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Human Resources Q & A
September 5, 2006
By Tim Rutledge
The question:
I have a new employee whose three-month probationary period is almost over. I think she needs more time to get up to speed, so I want to extend probation by six weeks. My manager says that I should terminate for failure to meet performance standards. I think this is too harsh. Any advice?Tim's Response:
In most organizations probation is not a very robust process. It’s not uncommon for Human Resources to remind a startled supervisor that a new employee’s probation is up. So the supervisor says that everything’s fine, and the employee passes probation.
This is a shame, because probation is a very useful two-way street. It’s a chance for supervisors to assess their employee’s ability to perform the job, and for the employee to decide if she wants it. Managing probation actively can accomplish some valuable objectives:
- It says to new employees that management takes their progress seriously, and is prepared to devote time to it.
- It says that there is such a thing as not passing probation, and that the process contemplates that possibility.
- It sets an early, positive precedent in the employer/employee relationship.
Passing probation is the norm, as it should be, if the right person has been hired, but often it’s just a paper exercise. Why do supervisors tend not to take advantage of the benefits that managing probation offers?
- Managing a probationary period actively is just one more demand on a supervisor’s time.
- Nobody will thank you for doing it conscientiously, and nobody will fault you for letting it slide. In other words, it tends not to matter.
- Particularly in the case of inexperienced supervisors, a vacant workstation can make them nervous, and they equate presence with performance.
- By the time the new person reports for work, the supervisor has already made a significant investment in her success. The supervisor has posted the vacancy, liaised with HR, interviewed candidates, backfilled the position while no one was in it, made an offer, and prepared for the new person’s arrival. That was disruptive, and the supervisor has no desire to go through it all again for the same position.
So should you extend or terminate if you think the new person needs more time? Have you done the following?
- Documented the performance objectives or standards that the employee is expected to achieve in three months, and shared them with the new person?
- Pointed out sources of help, whether other employees, or job aids? Pointed out how to get supplies?
- Discussed with the employee how you will monitor performance?
- Set up meetings with other employees whose help the new person will need?
- Set up review meetings at one month and two months?
- Asked the employee frequently for feedback on how things are going?
- Ascertained that the employee still wants the job?
If you’ve done (almost) all these things, and you still want to extend probation, ask yourself why, after all this good supervision on your part, the employee still isn’t making it?
Ask yourself also why you’re prepared to invest more resources in a person with whom the investment isn’t paying off? What makes you think it will pay off later, if it hasn’t paid off when it was supposed to? Most people, after all, pass probation within the prescribed time frame. We tend to over-invest in marginal performers, and under-invest in good ones. Are you falling into that snare?
Remember, too, that your relationship with the employee is a professional one, not a personal one. You represent the employer to this person; you are not her friend. First-time supervisors sometimes confuse friendly behaviour, which is great, with a relationship based on friendship. In your role as a supervisor you may be called upon to do carry out a duty, such as terminating an unsatisfactory performer, that a friend would simply never do to a friend.
I know what you mean when you say that termination seems harsh, but, in fact, it only seems that way. It would be harsher to your employer and to your other employees if you were to allow a poor performer to masquerade, with your connivance, as something else. You’ll be spending a lot of time helping to keep the costume from falling off.
My rule with probation is to manage it actively. Doing so will separate the capable people from the not so capable. Your duty as a supervisor is to terminate anyone who isn’t performing to standard, and who, in your judgment, isn’t going to.
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To submit a question for a future column, or to comment on a previous one, please contact help@charityvillage.com. No identifying information will appear in this column.
Tim Rutledge, Ph.D., is a veteran human resources consultant and publisher of Mattanie Press. You can contact him at tim_rutledge@sympatico.ca.
Disclaimer: Advice and recommendations are based on limited information provided and should be used as a guideline only. Neither the author nor CharityVillage.com make any warranty, express or implied, or assume any legal liability for accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information provided in whole or in part within this article.
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