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Keywords
Management, poor performance, competence, training
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Abstract
Effective staffmanagement is a vital aspect of the team leader role; it ensures high standards of care, good communication and smooth team working. High profile incidents reported in the media of poor performance in medical settings have heightened public awareness of the need to monitor standards. Changes in NHS organisational structures have led to staffmanagement becoming the responsibility of junior managers. These managers may not have received the training necessary to manage poor performance during the initial informal stages. Lack of skills and knowledge can lead to a continuation of the poor performance and insufficiently robust documented action plans to support the formal capability process if required. By dealing with performance issues a team leader establishes the standard required, sending a message to the whole team. This article will focus on the management of poor performance and provide guidance to enable team leaders to manage difficult situations.
Aims and intended learning outcomes
The aim of this article is to provide an overview of the initial steps to be taken to manage and monitor the performance of poorly performing staff, in conjunction with organisational policies. After reading this article and completing the time out activities, you will be able to:
* Define and identify poor performance.
* Summarise the relevant codes of conduct, policy and regulations that cover poor performance.
* Describe the initial process of managing poor performance.
* Provide individuals with an action plan and document steps taken to manage performance.
* Identify barriers to managing staffperformance and steps to take to overcome them.
Effective staffmanagement is important to managers in all business fields (Adair 2008). In the past decade Department of Health (DH) policy in the UK has changed the structure of the NHS, leading to increased transfer of patient care from the acute to the primary care sector. With the Health and Social Care Act 2012 GP commissioning has been established, leading to a focus of funding through Commissioning for Quality and Innovation (CQUIN) and key...