In October’s HR clinic, Robyn Clark (aka JacksonR) and Susi O’Brien (HR Help advisor) explored how to address performance issues within general practice.

Here is a summary of the questions we received, and the answers given.

Performance managing in regard to capability rather than conduct and how to evidence this?

We’re talking here about the can’t do versus the won’t do. If the employee has all the skills and abilities necessary to do the job, but is just choosing not to do it, then it’s a conduct issue and should fall under your disciplinary policy. However, if there’s an element of being unable to do it – i.e., not having had the right training or lacking the skills or ability to do the role – then it’s performance and should be managed as such.

An example I always used to get when I worked in HR was managers wanting to performance manage staff for lateness. Being on time isn’t a skill – you don’t need training to be shown how to turn up on time. There may be some instances where problems with time management are connected to a disability such as ADHD, but they’re relatively unusual. Lateness is normally a conduct issue, whereas, for example, struggling to follow a procedure or protocol due to a lack of understanding would be a performance issue.

How you evidence it would involve discussions with the employee; you need to ask them why they aren’t performing at the appropriate level. If they highlight something like a lack of training or not feeling they have the skills then it’s performance. If they don’t know why and give you the impression it’s of their own choosing, then you can explain that you feel this is a conduct issue.

How do you manage staff who seem to have a negative influence on others through gossip or just seem to have a negative demeanour? Also managing assertive/aggressive senior members of the team?

Behaviour like this, to me, isn’t a performance issue – it’s conduct. Gossiping or a generally bad attitude isn’t an issue of training – these are personality traits and chosen behaviours. It’s the issue of can’t versus won’t again. I would manage this through the disciplinary process. The issue with senior staff coming across as being overly assertive or aggressive could be down to training though. Some people act differently in leadership roles if they haven’t had training and don’t feel equipped to act in this scenario – and when nervous they can come across in this way. I would treat this like any other aspect of performance – highlight the issue, explore potential reasons for it, encourage the employee to reflect on it, offer support or training, and clarify what you expect them to do – or what culture you want them to enforce.

How do you move from informal discussions with employees about performance to formal discussions?

The formal part of the process needs to be treated as exactly that – not a brief conversation, but with a formal invitation to a meeting to discuss the performance issues. This shouldn’t have come out of the blue, however; within your informal discussions, you should have made it clear that if performance didn’t improve, then a formal process might need to commence. At a formal meeting, staff should also be offered the opportunity to be represented by a colleague or trade union rep. The invitation to the meeting should be made in writing, giving appropriate notice, and it should make reference to your practice policy (ideally enclosing a copy with the letter).

How do you structure the discussion around performance management?

Start off by remembering that this process is about improving performance, not punishing people for not doing something right. The aim should be to get the employee up to the required standard. We want our staff to do well and excel in their jobs, so go into it trying to think positively.

You need to start by identifying the issues, giving specific examples. Don’t be woolly or cagey about the problem as the employee won’t be able to do anything about it. So, for example: “I’ve noticed that your activity in the team is quite a bit less than your colleagues’ activity. On average, they process about ten documents an hour, but on doing an audit, your average is around five.” Avoid comments like, “You’re just slower than everyone else.”

Once identified, ask the employee why they think this is happening. They may need a bit of prodding if they’re not very forthcoming. So, ask questions like: do you enjoy the job, do you feel you need any training, do you understand the process, do you feel you need additional support, and so on. Listen to their answers and take them on board.

Try to come up with a plan of action for both of you to implement. That might be you agreeing to arrange some additional training or mentoring, or investing in some equipment. They need to commit to what they’re willing to do to improve – whether that’s attending a training course or using the tools provided.

Then you set the expectations, and you need to be clear on these. They need to understand what good performance looks like and what you’ll be measuring their performance against. Finish the conversation with this, but also make it clear that if the expectation isn’t met within a defined time period, you may need to move to the next stage of your performance management policy.

No matter what stage you’re at, this is a good structure for those conversations.

What do you do if a staff member doesn’t want to retire but they keep making mistakes and aren’t performing as well as you need them to?

The removal of the ability to enforce retirement at a particular age has left many employers in this situation. Whilst it should never be assumed that anyone over 65 should be put out to pasture, so to speak, as many over 65s are still fully capable of working, the “easy way out” for situations like these has been removed. Performance management has become the standard way to manage people whose performance is declining as a result of their age. And I totally understand how this can feel uncomfortable.

