Organizations are built on the productivity of employees. This is why productivity is valued by organizations. Employees with low productivity are encouraged to improve their performance. In efforts to motivate employees and improve productivity, all performance rewards are tied to productivity and good performance. Thus, employees have the incentive to improve performance.
Possible reasons of non-performance
However, despite training, counseling, and motivating policies, some employees continue to underperform. Non-performance of employees can be due to many different reasons. These reasons may or may not have anything to do with the company itself. Here are some reasons for non-performance:
- Loss of a close one causing sadness and distress
- Depression and anxiety
- Tough personal relations or personal life
- The burden of responsibilities at home
- Overstressed or overworked
- Injury or illness
- Not interested in the job
- Unable to get along with co-workers
- Unsatisfied with work responsibilities
- Unsatisfied with salary and benefits
- Unsatisfied with organizational culture
- Wants to do something else
- Finds work unchallenging/boring/tedious/repetitive
All these reasons may cause an employee to perform poorly. Sometimes non-performance is temporary when an employee is going through a difficult phase. At other times, non-performance may be persistent.
Giving them a chance to improve
Most organizations help employees if they are not performing well. However, ultimately it is up to the employee how well they utilize organizational resources to build themselves and their professional profile.
Managers often talk to employees who are underperforming in an effort to motivate them and if possible accommodate the employee. However, if employees continue to underperform and their periodic performance evaluations are consistently poor, they may be either reprimanded verbally or given a warning letter.
Finally, if there is no improvement…
If the employee shows non-performance month after month, the next step is to suspend the employee for a certain period. Finally, if an employee does not show any improvement at all, and continues to underperform the final step is to terminate the employee. To terminate an employee, the employee’s performance records are reviewed by a committee that includes the employee’s direct supervisor.
The employment contract gives the right to both the employee and the organization to terminate the contract if the terms of engagement are not fulfilled. Employee performance is one of the conditions in favor of the organization. A non-performing employee can be terminated legally by the organization.
Are you looking for a sample letter? If yes, here are sample termination letters for non-performance.
#1
You are hereby terminated from your job as the (job title) at ABC Company on account of non-performance. Your incompetence has cost the company a great deal of loss. The management is immensely disappointed with you.
Your failure to satisfy Mr. XYZ has been extremely damaging to the company. He has been one of our biggest clients bringing huge profits to us every year. You disregarded the management’s special instructions to ensure he receives flawless services as always. Your negligence and irresponsible attitude towards your job have resulted in catastrophic results for us. This is a mistake that cannot be overlooked or forgiven.
You are advised to carry out your clearance formalities within the coming 2 days. You are to hand over your employee ID card and return the company-provided laptop to the HR department by tomorrow.