PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT POLICY
1
Purpose
ABMN requires a minimum standard of conduct and performance which will be made
clear to staff during their Probation period, informal feedback, and formal Performance
Review. If a staff member does not meet this standard, ABMN will take appropriate
corrective action. Formal performance improvement procedures will generally only start
when other corrective action fails.
Where warranted ABMN will use this process to improve performance. Should such
improvement process be unsuccessful in improving a staff member’s performance,
ABMN may decide to end a staff member’s employment in accordance with any
Employment Contract (where applicable). Depending on the circumstances,
performance improvement action may include verbal or written warnings, counselling or
retraining.
If a staff member deliberately breaches business policy or procedure, or engages in
misconduct, ABMN may start Disciplinary procedures, or, in cases of serious misconduct
or breach of policy, may dismiss a staff member.
2
Scope
This procedure is applicable to all staff engaged in the business including full time, part
time and contract staff. This document covers all staff except Casual Agency staff
where the Agency is expected to have appropriate human resource management.
Additional arrangements may be implemented for the Chief Executive Officer as
required.
3
Definitions
Staff member refers to both employees (full time, part time, casual) and contractors
engaged under an ABMN Consulting Services Agreement that undertake substantive
roles in the ABMN business.
Goals are a set of measurable objectives agreed between a staff member and their
Manager, usually on annual basis. Each goal should be specific (to one outcome area);
measurable; (achievable not unrealistic); relevant (to the person ability to influence) and
time based (i.e. have a start and end date). Some goals may have financial incentives
attached for that person.
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Responsibilities
4.1 Chief Executive Officer
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is responsible for reviewing disciplinary processes,
investigating (or appointing investigators) and where required, authorising the dismissal
of staff.
4.2 Department Managers
Department Managers are responsible for the review of a staff member’s performance
against agreed measures, coaching and providing feedback when the staff member is
not meeting the standard and determining action plans for performance improvements.
It is the responsibility of the Department Manager to document all steps in the
disciplinary process.
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Performance Counselling
5.1 General Overview
All discussions must be discrete and confidential. Nothing discussed with the staff
member should be a surprise as coaching should have taken place prior to counselling.
The staff member should have been educated as to the requirements of their role and/or
Company policies and procedures.
5.2 Initial Meeting
The first step in addressing a performance gap is for the manager of the staff to hold a
one on one coaching session with the intention of improving the staff members work
performance or behaviour. This step may involve the identification of a need for further
training or retraining or the disclosure of other reasons for the behaviour. If this step
does not lead to correction of the behaviour or improved work performance,
Performance Counselling will follow.
Performance Counselling meetings are required to:
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Identify gap/s in the staff member’s work performance or behaviour
Agree on an action plan to address the identified performance gap/s
Document the discussion and action plan, and
Set follow-up meetings to monitor the progress.
In the case of misconduct, counselling should involve discussing what the staff member
has allegedly done wrong and exploring the reasons for the behaviour. The standards of
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conduct that is required of the staff should be made clear. All performance deficiencies
must be identified and supported with specific examples/evidence.
In the case of poor performance, counselling and/or training may be appropriate. The
initial counselling session should attempt to discover the reasons for the poor
performance and if training or retraining is required. Other causes for poor performance
may be identified through the counselling session.
The manager will document the discussion and agreed Action Plan and provide the staff
member with a copy.
5.3 Follow up Performance Counselling Meeting
Where Performance Counselling is underway, it is important to continue to hold a follow
up meeting to review the progress against the agreed Action Plan, even if it is obvious
that the staff member’s work performance has improved. If improvement has occurred,
the follow up meeting will allow the staff member and the manager to formally close out
the matter and for the manager to provide positive feedback.
Where the staff member continues to demonstrate poor performance, the follow up
meeting will provide the forum to determine the next actions which may include a revised
Action Plan for further monitoring or moving to the Disciplinary Process.