Firstly, it’s never too late to start performance management. But you need to start at the beginning of the process – so, have an informal chat with the employee about your concerns as we’ve outlined previously. Then follow your process as you would for any other member of staff.

Whilst age is a protected characteristic in terms of discrimination, you’re not discriminating against a staff member by performance managing them provided that there’s evidence to demonstrate that their performance is not up to par. As long as you’re offering them support to improve, as we’ve outlined, you’re acting reasonably. You should avoid making any reference yourself to age being a factor in their underperformance – quite often you’ll find the employee makes that link themselves! You don’t even have to agree with them – just ask them how you think that impacts on their ability to do the job and whether there’s anything the surgery can do to help them improve.

Here’s an example of what NOT to do… There was a tribunal case in 2022, called Hutchison v Asda, where an older employee was in the early stages of dementia. She regularly forgot things, lost things or became confused at work. Managers and colleagues were concerned about her and repeatedly encouraged her to retire – which she didn’t want to do. Despite her setting out her views, further suggestions about retirement were made. Eventually she resigned, claiming she’d been forced out of her job. She won her tribunal claims for constructive dismissal, age and disability discrimination because the way she’d been treated at Asda, whilst well meant, had had the effect of violating her dignity. Had the managers instead run a sympathetic, fair performance management process which had explained their concerns clearly (rather than just hinting at them) and included consideration of reasonable adjustments, the employee might have been fairly dismissed.

We have a nurse who keeps raising concerns about various clinical staff at the surgery. We have investigated these and found no evidence of concerns. What we do have, however, are concerns with some clinical decisions made by the whistleblowing nurse herself. She gets really upset when anything like this is so much as suggested and thinks that she is being victimised. How do we manage her performance without making it look like we’re ganging up on her?

It’s interesting how often this happens actually – and quite often what it shows is the “mistakes” she’s reported are actually evidence of her own lack of understanding. If you’ve properly investigated her concerns and found no evidence of wrongdoing, and this has been relayed to her, then you just need to draw a line under it. She has the option to raise concerns higher if she needs to and that’s completely up to her. However, if you’re finding that she’s making mistakes, then you have a duty to act. She may claim victimisation, but your response needs to be about your duty to investigate if errors are being made. As a registered nurse, she should know this; it forms part of the NMC Code of Practice.

All staff get upset when faced with situations like this – it’s a given. You cannot let it stop you, however. Especially if patient safety is a concern. As part of the process, I would offer her a referral to Occupational Health for support and your employee assistance programme if you have one. Acknowledge that this is distressing, but keep reinforcing your duty to ensure that mistakes are dealt with. Highlight the investigation you carried out into her concerns – and explain that this is just the same. Be clear that it has nothing to do with her raising concerns. You can’t do much more than that.

I have several staff who are underperformers and I hate trying to give feedback to them. It feels like I’m pulling them down, and makes no difference to their performance anyway. What do I do next?

I know where you’re coming from – it can be really demoralising for us if we feel like we’re chipping away at people. But you have to remember the bigger picture; we’re being paid with public money, and we therefore have a duty to ensure that that money is being spent wisely. Every mistake potentially has an impact on patients – and in our industry that can have really big consequences. So even if we don’t like it, we have to do it. That is what we’re paid for as managers – well, part of it anyway!

And put the shoe on the other foot; if you’re trying to help them improve and they’re not listening to you, are they considering how that makes you feel? All relationships – whether professional or personal – are about give and take, a two-way effort. It’s not too much to expect that from your staff.

You just have to persevere with it – make it more emphatic. Meet them individually and privately, highlight the problem, confirm your expectations, offer support and then make it clear about the consequences of failing to improve. Once they realise that you’re serious, you might see a change!

How do you manage performance if the staff member has mental health issues?

We’ll answer this question by referring to any health issue – be that mental or physical – because you would approach this in the same way.

It’s more common than you think for a performance issue to be caused by a health problem. Whether that’s a receptionist struggling on the phones due to anxiety or a nurse struggling with dressings due to a back problem – the reasons can be wide-ranging. However, you still need to manage the issue. The job still needs doing.

