Managing Employee Performance

 A Dilemma

You have been the store manager for a large coffee shop for three years but have never had this type of problem employee to handle before, and you schedule a meeting to speak with your HR manager about it. Jake, one of your best employees, has recently begun to have some problems. He is showing up to work late at least twice per week, and he missed the mandatory employee meeting on Saturday morning. When you ask him about it, he says that he is having some personal problems and will try to get better.

For a bit of time, Jake does get better, comes to work on time, and is his normal, pleasant self when helping customers. However, the situation gets more serious two weeks later when Jake comes to work smelling of alcohol and wearing the same clothes he wore to work the day before. You overhear some of the employees talking about Jake’s drinking problem. You pull Jake aside and ask him what is happening. He says his wife kicked him out of the house last night and he stayed with a friend, but he didn’t have time to gather any of his belongings when he left his house. You accept his answer and hope that things will get better.

A week later, when Jake arrives for his 10–7 shift, he is obviously drunk. He is talking and laughing loudly, smells of alcohol, and has a hard time standing up. You pull him aside and decide to have a serious talk with him. You confront him about his drinking problem, but he denies it, saying he isn’t drunk, just tired from everything happening with his wife. You point out the smell and the inability to stand up, and Jake starts crying and says he quit drinking ten years ago but has recently started again with his impending divorce. He begs for you to give him another chance and promises to stop drinking. You tell him you will think about it, but in the meantime, you send him home.

The meeting with HR is this afternoon and you feel nervous. You want to do what is right for Jake, but you also know this kind of disruptive behavior can’t continue. You like Jake as a person and he is normally a good employee, so you don’t want to fire him. When you meet with the HR manager, he discusses your options. The options, he says, are based on a discipline process developed by HR, and the process helps to ensure that the firing of an employee is both legal and fair. As you review the process, you realize that ignoring the behavior early on has an effect on what you can do now. Since you didn’t warn Jake earlier, you must formally document his behavior before you can make any decision to let him go. You hope that Jake can improve so it doesn’t come down to that.

Handling Performance

Learning Objectives

1.	Explain the types of performance issues that occur in the workplace, and the internal and external reasons for poor performance.
2.	Understand how to develop a process for handling employee performance issues.
3.	Be able to discuss considerations for initiating layoffs or downsizing.

As you know from reading this book so far, the time and money investment in a new employee is overwhelming. The cost to select, hire, and train a new employee is staggering. But what if that new employee isn’t working out? This next section will provide some examples of performance issues and examples of processes to handle these types of employee problems

Types of Performance Issues

One of the most difficult parts of managing others isn’t when they are doing a great job it is when they aren’t doing a good job. In this section, we will address some examples of performance issues and how to handle them.

