1. PERFORMANCE &
CONDUCT

2. PERFORMANCE VS CONDUCT
• Employee expectations fall into two categories -
Performance and Conduct.
• PERFORMANCE expectations relate to the employee’s
job classification or job assignment and include the
quantity, quality, accuracy and timeliness of work
products.
• CONDUCT expectations are work rules that relate to
employee behavior. Examples include adhering to work
hours, proper use and reporting of time, honesty, and
interactions with clients and co-workers, to name a few.

3. • What is the difference between performance and conduct?
• In general, performance relates to the quantity, quality,
accuracy and timeliness of work products.
• Conduct issues relate to compliance with work rules.
Performance problems usually involve a “can’t do” issue
while conduct problems generally involve a “won’t do” issue.
• Conversely, if an employee is frequently late or absent (won’t
do), it is usually not because he/she lacks the training, ability or
experience to report to work. Counseling and corrective action,
rather than training is usually appropriate.

4. • Why do we make a distinction between performance
and conduct?
• Conduct and performance are handled differently in terms
of the corrective action process.

5. CORRECTIVE ACTION &
DISCIPLINARY ACTION
• Corrective action and disciplinary action are two terms
that you will encounter in dealing with performance and
conduct issues. Although corrective action may lead to
discipline, they are not the same.
• What is corrective action?
• Corrective action is the process the supervisor begins
when an employee's performance or conduct is first
identified as needing improvement. Normally, the first step
in corrective action is bringing the issue to the employee's
attention (counseling), and suggesting ways to "correct"
the problem

6. • The intent of corrective action is to assist employees
in correcting their performance and/or conduct to
meet expectations.
• Corrective action includes verbal counseling, written
counseling memos, corrective action plans, letters of
warning, leave restriction letters, and letters of reprimand.
• For Performance problems, performance evaluations
may also be considered corrective action.

7. • What is disciplinary action?
• Disciplinary action is taken when corrective action has not
caused the employee to correct his/her performance to an
acceptable level. Disciplinary action may be taken
without prior corrective action when an employee’s
performance or conduct is so egregious or serious
that informal corrective action is not an appropriate
response.
• Disciplinary action includes suspensions, temporary
reductions in step, demotions, dismissals and disciplinary
letters that equate to a suspension ("non-punitive
discipline").

8. • What is non-punitive discipline?
• Non-punitive discipline is a program that replaces unpaid
suspensions with a disciplinary letter that equates to a
suspension, thereby establishing that there has been
previous discipline if misconduct occurs again. Positive
aspects of non-punitive discipline from management's
perspective are that the employee does not actually leave
the workplace, thereby avoiding the disruption to workflow
and cost to fill in behind the employee. Positive aspects
from the employee's perspective are that no money is
lost, and the "rehabilitation plan" which, if successfully
completed, results in removal of the disciplinary letter
within a specific period of time.

9. PERFORMANCE

10. • Consistent attention to the employee's performance
allows positive reinforcement of desired work habits and
early identification and correction of bad work habits and
performance problems.

11. What is the supervisor's /HR’s
responsibility regarding employee
performance?
• First, clearly communicate your expectations. These
expectations may include written performance standards
for the position as well as specific objectives for the
individual employee.
• You may also want to give the employee their job
specification, any department specific job description
which has been developed, departmental handbooks, etc.

12. Following this initial discussion, your
responsibilities are to:
• Discuss specific objectives, due dates, timeliness, and
quality and quantity standards in one-on-one
conversations and in group meetings with employees, and
confirm specific objectives in writing prior to the beginning
of each review period.
• Meet with individual employees regularly to discuss their
progress, both positive and negative.
• Counsel when minor performance concerns come to your
attention.
• Prepare written evaluations every three months for
probationary employees, and on an annual basis for all
other employees.

13. What are performance
expectations?
• Performance expectations are the standards for the
position and the objectives for the individual employee.
• Expectations often have two aspects:
• 1) the quantity or timeliness of work products, and
• 2) the quality or accuracy of those products.

14. What should be done if an employee
is not meeting performance
expectations?
• Formally counsel the employee, giving specific examples
of where he/she is not meeting the performance
standard(s).
• Refer to any previous informal counseling sessions that
were held and ask the employee if he/she understands
the area of concern. It is usually a good idea to have the
employee state back to you what the problem is and what
you expect so there is no confusion.

15. • Document the results of the counseling session to writing,
and share this memo with the employee.
• The counseling memo should clearly outline your
concerns, the employee’s response (if any), what the
employee has to do to improve, and the steps you will
take to assist her or him.
• Meet with the employee on a regularly scheduled basis,
giving specific assignments and deadlines and providing
feedback on his/her progress. Document these meetings
in writing and give the employee a copy.

16. • If the employee does not improve, complete a formal
performance evaluation

17. How does the supervisor know what
to do next, and when to do it?
• In performance cases, there are two options - demotion
or dismissal.
• If an employee has the skills and abilities to do a less
complex job, demotion is the preferred option, especially if
the employee has previously held a lower classification,
unless the current level of performance indicates an
inability to perform even the simplest portions of the
current position.
• If the employee's deficiencies demonstrate that demotion
is not a viable alternative, the choice would be dismissal.

18. • SAMPLE FLOWCHART FOR PERFORMANCE
EVALUATIONS AND CORRECTIVE ACTIONS (not for
probationary employees)