes clear there are no secret files. And if the matter ever goes further, it shows the person knew about the problem and the plan.
Write the notes as you would want them read aloud in a room with the person present, because one day they might be, and stick to facts and agreements. Leave out guesses about motives, comments about personality, and anything about their health, family or private life unless it directly relates to an agreed adjustment.
If your company has an HR team or an HR person, talk to them early: before you start any formal improvement process, and ideally soon after you realise a problem is not going away on its own.
There are good reasons for this. HR will know your company's performance management policy and what steps it requires. They may know about the person's history, or about support the company can offer that you don't know exists. They can tell you whether your plan is consistent with how similar cases were handled, which matters for fairness. And if the situation becomes a formal process or ends in the person leaving, HR will be involved anyway, and it is much better for them to have been there from the start.
In a small company without HR, the owner or whoever handles employment matters plays this role. Some small businesses use an external HR adviser.
Many companies use a formal performance improvement plan, often called a PIP, when informal support hasn't worked. It sets out specific targets, support and a review period in writing. Policies on when to use one and what it must contain differ between companies, so follow yours, and don't start one without HR.
The Tripartite Alliance for Fair and Progressive Employment Practices, known as TAFEP, publishes the Tripartite Guidelines on Fair Employment Practices. They set out the expectation that employers treat employees fairly and on merit, and that covers how performance is managed and how decisions about people are reached. They are worth reading in full once, and TAFEP's website explains them in plain language with examples.
Singapore has also passed a Workplace Fairness Act. Check MOM's and TAFEP's websites for what it covers, when it takes effect, and what it currently requires of employers your size, because those details are exactly the kind that change and that this course will not try to summarise.
For employment terms more broadly, such as notice periods and what the law requires when employment ends, the Ministry of Manpower's website is the starting point. Your company's HR team and its employment contracts will tell you what applies in your workplace.
Fair treatment is mostly about consistency and evidence. If two people on your team miss the same kind of target, they should get the same kind of conversation and the same kind of support. Decisions should rest on the documented work, not on who you get on with, who reminds you of yourself, or who speaks up most in meetings. In a multicultural team, be especially careful that your judgements are about the work. Sometimes one person's communication style or accent shapes how you rate them, and that is not the same as their output.
A simple test before any serious decision about someone's performance is this: if someone else read your notes, would they reach roughly the same view? If the answer depends on things you haven't written down, either write them down or reconsider the decision.
Before you need any of this in a hurry, find out where your own company's policy lives and who you would call.
Find your company's performance management policy, note who in HR to contact, and bookmark the TAFEP and MOM pages on fair employment.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).