1.	Constantly late or leaves early. While we know that flexible schedules can provide a work life balance, managing this flexible schedule is key. Some employees may take advantage and, instead of working at home, perform nonwork related tasks instead.
2.	Too much time spent doing personal things at work. Most companies have a policy about using a computer or phone for personal use. For most companies, some personal use is fine, but it can become a problem if someone doesn’t know where to draw the line.
3.	Inability to handle proprietary information. Many companies handle important client and patient information. The ability to keep this information private for the protection of others is important to the success of the company.
4.	Family issues. Child care issues, divorce, or other family challenges can cause absenteeism, but also poor work quality. Absenteeism is defined as a habitual pattern of not being at work.
5.	Drug and alcohol abuse. The US Department of Labor says that 40 percent of industrial fatalities and 47 percent of industrial injury can be tied to alcohol consumption. The US Department of Labor estimates that employees who use substances are 25–30 percent less productive and miss work three times more often than nonabusing employees (US Department of Labor, 2011). Please keep in mind that when we talk about substance abuse, we are talking about not only illegal drugs but prescription drug abuse as well. In fact, the National Institute on Drug Abuse says that 15.2 million Americans have taken a prescription pain reliever, tranquilizer, or sedative for nonmedical purposes at least once (Fisher, 2011). Substance abuse can cause obvious problems, such as tardiness, absenteeism, and nonperformance, but it can also result in accidents or other more serious issues.
6.	Nonperforming. Sometimes employees are just not performing at their peak. Some causes may include family or personal issues, but oftentimes it can mean motivational issues or lack of tools and/or ability to do their current job.
7.	Conflicts with management or other employees. While it is normal to have the occasional conflict at work, some employees seem to have more than the average owing to personality issues. Of course, this affects an organization’s productivity
8.	Theft. The numbers surrounding employee theft are staggering. The American Marketing Association estimates $10 billion is lost annually owing to employee theft, while the FBI estimates up to $150 billion annually1. Obviously, this is a serious employee problem that must be addressed
9.	Ethical breaches. The most commonly reported ethical breaches by employees include lying, withholding information, abusive behavior, and misreporting time or hours worked, according to a National Business Ethics study2. Sharing certain proprietary information when it is against company policy and violating noncompete agreements are also considered ethical violations. Many companies also have a nonfraternization policy that restricts managers from socializing with nonmanagement employees.
10.	Harassment. Engagement of sexual harassment, bullying, or other types of harassment would be considered an issue to be dealt with immediately and, depending on the severity, may result in immediate termination.
11.	Employee conduct outside the workplace. Speaking poorly of the organization on blogs or Facebook is an example of conduct occurring outside the workplace that could violate company policy. Violating specific company policies outside work could also result in termination. For example, in 2010, thirteen Virgin Atlantic employees were fired after posting criticisms about customers and joking about the lack of safety on Virgin airplanes in a public Facebook group (Smith, 2010). In another example, an NFL Indianapolis Colts cheerleader was fired after racy Playboy promotional photos surfaced (before she became a cheerleader) that showed her wearing only body paint (Chandler, 2011).

While certainly not exhaustive, this list provides some insight into the types of problems that may be experienced. As you can see, some of these problems are more serious than others. Some issues may only require a warning, while some may require immediate dismissal. As an HR professional, it is your job to develop policies and procedures for dealing with such problems. Let’s discuss these next.

Fortune 500 Focus

To handle attendance problems at many organizations, a no fault attendance plan is put into place. In this type of plan, employees are allowed a certain number of absences; when they exceed that number, a progressive discipline process begins and might result in dismissal of the employee. A no-fault attendance policy means there are no excused or unexcused absences, and all absences count against an employee. For example, a company might give one point for an absence that is called in the night before work, a half point for a tardy, and two points for a no call and no show absence. When an employee reaches a certain number determined by the company, he or she is disciplined. This type of policy is advantageous in industries in which unplanned absences have a direct effect on productivity, such as manufacturing and production. Another advantage is that managers do not need to make judgment calls on what is an excused versus an unexcused absence, and this can result in fairness to all employees.

One such company with a no-fault attendance policy is Verizon Communications. However, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) investigated this policy and announced that Verizon will pay $20 million to resolve a disability discrimination lawsuit (Evans, 2011). The lawsuit said that the company, through use of the no fault attendance policy, denied reasonable accommodations required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). As a result, hundreds of Verizon employees were disciplined or fired. In this case, the EEOC cites paid or unpaid leave as one way for an employer to provide reasonable accommodations for an employee with a disability. The policy specified there would be no exceptions made to the no-fault attendance policy to accommodate employees with ADA disabilities. When discussing the case, the EEOC chair justified the agency’s position by saying, “Flexibility on leave can enable a worker with a disability to remain employed and productive, a win for the worker, employer, and the economy. By contrast, an inflexible leave policy may deny workers with disabilities a reasonable accommodation” (Evans, 2011). Part of the settlement also involved additional training to Verizon employees on ADA and how to administer the attendance plan. This successful lawsuit shows that even the most seemingly clear performance expectations must be flexible to meet legal obligations.

Human Resource Recall

What would you do if you saw a coworker taking a box of pens home from the office?

What Influences Performance?

