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Performance Management is the term used
to describe the process set by a centre to
ensure all staff are aware of the level of
performance expected of them in that role –
whether a teacher or support staff, as well
as any individual objectives they will need to
achieve to achieve overall centre objectives.
The Ministry’s licensing criteria require
each licensed ECE service to have “suitable
human resource management practices”
(GMA7). That means more than having a
job description and employment contract.
It also means having processes in place for
when things start to go wrong.
It’s not just early childhood centre managers
that find approaching and dealing with poor
performance issues daunting. This stuff is
fraught, emotionally draining, and simply not
something many are used to having to face.
I often find centre managers avoiding poor
performance issues, brushing them under
the carpet, or using restructuring as a way
to get rid of someone who isn’t performing.
Employment law in New Zealand is also
a challenge if you are not working with it
closely all the time. Many employers say it is
very difficult to get rid of a poor performer,
even when the case is very straight forward.
At a high level, the most important thing to
remember is that performance management
is about a very systematic process. If you
follow it, without cutting corners, you should
be fine. Performance management also
relates closely to your appraisal system,
since the latter is concerned about how the
staff member is meeting the requirements
of the job. Good appraisal systems involve
regular meetings with individual staff
during which you can discuss performance
achievements, concerns and improvement
plans/activities. It is when these do not
appear to be working or changing the
behaviour of staff that a more focussed,
structured process is necessary.
DEVELOPING A PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT PLAN
FOR STAFF WHO ARE NOT DOING THEIR JOB
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE, LEGAL RAMIFICATIONS?
Most centres will have a performance
management system in place; however, the
difference will be whether the centre has
adopted an informal or formal approach
towards their staff.
Some centres don’t have specific
documented processes in place. Any staff
goals and objectives set will be mutually
agreed upon between the manager and
staff member in the annual appraisal
meeting. Best practice is to document these
objectives as a reference point for less
formal catch-ups through the year.
This performance management approach
will respond to any specific areas of
performance that are not up to expectation.
This will follow where you may have
identified the performance issue during the
appraisal process, but the poor performance
persists.
The first step is to call a performance
meeting with the staff member. It is
important to note that this is not a
disciplinary meeting and no disciplinary
outcome can come from it. The staff member
is also not entitled to bring a support person
in the same way they are in a disciplinary
meeting.
At the performance meeting, you will be
clear about the performance issue at hand
and what good looks like.
Appraisal
involves a
series of informal
meetings throughout
the year, and…
01
…a more
formal annual
review of the year’s
performance,
which…
02
…involves setting
an annual plan for
personal development and
performance, which then
links back to the informal
meetings…
03
When Things are
going well
When Things
are
NOT
going well
But if things
start to go wrong,
and cannot be corrected
through the appraisal
process, stepping into a
performance management
process is the next
step
04
And if that
doesn’t work, a
disciplinary process
follows…
05
BY PETER REYNOLDS
December 2017
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