The manager will document the meeting and provide a copy to the staff member.
6
Disciplinary Process
6.1 General Overview
If non-performance continues after performance counselling has occurred, the staff
member’s performance and/or behaviour may need to be addressed through the
disciplinary process.
Alternatively, breaches of Company policy may be deemed severe enough to constitute
an immediate progression to any step of the disciplinary process.
Prior to conducting any disciplinary discussion, the Department Manager must provide
the Human Resources Manager with a review of the evidence and documentation. This
will typically involve a collation of factual information to substantiate the need to issue the
staff member with a warning.
The disciplinary process is a graduated system of four steps which should be followed in
most situations.
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The four steps are:
Step
1
2
3
4
Activity
Verbal Warning
First Written Warning
Final Written Warning
Termination of Employment / Dismissal
Disciplinary discussions will:
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be timely,
be private and confidential,
be documented with signatures of all present,
include witnesses – a representative nominated by the staff member and/or a
company representative nominated by the manager. The witnesses must not be
acting as a legal representative.
define an action plan to ensure the situation does not re-occur,
involve a one on one follow up discussion with the manager and staff member no
later than two weeks after the initial meeting to discuss the staff member’s
progress, and
cease if a reasonable explanation for the poor conduct or poor performance is
provided.
6.2 Documented Warnings
All warnings, including verbal warnings, must be documented and include the following
details:
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state the problem and the corrective action required,
warn of the intended action (e.g.: written warning, termination) if the staff member
does not correct their behaviour,
refer to previous warnings and/or Performance Counselling session, and their
dates (if applicable),
refer to all those present when the discussion took place and give details of the
problem addressed,
be signed and dated by all those present at the discussion (if the staff member
refuses to sign the document this should be documented),
the original should be retained by the employer and a copy provided to the staff
member,
all final written warnings must clearly state that if the staff member’s performance
or conduct does not improve, the staff member will be terminated.
The manager should place the signed record of the warning on the staff
member’s personnel file following the Records Management procedure.
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6.3 Suspension from Employment
If a dismissible incident occurs and the relevant Department Manager or Human
Resources Manager are not available, or there is inadequate opportunity for proper
investigation or if the matter is such that on balance, it requires the staff member’s
immediate removal from the workplace, the staff member should be suspended from
work on full pay pending an inquiry and meeting with the Department Manager / Human
Resources Manager.
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Dismissal
Dismissal of a staff member will only be undertaken as a last resort action. Before
dismissing a staff member, the disciplinary action steps must have been carried out.
The exception to this occurs when there is a clear and substantiated case of serious
misconduct. In this situation ABMN may dismiss the staff member without notice.
7.1 Authorisation
Due to the legal ramifications associated with the incorrect management of the dismissal
process, the People and Culture Manager must issue the final authority to dismiss a staff
member. When seeking authorisation to take this step, the Department and Human
Resources Managers must present documented evidence that the disciplinary process
has been followed.
7.2 Documentation
Where the dismissal is the final step in the disciplinary process, correct and relevant
documentation of prior warnings must exist, be thorough and complete.
Details of the meeting will be provided to the staff member informing them of the meeting
date, time and venue and encourage them to bring a personal witness.
The company’s decision will be relayed verbally and in writing to the staff with company
witnesses present for all discussions. If dismissal is the outcome, the Payroll Officer will
be advised of the departure of the staff member and processing of full and final payment
of all monies owed will be made within 24 hours of the staff member’s dismissal.
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Document Control
The Human Resources Manager will co-ordinate the secure filing of documented
evidence to support Performance Management or Disciplinary process. Release of files
is to be activated by the People and Culture Manager.
8.1 References
Code of Conduct
Position Description
ABMN Competency Matrix
Record Management Procedure
8.2 Forms
The forms to be used with this procedure are:
Poor Performance Meeting Record
First / Second Warning Letter
Final Warning Letter
Termination of Employment
Summary Dismissal
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