The Fair Work Ombudsman will offer a free online learning course, aimed at advising businesses on ways to promote good staff performance, and address underperformance, to help employers boost productivity.
Fair Work Ombudsman Natalie James says that employers who establish effective performance management systems can reap significant benefits from a happy, motivated, and better performing workforce.
“Conversely, failing to address an individual employee’s underperformance appropriately and sensitively can lead to unhealthy and unproductive outcomes,” James said.
“While there is no legislative obligation for workplace performance to be managed in a certain way, this new course gives employers valuable advice about simple steps they can take to get the best out of their employees.”
The Fair Work Ombudsman’s new course, Managing Performance, takes about 25 minutes to complete and is available in the Agency’s Online Learning Centre.
The course advises employers on establishing a performance system that sets clear goals and expectations for employees, and provides a framework for ongoing feedback and discussion.
Topics covered include creating a performance template for the workplace, meeting with employees to develop a performance agreement, monitoring employee performance and conducting formal reviews of employee performance against agreed goals.
The course explores the importance of recognising strong performance with positive feedback and how to give constructive feedback about areas for improvement.
It will also provide employers with a step by step guide for dealing with situations in which employees are not performing duties to the required standard, displaying negative behaviour or failing to comply with workplace rules or procedures.
James says addressing underperformance, also known as performance management, can be challenging and confronting, but it is important.
“Good performance management practices can transform an underperforming employee into a strong performer. However, poorly handled performance management can increase the likelihood of legal disputes, such as unfair dismissal claims,” she said.
James says dismissing a staff member because they’re not up to scratch and replacing them with another may actually cost an employer more than they realise.
“First there’s the recruitment, induction and training, but add to that the costs associated with a new employee getting used to you, the business and the rest of the staff,” she said.
“Realistically, it may be several months before a new starter’s confidence, productivity and efficiency levels match those of the underperforming employee whom they replaced.
“Attempting to manage and work through underperformance issues is not always easy, but it makes good business sense to be proactive.
“Resolving small, isolated problems early can prevent significant workplace-wide problems developing later.”
