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About a month ago, I used my article to look at the problem of dealing with poor performance. In any organisation, this is often one of the most difficult of the so-called ‘soft' management skills. Even where all of the right organisational systems are in place – performance management, appraisal, learning and development – the key is always the one-to-one relationship between a manager and an individual member of staff. Martin Horton is a director at SOLACE Enterprises HR can ensure the right things are in place, management can set performance standards, and members can support managers in taking the right actions. But the heart of responsibility lies with individuals having the difficult conversations which need to be had. What happens to poor performers at a senior level sets the tone for the rest of the organisation. We may not always get it right in the public sector, but the very public nature of the work we do, the local media reporting of events, and the critical importance of senior management and political leadership relationships do keep the issue at the front of mind. Important here is getting the balance right between properly holding people to account versus either hushing things up or hanging people out to dry. Imagine, if you will, that you are the CEO of an organisation being held responsible for the deaths of workers and economic, social and environmental damage estimated at a cost of tens of billions of pounds. Would you expect: l to be publicly criticised and summarily dismissed by a minister standing at the despatch box l to take personal responsibility, hold your hands up, and resign immediately, or l to take a seven-figure payoff, immediate access to a £600,000 pension, oh, and get a seat on the board of a sister company. And, by the way, it is being reported that bankers have been given bonuses this year to the value of £10bn. Now that is a sophisticated approach to managing poor performance that is far too subtle for me to understand. Still, it's good to see we are all in it together.

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WHITEHALL

Soap Box

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