There are often a lot more things you can do to support a staff member with a health problem compared to just a lack of ability. So, I’d strongly encourage you to talk to them as early as possible and discuss what could be done to help them. It might be that the receptionist can do more prescription admin to have less exposure on the phones, or the nurse could have some equipment to make it easier to do dressings without bending or kneeling down so often. But you won’t know until you ask!

You also need to remember that a health problem may be classed as a disability, depending on how long it’s been a problem or the severity of the issue. You therefore have a legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments for that employee – so you may have to go further in supporting the employee than you would another staff member, and you may even have to accept a drop in performance to a certain degree (for example, giving some tasks to another member of staff and simply not expecting the employee to do them might be deemed a reasonable adjustment if the practice could accommodate it). You would also look to extend the timescales of the review period to allow increased time for improvement.

The most important thing to do is to have the employee assessed by Occupational Health – and don’t be afraid to ask direct questions! Send a copy of the job description with your referral so that the Occupational Health clinician knows what’s expected of the role. Ask them directly if there are any elements of it that the employee needs support to complete. Highlight where the areas of concern around underperformance are. Occupational Health can be really helpful at times in recommending things you can do to help the employee improve their performance.

If there’s nothing you can do, or you’ve implemented all that you can, and the employee still can’t perform then you’d still need to follow your policy through to completion. You just need to ensure that you’ve done what you can, sought medical advice via Occupational Health, and given the employee the opportunity to improve with support put in place where appropriate. Ensure everything is documented for evidence.

Here’s another tribunal tale… In a case called Sinclair v Bishop of Llandaff Church in Wales High School, a former teacher was awarded £346,175 in 2017 after being performance managed out of her job whilst suffering from mental health problems. The tribunal was very critical about the school’s lack of support. It was clear that they simply wanted her gone. The tone of the performance management process was harsh and had a huge effect on her ongoing mental health. The tribunal’s opinion was that had this teacher been encouraged and managed more supportively, she would most likely have improved her performance and retained her career.

I was starting to performance manage a staff member but they then went off sick with work-related stress. What do I do now?

Sadly, this can happen quite a lot. In these circumstances, the performance management process would be paused and your absence management process would take over.

It’s worthwhile explaining to the employee that the performance management process isn’t going away, however, and it will resume on their return to work. Remind them that the aim of the process isn’t to punish them for underperforming, but to seek to help them improve their performance and reach the required standard for their role. If they’re able to do this, then the process goes away. Reinforce that you want to know what can be done to help them and you can’t do this unless they’re able to meet you, discuss what’s available and set a plan in action for them to achieve. Generally, once they know that you won’t just drop it, they return to work. If they don’t, then following your absence management process either leads to them returning or… well, not!

How do we make a start with underperformers when they have been underperforming for some time but this has not been previously addressed? They probably shouldn’t have passed their probation but joined during Covid.

It’s never too late to start is my view. You just have to be explicitly clear on what the issue is, and what the required level of performance should be. If their challenge back is that it hasn’t been a problem before, then the simple fact of the matter is that things change, workload picks up and we need to be able to move with the times. Nobody should ever think that their job will be the same up until the point they retire – the NHS landscape changes too frequently for that. Provided you’re not expecting the staff member to do something completely outside the scope of their role, or beyond the level of competency you should be able to expect from them, then you’re okay to start the process.

If an underperforming employee has been employed for less than two years but passed the initial six-month probationary review, are we required to carry out a full work performance process, i.e., informal meeting then moving to formal, etc., or can their employment be terminated without this process?

This obviously veers into the territory of employment rights – which only kick in after two years’ service. There are a few things to consider here though. First off, to dismiss without following a proper process or policy, you need to be 100% confident that there’s no chance of a discrimination claim being thrown back at you. Is there any chance that a disability is impacting on their performance? If English isn’t a first language, is this potentially causing an issue? Has there ever been a precedent set for another employee who might be of a different gender/race/religion/sexuality than this person? It may seem silly, but protected characteristics trump length of service every time – so you’ve got to be confident you could defend a challenge.

My other thought is, if you’re managing performance in the true spirit of why it’s there, you’d want to follow the proper process because the employee might actually be able to turn things around. I have myself performance managed a subordinate in a previous role, and they found the process to be really supportive. It highlighted some training needs we hadn’t originally considered and by going through the process, they were able to perform much better and felt much more confident in their role.

If it really doesn’t look like they’re going to pass, whatever you do, then you need to ensure there’s a provision in your policy that states a shorter process may be implemented for staff with less than two years’ service. This can help you defend yourself against any potential legal challenge that might arise.