When an employee isn’t performing as expected, it can be very disapointing. When you consider the amount of time it takes to recruit, hire, and train someone, it can be disappointing to find that a person has performance issues. Sometimes performance issues can be related to something personal, such as drug or alchol abuse, but often it is a combination of factors. Some of these factors can be internal while others may be external. Internal factors may include the following :

1. Career goals are not being met with the job.

2. There is conflict with other employees or the manager.

3. The goals or expectations are not in line with the employee’s abilities.

4. The employee views unfairness in the workplace.

5. The employee manages time poorly.

6. The employee is dissatisfied with the job.

Some of the external factors may include the following :

1. The employee doesn’t have correct equipment or tools to perform the job.

2. The job design is incorrect.

3. External motivation factors are absent.

4. There is a lack of management support.

5. The employee’s skills and job are mismatched

All the internal reasons speak to the importance once again of hiring the right person to begin with. The external reasons may be something that can be easily addressed and fixed. Whether the reason is internal or external, performance issues must be handled in a timely manner. This is addressed in Section 10.1.3 “Defining Discipline”. We discuss performance issues in greater detail in Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment”.

Defining Discipline

If an employee is not meeting the expectations, discipline might need to occur. Discipline is defined as the process that corrects undesirable behavior. The goal of a discipline process shouldn’t necessarily be to punish, but to help the employee meet performance expectations. Often supervisors choose not to apply discipline procedures because they have not documented past employee actions or did not want to take the time to handle the situation. When this occurs, the organization lacks consistency among managers, possibility resulting in motivational issues for other employees and loss of productivity.

To have an effective discipline process, rules and policies need to be in place and communicated so all employees know the expectations. Here are some guidelines on creation of rules and organizational policies :

1.	All rules or procedures should be in a written document
2.	Rules should be related to safety and productivity of the organization.
3.	Rules should be written clearly, so no ambiguity occurs between different managers.
4.	Supervisors, managers, and human resources should communicate rules clearly in orientation, training, and via other methods.
5.	Rules should be revised periodically, as the organization’s needs change.

Of course, there is a balance between too many “rules” and giving employees freedom to do their work. However, the point of written rules is to maintain consistency. Suppose, for example, you have a manager in operations and a manager in marketing. They both lead with a different style; the operations manager has a more rigid management style, while the marketing manager uses more of a laissez-faire approach. Suppose one employee in each of the areas is constantly late to work. The marketing manager may not do anything about it, while the operations manager may decide each tardy day merits a “write-up,” and after three write-ups, the employee is let go. See how lack of consistency might be a problem? If this employee is let go, he or she might be able to successfully file a lawsuit for wrongful termination, since another employee with the same performance issue was not let go. Wrongful termination means an employer has fired or laid off an employee for illegal reasons, such as violation of antidiscrimination laws or violation of oral and/or written employee agreements. To avoid such situations, a consistent approach to managing employee performance is a crucial part of the human resources job.

The Role of the Performance Appraisal in Discipline

Besides the written rules, each individual job analysis should have rules and policies that apply to that specific job. We discuss performance appraisal in further detail in Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment”, but it is worth a mention here as well. The performance appraisal is a systematic process to evaluate employees on (at least) an annual basis. The organization’s performance appraisal and general rules and policies should be the tools that measure the employee’s overall performance. If an employee breaks the rules or does not meet expectations of the performance appraisal, the performance issue model, which we will discuss next, can be used to correct the  behavior.

Performance Issue Model

Because of the many varieties of performance issues, we will not discuss how to handle each type in detail here. Instead, we present a model that can be used to develop policies around performance, for fairness and consistency.

We can view performance issues in one of five areas. First, the mandated issue is serious and must be addressed immediately. Usually, the mandated issue is one that goes beyond the company and could be a law. Examples of mandated issues might include an employee sharing information that violates privacy laws, not following safety procedures, or engaging in sexual harassment. For example, let’s say a hospital employee posts something on his Facebook page that violates patient privacy. This would be considered a mandated issue (to not violate privacy laws) and could put the hospital in serious trouble. These types of issues need to be handled swiftly. A written policy detailing how this type of issue would be handled is crucial. In our example above, the policy may state that the employee is immediately fired for this type of violation. Or, it may mean this employee is required to go through privacy training again and is given a written warning. Whatever the result, developing a policy on how mandated issues will be handled is important for consistency.

The second performance issue can be called a single incident. Perhaps the employee misspeaks and insults some colleagues or perhaps he or she was over budget or late on a project. These types of incidents are usually best solved with a casual conversation to let the employee know what he or she did wasn’t appropriate. Consider this type of misstep a development opportunity for your employee. Coaching and working with the employee on this issue can be the best way to nip this problem before it gets worse.

