Performance

[Cloud44]

I’m feeling pretty upset after a horrible week at work. I don’t know if I’m over thinking things and getting myself worked up or if my gut feeling is right. It feels like out of the blue I’ve been told work are concerned about my performance and improvements are needed. I didn’t see this coming at all, I can’t help thinking they are trying to manage me out. Been in the workplace over three years. I don’t know what to do or how to manage the situation, this week I’ve just felt awful. I’ve tried to call ACAS but their advice seemed quite minimal, I don’t know if I just wasn’t asking the right questions.

Speak to your union rep

I don’t think we have a union at work

Can you give some more...details? This is incredibly hazy so not really sure how we could advise?

What's happened this week?
What was said?
What type of kpis do you have?

I was basically told that there are areas of my job I need to improve on otherwise a formal process would have to be followed. No kpi’s that I work to as such. It’s just really upset me. I know I need to try and think practically about it but at the moment I’m finding it hard to feel calm about the situation

What was said at your last management supervision ….guessing you have thsi every few weeks….any indication? Keep the written record of your supervisions as evidence if needed later down the line

Well the first thing is to listen to what they want you to improve and then ask questions as to how they will support you to grow and improve. Be open to hearing what they say and see if you can prove you have improved in all the areas they mention. Make sure things are specific, measurable , quantified

You can and should join a union anyway. Everyone should. You don't need to have a unionised workplace. https://www.tuc.org.uk/join-a-union

Write down the areas of improvement and use chat GPT to help you make an improvement plan with ways to evidence this. You can show your improvement as evidence if they try to start a formal procedure.

They should have given you clear feedback with outcomes you can aim for or actions you can take. If they haven't, that sucks, but you can still set some for yourself.

Keep records. Good luck. Try to take this as a heads up rather than a threat. (I know that's really emotionally hard to do) 💐

Thank you everyone, it’s hard not to take it personally and feel like my every move is being watched. Has anyone else dealt with a similar situation?

Yes, in both ways tbh! Once it really was a headsup -- I was just getting my priorities wrong around what the business really needed from me. I cried a bit and got drunk with my mate. Then I made the changes (like I suggested to you here but this was before AI so I did it longhand) and I got a raise and a personal thank you letter. Result! Another time it was a long horrible managing out which they denied but I jumped ship anyway.

Either way, if you can use the situation to improve your own working practice, you will get something out of it.

I think I’m still at that crying stage @Lanva , and I don’t know how to snap out of that and try and crack on and not feel uncomfortable at work following this.

Did they give you specific points to address? Are they achievable?

If so, then they're helping you so just focus on meeting their expectations.

You're there under a contract of service, it's normal for performance to be managed. They haven't gone in heavy handed and initiated formal procedures. I don't think crying about it is the answer. They're not saying you're a bad person, they're just saying you need to make some changes to the service you're delivering. So do that. I don't know what else you expect Acas to advise.

If they've had minor performance niggles but they hadn't previously seemed enough to raise with you then at some point a conversation like this becomes necessary and will feel a surprise. As long as they've given you specific feedback and achievable objectives I don't see why you're leaping to the assumption they want you gone. Of course it's disappointing to hear critical feedback but your reaction seems disproportionate - you need to brush yourself off and make a plan for how to address their concerns.

Also, as a pp says, if you want union support you have to join one and pay the membership fees.

Crying means you care and that’s fine. But try to think this is your chance to prove yourself / they haven’t started to manage you out yet so it’s on you to make sure they don’t

of course work watch you - it’s the job of a manager to know what they staff are up to. As you gains skills they will watch you less

They need to be specific about what you need to improve and what having improved looks like. If they’re wishy washy about it I’d say they might be trying to manage you out .

try and approach it with good grace, ask them for the specifics and when you need to have improved by in order to avoid formal measures. Ask for any support you need. Follow it up with an email so there’s a record of what you agreed with them.

I’ve managed performance a few times and always put it in terms of this is the problem, this is the possible consequence (ie formal process) and this is what you’d need to demonstrate in this period of time. Ask what support they need and make sure it’s provided if it’s reasonable (for instance I one had someone say the support they needed was for me to tell them the answer all the time!) I’ve never had to progress anyone to a formal stage yet (although a couple of people did move themselves on as a result of being asked to improve).

good luck, I know it’s not a comfortable situation to be in.