By Megan Mayerle in HR —

Documenting Performance Issues

Managing poor performance is  key to running a productive lab and to being an effective faculty member. It can be an emotionally draining task, and also often quite frustrating. Here are some tips that can make the process more productive.

Please note that this is for mundane issues. In cases of severe misconduct (sexual harassment, data fabrication, theft, violence, etc.) contact HR immediately (and possibly public safety/security) and let them take over.

  1. Approach the situation from a factual perspective. Make a list for yourself of your expectations, the specific behaviors/actions that the poorly performing individual is doing (or not doing), and the action that would be required to fix the issue. If there are multiple issues, do this for each individual issue. For example:
    1. Expectation: regular attendance at lab meeting
    2. Employee action: employee missed the most recent lab meeting held yesterday [date] as well as a meeting 2 weeks ago [date].  
    3. Fix: Employee must attend, on time and in person, all lab meetings excepting in cases of illness or pre-approved vacation. Employees are expected to communicate any anticipated absences ASAP.
  2. Next, schedule a meeting with the employee to discuss the issue. Use email to schedule the meeting so you have a timestamped record, and mention, in a non-emotional way, what the topic of the meeting will be. For the above example, a subject line could be "attendance at lab meetings".
  3. Then, meet with the employee. Present your examples of the issue at hand, and state the desired solution to the issue. Ask the employee if there were any extenuating circumstances surrounding their behavior, and if there are, ask if the employee anticipates that these issues will be ongoing. Note what they say in writing.  Keep the conversation fully factual, and remain calm. Conclude the meeting with a statement of what your expectations are.
  4. After the meeting, send an email to the employee thanking them for meeting with you (note the date of the meeting), outlining what was discussed, and concluding with the proposed solution that the employee agreed to. 

Hopefully this level of intervention is sufficient, as miscommunications do happen and it is always good to give someone a chance to fix an issue. If not, immediately after the next transgression, send a follow-up email in reply to the email you previously sent summarizing the meeting where you addressed the performance issue. In this email note the date and time of the new transgression, note that it goes against what you previously agreed upon, and state that the behavior is unacceptable, and ask for an explanation. 

Also contact HR, sending them the documentation you have, and where you see this heading based on your experience with the employee. Ask for advice on how to proceed if the employee doesn't fix the behavior. Specifically request information on what the formal HR processes are. Sometimes HR groups will require establishment of a formal PIP, or Performance Improvement Plan. It can be very frustrating to be under the impression that you've already completed the equivalent of a PIP, but since the correct paperwork wasn't in place, it doesn't "count". There can also be a requirement for a "Formal Notification" or a "Warning". These are usually specific HR documents with templates that must be adhered to. Often HR units will require these documents to be in place before they are willing to proceed with a termination. 

Continue monitoring the situation, communicating both with the employee and with HR. If a behavior is repeated, phrase your email to the employee in a way that highlights the prevalence of the behavior." For example: "You were absent from lab meeting without explanation on [date]. We've discussed how lab meeting attendance is a requirement of your position on date, date, date, as you also missed lab meetings on [date, date, date, date]." Keep things factual. Note that HR often doesn't suggest any sort of course of action, it is on you to ask. If the employee is on a PIP or has been given a formal warning, be prompt in your communications with HR. "We've conversed about employee on [date, date, date], discussing employee's lack of attendance at lab meetings. We put the employee on a PIP on [date], however the behavior has continued. Due to the lack of progress in resolving this issue, I would like to move to terminate this employee. Please let me know what steps need to be taken and when I can notify the employee."

Many HR departments are risk-avoidant, and require documentation and efforts well beyond what will seem to you as necessary. It can be a very frustrating process. However, by learning what the process is and by documenting issues early and often, the process can proceed as smoothly as possible.