Often when single incidents are not immediately corrected, they can evolve into a behavior pattern, which is our third type of performance issue. This can occur when the employee doesn’t think the incident is a big deal because he hasn’t been correct before or may not even realize his is doing something wrong. In this case, it’s important to talk with the employee and let him know what is expected.

If the employee has been corrected for a behavior pattern but continues to exhibit the same behavior, we call this a persistent pattern. Often you see employees correct the problem after an initial discussion but then fall back into old habits. If they do not self-correct, it could be they do not have the training or the skills to perform the job. In this phase of handling performance issues, it is important to let the employee know that the problem is serious and further action will be taken if it continues. If you believe the employee just doesn’t have the skills or knowledge to perform the job, asking him or her about this could be helpful to getting to the root of the problem as well. If the employee continues to be nonperforming, you may consider utilizing the progressive discipline process before initiating an employee separation. However, investigating the performance issue should occur before implementing any sort of discipline.

Investigation of Performance Issues

When an employee is having a performance issue, often it is our responsibility as HR professionals to investigate the situation. Training managers on how to document performance failings is the first step in this process. Proper documentation is necessary should the employee need to be terminated later for the performance issue. The documentation should include the following information :

1. Date of incident

2. Time of incident

3. Location (if applicable) of incident

4. A description of the performance issue

5. Notes on the discussion with the employee on the performance issue

6. An improvement plan, if necessary

7. Next steps, should the employee commit the same infraction

8. Signatures from both the manager and employee

With this proper documentation, the employee and the manager will clearly know the next steps that will be taken should the employee commit the infraction in the future. Once the issue has been documented, the manager and employee should meet about the infraction. This type of meeting is called an investigative interview and is used to make sure the employee is fully aware of the discipline issue. This also allows the employee the opportunity to explain his or her side of the story. These types of meetings should always be conducted in private, never in the presence of other employees.

In unionized organizations, however, the employee is entitled to union representation at the investigative interview. This union representation is normally called interest based bargaining referring to a National Labor Relations Board case that went to the United States Supreme Court in 1975. Recently, Weingarten rights continued to be protected when Alonso and Carus Ironworks was ordered to cease and desist from threatening union representatives who attempted to represent an employee during an investigative interview (National Labor Relations Board, 2011).

Options for Handling Performance Issues

Our last phase of dealing with employee problems would be a disciplinary intervention. Often this is called the progressive discipline process. It refers to a series of steps taking corrective action on nonperformance issues. The progressive discipline process is useful if the offense is not serious and does not demand immediate dismissal, such as employee theft. The progressive discipline process should be documented and applied to all employees committing the same offenses. The steps in progressive discipline normally are the following :

1.	First offense: Unofficial verbal warning. Counseling and restatement of expectations
2.	Second offense: Official written warning, documented in employee file.
3.	Third offense: Second official warning. Improvement plan (discussed later) may be developed. Documented in employee file
4.	Fourth offense: Possible suspension or other punishment, documented in employee file.
5.	Fifth offense: Termination and/or alternative dispute resolution.

University of Iowa’s Progressive Discipline Process

The chart below shows the typical progressive discipline process at the University of Iowa :

Counseling and  Restatement of Expectations	Counseling and Restatement of Expectations Counseling by the immediate supervisor is the initial step to mentor or coach performance.
	-	Meet with the staff member and affirm expectations regarding performance.
	-	Discuss the performance deficit or behavioral concern.
	-	Provide a timeline and resources for improvement
	-	Report consequences for no improvement.
	-	Document for an anecdotal file.
Written Reprimand		Written Reprimand At this time, the immediate supervisor may want to consult a Human Resources representative. After an investigation, follow the procedure outline above for the counseling process, with the exception of providing documentation to the employee in a letter of reprimand. The letter should outline previous informal efforts and the current problem. Send copies of the signed letter to the department personnel file, proper University authority, and the respective Union, if applicable.
Short Suspension (or Equivalent)* Long Suspension (or Equivalent)*		Suspension or Equivalent Fully investigate the concern, followed by discussion with the employee. Summarize previous progressive discipline and the current problem, and specify the timeframe for suspension in writing. Identify further discipline and possible termination as a potential consequence for not meeting and maintaining standards for improvement. Provide copies as for the written reprimand.
Termination		Termination Termination may be necessary when discipline is not successful in improving performance. Review the work history and record of progressive discipline with proper University authority. Schedule a final meeting with the employee and conduct a meeting at which a letter of termination is provided. If necessary, the termination notice may be sent via certified mail. Provide copies as for previous disciplinary measures