I have a receptionist with short service (not yet passed probation) who is not reaching the performance standards needed. I want to dismiss, but she’s pregnant. Can I still fire her in this situation?

Provided the underperformance isn’t linked to the pregnancy, then yes. However, if you feel that it might be linked, I would encourage getting an Occupational Health opinion before deciding to go down this route. Pregnancy can affect people’s performance in some very unexpected ways. Don’t assume the two are completely unrelated unless you have a clear evidence trail demonstrating that is the case, otherwise It’s better to be safe than sorry!

We have a TUPE’d member of staff who is underperforming. Been with us since July. Is there anything we should handle differently?

Not hugely. Policies are likely to be the same across the board so just check that your process isn’t less favourable than their previous policy. Just remember that if you end up dismissing, any notice that you give would have to take into account their service with the previous employer.

What do you do if you give feedback at someone’s appraisal and they disagree with it?

Ooh, this is a good one! Personally, this is why I’m a big fan of a pre-appraisal questionnaire – it gives you an insight beforehand into how the employee thinks they’re doing. There’s nothing worse than a staff member who thinks they’re amazing and actually you have a few concerns. So, a pre-appraisal questionnaire can help you prepare for what you’re going to face, and how to handle the discussion if you’re not on the same page as the employee. Obviously, having clear and detailed evidence relating to the performance concerns will make it much harder for the individual to disagree. It’s also important to make sure you’re feeding back on performance concerns in a timely manner. Ideally, an appraisal discussion is just a summary of all the feedback you’ve given them over the past year. You definitely shouldn’t be giving them first-time feedback about something that happened four or five months ago!

If, despite all this, they just outright disagree with you, though, then all you can do is document the fact that they have done so. You should then still clarify what your expectation is going forward, offer support and training, and clarify how you’re going to review their progress.

I once gave someone what I considered to be constructive feedback about part of their job, but they accused me of bullying them. They’ve left the practice now but I’m still scared to tell people anything negative. How can I get over this?

This is really sad to read as I think staff sometimes don’t really take into consideration the feelings of management when they make comments like this. The first thing I would say is their reaction is more of a reflection on them, than you. Your intentions were good and you tried to go about it in the right way; there’s nothing more you could have done. Staff will sometimes get defensive when criticised, and often the first line of defence is offence. It’s not about you – it’s about them.

You shouldn’t let it put you off. Not everyone will react in the same way. And you have a duty, as we’ve said, to ensure that staff are working to the best of their ability. I would encourage you to reflect on how that discussion went, whether you could have done anything differently, and potentially talk it over with a peer or one of your partners. If you all agree you did the right thing, then stand by that fact and let it give you confidence. If you think you could have done something else, then acknowledge that and tell yourself, “I’m going to do that differently next time,” and see how it goes. We all need to reflect and adapt at times and nobody is perfect, so don’t beat yourself up!

One extra tip; try to ensure that you give positive feedback regularly to your staff – not just a simple ‘well done’, but explain specifically what it is they’ve done that’s good, and why. This gets you into the habit of providing feedback, it makes it clear to everyone that you’re not a manager who just picks on people, and it gets your brain used to the steps of structuring feedback.

Performance management is difficult in primary care. We are monitored to death at NHSE/ICS level and setting objectives for staff who have little influence or control on their situation can make KPIs seem unfair. As a practice we don’t set any personal performance management KPIs but I am keen to formalise pay reviews and I feel a robust performance management system will help with this. What tips/advice/examples/templates can you provide for staff groups as varied as nurse to receptionists? Finally, what are the pros and cons of setting attendance as a KPI?

Okay, so I think this question is more focused on day-to-day operational management than performance management as a process, as we’ve been discussing in this session. I disagree that it’s hard to set staff targets – everything we do has a measure of success. Whether that’s clinicians keeping to appointment times, or staff completing all their mandatory training on time, receptionists answering calls within a specific time frame, or processing repeat prescription requests within your service level agreement period, QOF achievements etc… these are all targets we can work towards. If you don’t feel “targets” is a term you want to use, then what about appraisal objectives? Giving staff something to achieve outside the realm of their usual day-to-day work can improve the business, make staff feel engaged and developed, and keep them interested in the role. These can also tie into pay reviews just as much as a performance target. In terms of examples and templates, I’d look at the Practice Index forum as a starting point as there are hundreds of members who are likely to be able to give you some ideas.

