A robust process always gives you the right result
I was in a small meeting room and I breathed a big sigh of relief. Across from me was the head of a function – I will call him Jim. Jim and I had just finished negotiating a plan. Jim looked a little nervous but fairly happy. We both believed the plan was fair to him, to the function and the business.
Jim had been with the business well over 15 years and the business was now 50+ times bigger, and a lot more complex, than when Jim started. To make matters more complicated, Jim was related to the business owner and a “protected” individual.
The plan was a Performance Improvement Plan and had 5 or so key objectives aimed at helping Jim update his skills and his ability to led the function. He was in a fairly technical area that never stopped changing. Jim was well paid and poorly performing versus talent available in the market. I needed him to get to an okay level as a minimum.
Jim and I worked hard together. About halfway through the PIP, it became clear that Jim had a mountain to climb to reach the objectives we both thought were very achievable. Jim had slipped much further behind that I had thought.
The Outcome
At the end of 3 months, Jim had missed at least 3 of the key objectives, by quite some way. He had failed the PIP. Jim appealed, and one of the directors he has worked with for years reviewed the PIP, the results and all the examples and evidence. The director had to agree with the PIP findings – Jim had failed the PIP. They didn’t really have a choice. Even the business owner could say much when confronted with all the evidence. Jim left the business shortly after.
The point of sharing what happened with you, is to demonstrate even when a person is protected and a long standing employee, using a fair and structured system gets the right result for the team and business, every time. The team and business are always better off. In this case Jim, his team and the business were better off with Jim finding another job more suitable for his skills and recruiting a more able replacement to meet the needs of the growing business.
Use Our System
Use our system to remove six key barriers that stop most employees improving. Even when you don’t succeed in getting enough improvement, the system ensures that the right outcome for all concerned is reached AND you have all the examples and evidence to easily defend that outcome.
Join our How to Manage Difficult Employees course to learn all the skills you need resolve any people problems as quickly, easily and cheaply as practical. You, your team, your business and your career will be a lot better off.
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