*Salary reduction cannot be imposed on professional and scientific and faculty staff, due to union contracts

The Seven Tests of Just Cause

The seven test[s] of just cause represent a practical and effective way to determine whether a proposed disciplinary action is firmly and fairly grounded. It is fair to assume that these tests will be applied by arbitrators in the event that disciplinary actions are challenged, and it is therefore good practice to apply them prospectively when considering the imposition of progressive discipline.

Seven tests :

1.	Notice
	-	Prior to imposition of discipline, employee must have notice of rules and expectations.
	-	Establish through:
		-	New employee orientation
			-	Orientation checklists
			-	Receipts for departmental handbooks
		-	Periodic reinforcement/coaching
2.	Reasonable Rules and Orders
	-	Cannot be inconsistent with collective bargaining agreement(s)
	-	Cannot be arbitrary or capricious
	-	Must be reasonably related to business necessity
3.	Investigation
	-	Must be thorough; consider all evidence, pro and con.
	-	Must be timely:
		-	Should be completed expeditiously
		-	Occurs before discipline imposed
	-	Give accused opportunity to respond (Loudermill hearing).
	-	Allow union representation (Weingarten rights).
4.	Fair Investigation
	-	Result must not be forgone conclusion.
	-	Test assumptions/bias.
5.	Proof
	-	Level of proof is normally substantial evidence.
	-	Greater proof required for more serious allegations.
6.	Equal Treatment
	Equal treatment must be balanced against just application:
	-	Rules must be applied even-handedly and without discrimination.
	-	Rules must be applied justly.
	-	Don’t blindly apply the same rule to all situations—managers/supervisors are expected to exercise judgment
7.	Penalty
	-	Must be fair, not arbitrary and capricious, or based on emotional response
	-	Factor in length of service, prior performance history, and previous progressive discipline

Source: Reprinted from the University of Iowa’s Office of the Vice President for Research, http://research.uiowa.edu/ pimgr/?get=discipline and http://research.uiowa.edu/pimgr/?get=7steps (accessed September 15, 2011).

Another option for handling continued infractions is to consider putting the employee on an improvement plan, which outlines the expectations and steps the employee should take to improve performance. We address this in greater detail in Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment”. The plan is detailed and outlined and ensures both parties understand the specific expectations for improvement. If the improvement plan does not work, a progressive discipline process might be used.

Whichever direction is taken with disciplining of the employee, documentation is key throughout the process to avoid wrongful termination issues.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Another option in handling disputes, performance issues, and terminations is alternative dispute resolution (ADR). This method can be effective in getting two parties to come to a resolution. In ADR, an unbiased third party looks at the facts in the case and tries to help the parties come to an agreement. In mediation, the third party facilitates the resolution process, but the results of the process are not binding for either party. This is different from arbitration, in which a person reviews the case and makes a resolution or a decision on the situation. The benefits of ADR are lower cost and flexibility, as opposed to taking the issue to court. We discuss these types of systems in greater detail in Chapter 12 “Working with Labor Unions”.

Some organizations use a step-review system. In this type of system, the performance issue is reviewed by consecutively higher levels of management, should there be disagreement by the employee in a discipline procedure. Some organizations also implement a peer resolution system. In this type of system, a committee of management and employees is formed to review employee complaints or discipline issues. In this situation, the peer review system normally involves the peer group reviewing the documentation and rendering a decision. Another type of ADR is called the ombudsman system. In this system, a person is selected (or elected) to be the designated individual for employees to go to should they have a complaint or an issue with a discipline procedure. In this situation, the ombudsman utilizes problem-solving approaches to resolve the issue. For example, at National Geographic Traveler Magazine an ombudsman handles employee complaints and issues and also customer complaints about travel companies.