In terms of attendance, I personally would never set a target around attendance linked to reward as I’d be too cautious about falling foul of disability discrimination. I also wouldn’t want to encourage presenteeism in my practice – where staff come to work when they’re unwell. I don’t think it creates the right culture and is detrimental to employee wellbeing.

We have a team leader who has recently been off sick following an open facilitated discussion with her team who have been finding it difficult to raise with her the mistakes she has been making. Although I have spoken to her about slowing down, checking if she needs more training, etc. – all of which she denies – she is still making mistakes and this is causing resentment in her team who are picking up the pieces. They have also flagged she has been using her phone when they are all working, which again has caused issues. The intention of the meeting was because she was picking up on the atmosphere and they wouldn’t be open with her about what the issue was, mainly because when they have raised it directly, she has not taken on board the feedback, denied it and then sulked, causing atmosphere and further resentment within the team, making them feel they can’t raise anything. She’s a lovely person so is taking this as a personal attack on her, when we were trying to address the issues as she couldn’t understandably cope with the whispering. Going off sick has made it worse for her team who again are picking up the pieces. She is due back in the next week or so, but is of a fragile nature, so how is it best to address the issues her team have made when she doesn’t acknowledge or accept the issues they are raising? How do I address the issues with errors she has made despite her apologising numerous times for making them?

Wow. That is quite the case study! My first thought is what have management done so far with this? If she’s been offered training and denies there is an issue, but continues to make mistakes, then you need to progress this as performance management. Set a clear objective on the level she needs to be working at, and at what point she needs to get there – when you will review it. As a team leader, interpersonal relationships with the team are integral – and this can also be performance managed. If she refuses to take on board the feedback, you need to make it clear what the expectation is and how you will measure it. I’d recommend making staff feedback part of that monitoring process. She may be fragile, but this situation isn’t going to get resolved if you don’t take action. Explore the potential reasons for the errors and problems. Is anxiety or mental health a concern, for example? Refer to Occupational Health if so. Make an improvement plan, highlighting the areas that need to be better, set the expectations, offer training and support, explain how you’ll be measuring performance and be clear on the potential outcomes if improvements aren’t made. Be clear that the aim of the process is to create a team that works well together, where mistakes aren’t made, and where an open and honest culture can thrive. She may go off sick again, in which case you pick up your sickness management policy, or she may rise to the challenge and sort it out.

If a staff member wants to know which other member of staff has said something about them as part of a performance issue, can I tell them?

Ideally, you’d have informed the person raising the concern that you may need to do so, and they’re okay with it. Where possible, though, I’d try to take ownership of this yourself; you can say that you’ve noticed whatever the issue is and the buck can stop with you. If you feel the need to say that others have mentioned the issue, and you’re not comfortable giving out the information or you’re concerned that the underperforming staff member might use this information negatively, you can refuse and just confirm that you believe what has been reported is credible. This isn’t a disciplinary, though, so it’s not like you need to call a witness – if you’ve highlighted the performance issue, you’re then focused on rectifying it. If there isn’t an issue at all, then there will be no trouble in confirming that the employee isn’t underperforming. If the issue doesn’t get rectified after you’ve highlighted it, then you don’t need any other evidence than what you’re seeing for yourself.

If, however, the employee then submits a grievance claiming bullying and harassment, you’d investigate that under a different policy, and at that point you may need to make witnesses known. But that’s a conversation for another HR clinic!

How to deal with a team leader who is negative and undermines management decisions?

Again, this is a conduct issue. So, you’d deal with this as you would any other behaviour that constitutes misconduct – of which undermining is definitely one.

Can you do a bonus scheme in relation to attendance separate to performance?

This is not something that I have ever recommended. It’s too easy to fall into a trap of disability discrimination.

How do you handle an employee who refuses an appraisal?

Are appraisals part of your requirements under CQC? Yes, they are. Are they good practice that you encourage as part of your organisational culture? Yes, they are (or they should be!). So, failure to comply would be the same as a failure to carry out any other reasonable management request, or mandatory requirements, and would fall under your disciplinary policy. The same applies to staff who refuse to complete their mandatory training.

