Performance Management of someone who has been in role a long time -

[QforCucumber]

I manage a team of data entry staff, who are given tasks to complete. This isn't micro managed, at all - each person has their own repeated tasks on a weekly or a monthly basis, one of the team has been with the business for around 9 years. She's always been very slow at the data entry but is meticulous and never makes a mistake,

Over the last 12 months she's really slowed down, we've lost some of the tasks she had over the past 2 years, which should have free'd up some of her time yet she is still 'busy' all day every day when I'm passing new tasks to her - I'm now going to have to go down a performance management route as it just isn't sustainable for the rest of the team to be working at twice the rate (and also not making regular mistakes)

My question is, as a manager (of around 5 years, first team I've managed is here after working my way up) I've not had to go down this route officially past a coupe of informal chats before, what would you use as the benchmark? Should I be doing the tasks she's being given to get an idea of a time for them to take, I've made a note of what I expect the tasks should take (with an added 10% allowance) and in the last 3 months its become apparent that I cant work out where around 10 hours a week of her time are being spent.

What have your unofficial chats involved to date?

Thankyou I appreciate all of your comments, and am taking it all on board for where to go to next. I want to do this properly and well - but I can feel/hear the resentment building in the team from others picking up the slack so need to get on top of things soon.

to clarify

no menopause policy
no hr dept - small company employing under 30 people, external HR consultant used on as and when required basis

its more than just data entry but that’s the bulk of the role - think outsourced accounts preparation or payroll preparation type role.
6 monthly appraisals where for the whole time I’ve been in position she’s advised me she has no interest in progression and is happy coming to work, doing her job and going home leaving work at the office - which is fine,we need people like that just as much as those who want to progress.

mid 40s so potentially menopause territory.

I run my own business and find that once resentment kicks in from other colleagues, you're already a bit too far down the line to recover the situation well in truth. Situations like this need handling early on - otherwise you're setting the terms that poor performance is OK. Bad habits can become ingrained very quickly.

If informal chats haven't worked then you go to go to the written/recording stage and clearly lay out that their work isn't acceptable and something needs to change. It's then on the employee to make the effort to meet standards of expectation ie what everyone else is attaining. It's a crap thing to have to do but necessary sometimes.

but then depending on what is expected from the managers vs what other employees are doing should be between the manager and employee ?

i had similar situation where a fellow employee in my team, same level as me, trying to micromanage what i did, and i felt like one when you had criticism you didnt like it and too its upto the boss not you etc with reguards to my duties etc

Another point of view... you say you have had informal chats and she has mentioned not caring so much, and other people have brought up peri-menopause etc. I was on the other side of this.

Peri hit me with high anxiety, insomnia and absolutely no tolerance of mansplaining and being talked over. It caused me to react badly, and individual occurrences of this were addressed but no curiosity about overall circumstances. Out of the blue (for me!) a PIP was produced at what I thought was a regular one to one.

Long story already but to cut to the chase- I was pushed out. My anxiety (medicated by then) was exacerbated by what I felt was an ambush when the PIP was produced and I was unable to actually achieve what I had easily done before . Reference was made to notes having been made at meetings to back up the performance issues. I don't know if I was in denial, naive or oblivious but I do not recall specific issues about the work I was doing, stuff I was delivering etc.

How clear have the "informal chats" been? Could there be a more direct conversation before moving to something more formal and (from my perspective) intimidating?

Thanks all, appreciate the comments I really do, and its good to see the potential other side @sovielverloren I wasn't thinking performance management as a means of managing out - more as a means of getting the best out of her as I know I've had it before, surely this is what it's for, this is what is pushed in my management course at the moment so maybe I was thinking this because of the fact it's fresh in my mind.