Example of Mediation in Action

This longer video shows an example of dispute mediation between two employees.

Employee Separation

Employee separation can occur in any of these scenarios. First, the employee resigns and decides to leave the organization. Second, the employee is terminated for one or more of the performance issues listed previously. Lastly, absconding is when the employee decides to leave the organization without resigning and following the normal process. For example, if an employee simply stops showing up to work without notifying anyone of his or her departure, this would be considered absconding. Let’s discuss each of these in detail. Employee separation costs can be expensive, as we learned in Chapter 7 “Retention and Motivation”. In the second quarter in 2011, for example, Halliburton reported $8 million in employee separation costs (Lemaire, 2011).

Employee Separations and Layoffs

Resignation means the employee chooses to leave the organization. First, if an employee resigns, normally he or she will provide the manager with a formal resignation e-mail. Then the HR professional usually schedules an exit interview, which can consist of an informal confidential discussion as to why the employee is leaving the organization. If HR thinks the issue or reasons for leaving can be fixed, he or she may discuss with the manager if the resignation will be accepted. Assuming the resignation is accepted, the employee will work with the manager to determine a plan for his or her workload. Some managers may prefer the employee leave right away and will redistribute the workload. For some jobs, it may make sense for the employee to finish the current project and then depart. This will vary from job to job, but two weeks’ notice is normally the standard time for resignations.

If it is determined an employee should be terminated, different steps would be taken than in a resignation. First, documentation is necessary, which should have occurred in the progressive discipline process. Performance appraisals, performance improvement plans, and any other performance warnings the employee received should be readily available before meeting with the employee. It should be noted that the reliability and validity of performance appraisals should be checked before dismissing an employee based upon them. Questionable performance appraisals come from the real-world conditions common to rating situations, particularly because of limitations in the abilities of the raters (Weekley, 1989). Reliability and validity of performance appraisals are discussed in detail in Chapter 11 “Employee Assessment”.

Remember that if the discipline process is followed as outlined prior, a termination for nonperformance should never be a surprise to an employee. Normally, the manager and HR manager would meet with the employee to deliver the news. It should be delivered with compassion but be direct and to the point. Depending on previous contracts, the employee may be entitled to a severance package. A severance package can include pay, benefits, or other compensation for which an employee is entitled when they leave the organization. The purpose of a severance plan is to assist the employee while he or she seeks other employment. The HR professional normally develops this type of package in conjunction with the manager. Some considerations in developing a severance package (preferably before anyone is terminated) might include the following :

1.	How the severance will be paid (i.e., lump sum or in x equal increments)
2.	Which situations will pay a severance and which will not. For example, if an employee is terminated for violation of a sexual harassment policy, is a severance still paid?
3.	A formula for how severance will be paid, based on work group, years with the organization, etc.
4.	Legal documents, such as legal releases and noncompete agreements
5.	How accrued vacation and/or sick leave will be paid, if at all

The last topic that we should discuss in this section is the case of an absconded employee. If an employee stops showing up to work, a good effort to contact this person should be the first priority. If after three days this person has not been reachable and has not contacted the company, it would be prudent to stop pay and seek legal help to recover any company items he or she has, such as laptops or parking passes.

Sometimes rather than dealing with individual performance issues and/or terminations, we find ourselves having to perform layoffs of several to hundreds of employees. Let’s address your role in this process next.

Rightsizing and Layoffs

Rightsizing refers to the process of reducing the total size of employees, to ultimately save on costs. Downsizing ultimately means the same thing as rightsizing, but the usage of the word has changed in that rightsizing seems to define the organization’s goals better, which would be to reduce staff to save money, or rightsize. When a company decides to rightsize and, ultimately, engage in layoffs, some aspects should be considered.

