In times of economic decline, employers pay very close attention to their bottom line. As a result, underperforming employees will often be the first in the firing line. But what is the best way to deal with such employees?

Prudent employers need to ensure that at all times they have effective performance management systems in place to ensure that peak performers are encouraged and poor performers are dealt with in a constructive and appropriate way. More than ever, with employers acutely aware of their companies' financial performance, the issue of managing poor performance of individual staff is featuring as a priority. Some employers in this situation immediately look for a restructuring option and a resulting redundancy for the non performing employee. However, this is not consistent with an employer's obligations of good faith and can be a high risk scenario.

It is critical for employers to follow a proper performance management process to ensure any subsequent claims of procedural unfairness are avoided. The first obligation employers have which needs to be kept front of mind when dealing with performance issues, is to deal with any problem as soon as it arises.

This article is available in full at Mondaq.