What do you do if you have a team leader who is continually making silly mistakes and missing things? So, once these are flagged and she checks, she apologises for the error and can’t see why she has made the mistake. We’ve talked about her working too fast, but she does not recognise this and feels she is slowing down. Any other ways to address this?

Well, this is where you’ll end up following your performance management process through, potentially to dismissal. If you’ve highlighted the issue, listened to her views on what’s causing it, told her what she needs to be doing, given her time to improve, and she’s not improved, then you move to the next stage of the process. You don’t have to just put up with it, and an apology sometimes isn’t enough – especially where patient care might be impacted.

Can you clarify that any cancer diagnosis is classed as a lifelong disability? If someone has been through treatment, is in remission and returned to full work, are they still classed as having a disability?

Yes, cancer is considered under the Equality Act to be a continuing disability even when someone is in remission and is in work.

One member of staff has a very bad attitude with other staff and patients. When we have discussed this, her reply is always, “I have mental health problems and mean no harm.” How do I come back from that?

Mental health problems are not a carte blanche to behave however you feel like when at work. You can still manage this performance while being mindful of mental health as an issue. Refer to Occupational Health and get their opinion on whether the individual’s mental health will prevent them from being able to deal calmly and courteously with patients and colleagues. I very much doubt that they will say no! Once this has been confirmed, meet the staff member to clarify the expectation, and confirm that this cannot continue. Consider what support you can put in place if the employee is struggling on a particular day – are there tasks they can complete that are less patient-facing? I’m sure many would agree with you that we expect patients with mental health conditions to be polite and courteous to our staff, so we should be able to expect the same from staff towards patients!

How do we know if a condition is a protected characteristic or something that should have allowances?

When it comes to disability, the best way to find out is via an Occupational Health referral. An employee is considered to be disabled if they have a condition that is long term (i.e., it has lasted, or is likely to last, at least 12 months) and has a significant (i.e., not trivial) impact on their ability to undertake day-to day tasks (which include work tasks). The legal obligation to make reasonable adjustments only applies to disability as a protected characteristic, but you’d be silly not to make adjustments around others when performance is an issue. So, for example, if English is a second language, can you give employees more time to process information/requests before deeming it unsatisfactory? If you have an employee fasting during a religious festival, can you put support in place to ensure their performance doesn’t drop or instead give them some leeway in your expectations? If you’re ever unsure, seek HR advice.

I’m struggling with my reception team – one very good, two who think they know best, one who’s dyslexic and one who is a bit too laid back. The senior receptionist is pulling her hair out. The two who know best appear to be checking up on the others to find mistakes and one in particular gets pleasure out of telling the others they’ve made a mistake, but they’re all making mistakes. The dyslexic lady has gone past her six-month probation but is aware we are monitoring her performance, but when she makes mistakes, it makes her anxious and then she makes more mistakes. We’re going to try the T-Card system as a starting point for all of them. Any other thoughts?

The checking up and harassing people over mistakes sounds like conduct again, in my view. You need to empower your senior receptionist to tackle this poor behaviour. You can initially come at it from a performance angle, asking if support is needed, but if none is required and it becomes clear it’s just an attitude problem, then disciplinary procedure applies.

Regarding other performance issues, such as with the dyslexic employee, just keep monitoring and managing supportively as you are doing.

Can you manage performance as part of the appraisal process?

The appraisal isn’t about managing poor performance if a process hasn’t already been started. Once you notice someone underperforming, you need to start managing it right away – don’t leave it until the appraisal. This is why 1:1s are so important; the appraisal should be like a summing up of all the 1:1s you’ve had in the year, coupled with looking forward and setting objectives for the next year. If you’ve started on a management process, you can review the progress in the appraisal, but I wouldn’t start one at the appraisal meeting.

For informal chats, do both parties need to sign the notes? And would you recommend documenting these in the personnel file in the first place?

You don’t need the employee to sign the notes, but it’s good practice to share them with the employee so they know you’re keeping them! If they fundamentally disagree with them, then you’ll soon know it about it and most likely have a response. If no response is received, my view is you’re safe to assume that they don’t disagree.

I always recommend documenting everything. If you’re going to end up in a formal process, you need to be able to evidence that an informal process came before it, especially if ending up at dismissal stage, so document everything!

What would you class as appropriate notice for a formal performance meeting?

As with any other formal meeting, I recommend seven days’ notice. This gives the staff member time to arrange representation if they want to.

Useful links 

Future HR Clinics