First, is the downturn temporary? There is nothing worse than laying people off, only to find that as business increases, you need to hire again. Second, has the organization looked at other ways to cut expenses? Perhaps cutting expenses in other areas would be advisable before choosing to lay people off. Finally, consideration should be given to offering temporary sabbaticals, voluntary retirement, or changing from a full to part time position. Some employees may even be willing to take a temporary pay cut to reduce costs. Organizations find they can still keep good people by looking at some alternatives that may work for the employee and the organization, even on a temporary basis

If the company has decided the only way to reduce costs is to cut full-time employees, this is often where HR should be directly involved to ensure legal and ethical guidelines are met. Articulating the reasons for layoffs and establishing a formalized approach to layoffs is the first consideration. Before it is decided who should get cut, criteria should be developed on how these decisions will be made. Similar to how selection criteria might be developed, the development of criteria that determines which jobs will be cut makes the process of cutting more fair, albeit still difficult. Establishing the criteria ahead of time can also help avoid managers’ trying to “save” certain people from their own departments. After development of criteria, the next phase would be to sit down with management and decide who does or doesn’t meet the criteria and who will be laid off. At this point, before the layoffs happen, it makes sense to discuss severance packages. Usually, when an employee signs for a severance package, the employee should also sign a form (the legal department can help with this) that releases the organization from all future claims made by the employee.

After criteria have been developed, people selected, and severance packages determined, it’s key to have a solid communication plan as to how the layoffs will be announced. Usually, this involve an initial e mail to all employees, letting them know of impending layoffs. Speak with each employee separately, then announce which positions were eliminated. The important thing to remember during layoffs is keeping your employees’ dignity; they did not do anything wrong to lose their job it was just a result of circumstances.

Announcing Layoffs

We know that communicating a layoff announcement is important. This video, starring Kermit the Frog, is a good example of how not to announce layoffs even on Sesame Street.

Key Takeways
-	Performance issues in the workplace are common. Examples of performance issues might include constant tardiness, too much time at work handling personal issues, mishandling of proprietary information, family issues, drug and alcohol problems, nonperformance, theft, or conflicts in the workplace.
-	Employees choose to leave organizations for internal and external reasons. Some of these may include a mismatch of career goals, conflict, too high expectations, time-management issues, and mismatch of job and skills.
-	HR professionals should develop a set of policies that deal with performance issues in the workplace. The advantage of having such a policy is that it can eliminate wrongful termination legal action.
-	A mandated issue is usually one that deals with safety or legal issues that go beyond the workplace. An infringement of this type of issue requires immediate attention
-	A single incident may include a misstep of the employee, and he or she should immediately be spoken with to ensure it doesn’t happen again
-	A behavior pattern occurs when an employee consistently exhibits a performance issue. This type of issue should be discussed with the employee and plans taken, such as more training, to ensure it does not continue. A persistent pattern occurs when an employee consistently exhibits a performance issue and does not improve, despite HR’s talking with him or her.
-	At some point during the persistent pattern, disciplinary action will likely need to be taken. It is important to develop consistent procedures on how to record and handle disciplinary issues. Most employers use a progressive discipline process to accomplish this goal.
-	Employee separation occurs in one of three ways. First, the employee resigns from the organization. Second, the employee is terminated for performance issues, and third, an employee absconds. Absconds means the employee abandons his or her job without submitting a formal resignation
-	In some cases, a severance package may be offered to the employee upon his or her departure from the organization.
-	Rightsizing is a term used when an organization must cut costs through layoffs of employees. Development of criteria for layoffs, communication, and severance package discussion are all parts of this process.

Exercises
1.	What are some considerations before developing a severance package? What are the advantages of offering A severance package to your departing employees?
2.	What are some common performance issues? What is HR’s role in handling these issues?
3.	What process should you use to initiate layoffs?

References

Chandler, R., “Ex-Colts Cheerleader Sues Team Over Dismissal for Playboy Pics,” NBC Sports, May 11, 2011,accessed August 1, 2011, http://offthebench.nbcsports.com/2011/05/11/ex-colts-cheerleader-sues-team-overdismissal-for-playboy-pics/.

Evans, J., “EEOC Finds Fault with Company’s No Fault Attendance Plan,” Zanesville Times, July 17, 2011,accessed August 1, 2011, http://www.businessmanagementdaily.com/19860/eeoc-finds-fault-with-no-faultattendance-policies.

Fisher, B., “Targeting Prescription Drug Abuse,” Ventura County Star, March 6, 2011, accessed March 8, 2011, http://www.vcstar.com/news/2011/mar/06/targeting-prescription-drug-abuse/.

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