Young and inexperienced workers don't always understand what is expected of them in terms of performance. Unfortunately, too often they're left floundering and trying to figure it out for themselves. A young worker may not reach expectations without help and guidance from you or other staff.

Remember, that care should be taken when addressing a young person performance, that they don't become upset or angry. This can be because they are embarrassed or feel they were doing the best job they could. You may need to spend more time with them demonstrating or explaining correctly how they can improve their performance. If the employee does become upset it is best to calm the emotions first, before persuing the facts.

These Performance Management tips should further assist you to clarify and improve performance.

It’s important that you go through policies and procedures, explain expectations and what happens if behaviour or performance is below those expectations. The best time to do this is at the initial induction so that the expectations are clear from the beginning.

When expectations are unclear, young workers may pick up bad habits, so be sure to ‘nip these in the bud’ by giving them regular positive and constructive feedback. Most employers don’t counsel early enough, or often enough. It's best not to procrastinate on problems – deal with it as soon as it becomes obvious.

Remember also to choose your words, timing and location carefully and don’t talk down to them. A suggested technique is to:

• Explain what and how it's done
• Show them what to do
• Watch and observe the young person doing it themselves
• Praise their efforts whilst correcting any errors
  
  Let the young person practice the task again so they can learn and improve.

Remember to watch out for your 'bad habits' as you don't want to lead by a bad example.

Let young employees know how you are feeling. If you are angry then tell them so, and explain why.

Remember that it’s important to challenge the action, not the person. Eg. They may have done a bad thing but that doesn’t make them a bad person. Don’t make it personal or demean the employee – keep it relevant to the behaviour. Encourage participation by praising their good points as this shows you are not just taking a one-sided view of them.

Watch your body language and tone. You may be saying one thing but it's obvious you're meaning another.

Firstly, deal with any emotions! Give the young person (and yourself if necessary), time to calm down before talking it through.

Secondly, clarify the facts - find out if the person is aware that they were doing something wrong? Or that their work was not up to standard?

Thirdly, determine if a young worker has not done a job because they “will not” do it - due to poor attitude or disagreement on duties, or if they “cannot” do it - due to lack of skills, tools, time, or even aptitude.

Don’t make assumptions or accusations. It’s best to ask a lot of probing and clarifying questions to get to the employees opinion of the problem, not just your own. By doing this you can determine their true understanding of the performance standards.

If the performance problem is due to a 'slack attitude' then you may wish to make the person more accountable to their fellow employees. Let them know that their attitude is putting more pressure on other staff and if relevant, have them apologise for causing this added work load. This tends to work better if an existing relationship is in place between the co-workers.

Once you get to the underlying cause of the problem you can then make a simple plan on how to improve their performance. This is a written plan that both parties agree to, and sets a goal for the employee to achieve. It is also one for you to recognise, praise or reward.

The plan may involve counselling, training or re-training, on the job coaching, redrafting of procedures, setting of standards and/or timeframes for reviews. Whatever is needed in order to achieve the goals set.

Plans can be simple and handwritten, but must be clear about the expectations you hold.

If a performance problem cannot be resolved easily, further action such as counselling may be required.

If it gets to this stage, make sure to check out our tips on counselling.

Dealing With Problems

• Unfair Dismissal
• Counselling
• Grievance Procedures
• Absenteeism