MEMBER LOGIN ERMS PORTAL
Pride-logo
ARA Australian Retailers Association
  • ABOUT
    ABOUT
    • About Us
    • Our History
    • Advisory Committees
    • Council
    • Leadership Team
    • Strategic Partners
    • Registered Training Organisation
  • JOIN THE ARA
  • SERVICES
    SERVICES
    • Advocacy & Policy
    • Employment Relations Advice
    • Human Resources (ERMS) Portal 
    • Legal Assistance
    • Tenancy Advice
    • Training & Education
    • Member Benefits Program
    • ARA Insurance
    • ARA Talent Registry
  • TRAINING
    TRAINING
    • Retail Ready Training
    • Career Upskilling
    • Leadership Training
    • Business Solutions
    • Industry Projects
    • Hire Talented Staff
    • Financial Literacy Education Program
  • RESOURCES
    RESOURCES
    • ARA Retail Review Report 2022
    • Business support
    • Covid-19 Resource Hub
    • Gender Equality
    • Media
    • News & Insights
    • Reconciliation
    • Podcasts
    • Research Hub
    • Sustainability
  • EVENTS
    EVENTS
    • Upcoming Events
    • OnDemand Recordings
    • First Responders Day 2022
    • ARA Gala No.1
    • ARA Leaders Forum 2023
  • Contact Us
    Access our Covid-19 resource hub for up-to-date state and territory restrictions
    back to Retail News & Insights
    ARA Retail Institute
    ARA Retail Institute

    When to counsel an underperforming employee

    • Tuesday 10 March 2020
    Training

    Managing poor performance is one of the biggest challenges leaders face in retail today. With increased litigation cases it is imperative that leaders get it right. If, despite coaching the team member, they’re still not performing to standard, the next step is to conduct a counselling session.

    To provide effective counselling, managers need to:

    • Address the issue quickly
    • Look for the cause by helping the employee identify why the problem is occurring

    It is important that counselling is not undertaken if :

    • The performance being measured was not communicated to the team member
    • If the team member has not yet been trained
    • If the team member didn’t have the tools to carry out the task.

    When to counsel

    Performance counselling is necessary when the team member is still not performing to the required standard after:

    • Being involved in discussing their performance standards.
    • Been given regular feedback on their ability to meet standards, including a performance review.
    • Being involved in the creation of a development plan.

    A performance counselling session is conducted to help the team member understand the performance gap, reiterate the required performance standard, and put a plan in place to rectify the poor performance.

    According to Cole (2005), counselling should follow three different phases:

    Exploration

    Research the performance gap by determining whether:

    • Clear standards were set when assigning responsibilities
    • The standards are achievable given the operating environment
    • The team member was fully trained to meet the standard
    • If there were resources available to perform to company standards
    • Whether the cause of the performance problem was anything other than the team member
    • This phase should also include an initial discussion with the team member to understand their perspective

    Understanding

    This phase should include an understanding of:

    • The team member’s issues
    • The impact the underperformance is having on the operational plan
    • What can be done to resolve the performance issue

    Actions

    Agreeing upon actions to:

    • Adjust existing circumstances to accommodate any barriers the team member is facing
    • How and when the team member is expected to make changes to their performance
    • Provide support to the team member
    • When there will be a follow-up meeting to review progress

    Counselling outcomes

    A counselling session should result in an action plan, and a follow-up meeting is set. Depending on the level of poor performance, it may also result in disciplinary action being taken.

    The organisation’s disciplinary policy will dictate the disciplinary action. Industry best practice includes the following:

    • Verbal warning - issued if this is the first time the team member has failed to meet the performance standard, and the issue is relatively minor.
    • First written warning – issued if this is the first time the team member has failed to meet the performance standard.
    • Final written warning – issued if this is not the first counselling session that has taken place around this particular performance issue.

    There are times where it would be appropriate to go straight to a final written warning if, for example, it was a serious breach but not serious enough for instant dismissal. When issuing warnings, managers must liaise with human resource professionals.

    It is important to note that to escalate the warning from verbal to first written to final written, it must be for the same performance issue. A warning should only sit on a team member’s file as ‘active; for as long as is stated in the organisations policy – this maybe around 3-6 months.

    Want to find out more about counselling an employee? The ARA Retail Institute offers a range of courses suited for job seekers, managers, and buyers. Click on 'courses' below to see how the Retail Institute can transform you and your business!

    COURSES

    About ARA Retail Institute

    ARA Retail Institute is Australia’s leading retail training provider for both accredited and non-accredited learning programs. For more information, please visit: www.retailinstitute.org.au

    SHARE THIS ARTICLE
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Linkedin
    back to Retail News & Insights

    FURTHER READING

    Retail Voice CEO Message: 22 June 2022
    Paul Zahra

    Retail Voice CEO Message: 22 June 2022

    The NSW and Queensland Governments handed down their state budgets yesterday, which included billions of dollars’ worth of cost of living relief for...

    READ MORE
    Retail Voice CEO Message: 15 June 2022
    Paul Zahra

    Retail Voice CEO Message: 15 June 2022

    The resilience of our sector continues to be tested with rising cost-of-living and business cost pressures – from acute supply chain issues, and staff...

    READ MORE
    Supply Chains: How to stay ahead in the era of unpredictability
    Retail Directions

    Supply Chains: How to stay ahead in the era of unpredictability

    The last couple of years have seen the supply chain hit hard, with challenge on challenge faced.  

    READ MORE
    LOAD MORE

    Sign up for ARA newsletters

    Strategic Partners

    • Afterpay white logo-1
    • Amex-logo-2
    • Deloitte-1
    • Fabric-logo-2
    • Hitch Advisory - Logo - white-2
    • mastercard-logo-white-2
    • QUT_SQUARE_MONO_REV-2
    • Rest-logo
    • Salesforce-1

    Partners

    • 1200px-Amazon_Web_Services_Logo_edited_edited
    • good360 logo
    • Meta_lockup_mono_white_RGB-1
    • mst marguee_edited_edited_edited
    • Officeworks_Logo_White_RGB
    • RM

    Supporters

    • NRF-logp
    • Australian-CCI-logo
    • Associations-forum-logo
    • FIRA-logo-1280x500 (1)_edited
    • GS1_Australia_Full-Transparency_White_827x436

    About

    • About
    • Member Benefits
    • Membership Application
    • Membership Terms & Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Code of Ethics
    • ARA COVIDSafe Retail Plan

    Training

    • RTO Policies & Procedures
    • Compliance
    • Nationally Recognised Training Officer

    Contact us

    phone-icon.png

    1300 368 041

    envelope-icon.png

    info@retail.org.au

    place-icon.png

    Level 1,  112 Wellington Pde

    East Melbourne 3002

    Join our community

    The ARA acknowledges the Traditional Owners of the land on which we work, learn and live. We pay our respects to their elders past and present, and also recognise Australia’s First Nations’ peoples as Australia’s first traders with a sophisticated network of trading paths that have facilitated the exchange of goods, knowledge and culture for millennia

    Copyright Australian Retailers Association 2021

    ALREADY AN ARA MEMBER?

    Login to view member-only content:

    Login

    NOT AN ARA MEMBER YET?

    Join us today to access ARA member-only content and events.

    Register Now