Having Difficult Performance Conversations: A Manager's Guide

When a potential disciplinary matter arises, the instinct is often to act quickly. But rushing into a disciplinary hearing without a proper investigation is one of the most common - and costly - mistakes employers make. An Employment Tribunal will scrutinise your process as much as your decision, so getting the investigation right is essential.

The first step is to appoint an investigating manager - ideally someone not directly involved in the incident. Their role is to gather facts objectively, not to build a case for or against the employee. This distinction matters enormously if the matter ever reaches a tribunal.

During the investigation, you should gather all relevant evidence: witness statements, documents, CCTV footage, email records, or any other material that helps establish what happened. Give the employee the opportunity to respond to the allegations before any formal hearing takes place.

Once the investigation is complete, the investigating manager should produce a written report setting out the facts, the evidence gathered, and a recommendation on whether there is a case to answer. This report then informs the decision on whether to proceed to a formal disciplinary hearing.

Throughout the process, keep detailed records of every step taken. If the matter is ever challenged, your documentation will be your strongest defence. If you're unsure at any stage, seek HR advice before proceeding - it's far easier to get the process right from the start than to unpick a flawed investigation later.

2026 is shaping up to be one of the most significant years for UK employment law in recent memory. The Employment Rights Bill continues to progress through Parliament, bringing with it a raft of changes that will affect how businesses recruit, manage and part ways with employees.

One of the most talked-about changes is the proposed extension of unfair dismissal rights from day one of employment. Currently, employees must accrue two years of service before they can bring an unfair dismissal claim. If this change comes into force, employers will need to be far more rigorous about their recruitment decisions and probationary processes from the outset.

Flexible working is also changing. The right to request flexible working is already a day-one right, but the new legislation is expected to strengthen the grounds on which employers can refuse requests. Businesses should review their flexible working policies and ensure managers are trained to handle requests fairly and consistently.

Zero-hours contracts are under scrutiny too. The government has signalled its intention to give workers on zero-hours contracts the right to request a contract that reflects their regular hours. Employers who rely heavily on flexible staffing arrangements should begin reviewing their workforce models now.

The best advice for employers right now is to stay informed, review your existing policies and contracts, and take proactive steps to ensure your HR practices are fit for purpose. If you're unsure how these changes affect your business, speak to an HR consultant who can give you tailored, practical guidance.

Most job descriptions are written in a hurry, copied from a previous version, or drafted by someone who has never actually done the role. The result is a generic, uninspiring document that attracts a flood of unsuitable applications and puts off exactly the candidates you want.

Start with the basics: what does the role actually involve day-to-day? Be specific. 'Managing a team' tells a candidate very little. 'Leading a team of five customer service advisers, conducting monthly one-to-ones and managing performance' tells them a great deal. Specificity builds credibility and helps candidates self-select.

Be honest about what you're looking for. Separate your 'essential' requirements from your 'desirable' ones - and be ruthless about what's truly essential. Research consistently shows that women are less likely to apply for roles unless they meet all listed criteria, while men will apply if they meet around 60%. Keeping your essential list tight will broaden your talent pool.

Don't forget to sell the role. Candidates have choices, and the best ones are often already employed. Tell them why your business is a great place to work, what the team culture is like, and what opportunities exist for development. Authenticity matters here - candidates can spot corporate waffle from a mile away.

Finally, review your job descriptions for inclusive language. Tools like Gender Decoder can help identify language that may inadvertently deter certain groups. Small changes to the words you use can make a meaningful difference to the diversity of your applicant pool.

Absence is a fact of working life, but how you manage it makes an enormous difference - both to your employees' wellbeing and to your business. Poor absence management costs UK businesses billions of pounds each year, yet many managers feel ill-equipped to have the necessary conversations.

The foundation of effective absence management is a clear, consistently applied policy. Employees should know what's expected of them when they're unwell - how to report their absence, when to provide a fit note, and what the return-to-work process looks like. Consistency is key: if you apply the policy differently to different employees, you create the conditions for grievances and discrimination claims.

Return-to-work interviews are one of the most powerful tools available to managers. A brief, supportive conversation on an employee's first day back - not an interrogation, but a genuine check-in - has been shown to reduce absence rates significantly. It signals that you've noticed they were away, that you care about their wellbeing, and that you're there to support them.

For longer-term or recurring absence, a more structured approach is needed. This might involve occupational health referrals, reasonable adjustments, or phased returns. The key is to act early, communicate openly, and document everything. Waiting too long to address a pattern of absence makes it harder to manage and harder to justify any formal action later.

Remember that absence is often a symptom of something else - stress, a difficult home situation, a workplace conflict, or an underlying health condition. Approaching absence management with empathy, as well as consistency, will serve you far better than a purely procedural approach.

Ask any business leader what their most valuable asset is, and most will say their people. Yet the gap between what leaders say and what they actually do to develop and retain their people is often vast. Building a high-performance culture requires more than good intentions - it requires deliberate, consistent action.

The leaders who build the strongest cultures share a few common traits. They are clear about expectations - not just what they want people to do, but why it matters and how it connects to the bigger picture. Clarity is the foundation of performance. When people understand what's expected of them and why, they're far more likely to deliver it.

They also invest in feedback. Not the annual appraisal that everyone dreads, but regular, honest, two-way conversations about performance, development and wellbeing. The best leaders create an environment where feedback flows freely in all directions - upwards, downwards and sideways.

Accountability is another hallmark of high-performance cultures. This doesn't mean blame - it means creating an environment where people take ownership of their work, learn from mistakes, and hold each other to high standards. Leaders set the tone here. If they don't hold themselves accountable, they can't expect their teams to.

Finally, great leaders recognise and celebrate success. This sounds obvious, but it's remarkable how many organisations are far better at identifying what's going wrong than acknowledging what's going right. Recognition doesn't have to be elaborate - a genuine, specific 'thank you' from a leader can be more motivating than a bonus.

The Employment Rights Bill has been making its way through Parliament for some time, but October 2026 brings the first wave of substantive changes into force. For UK employers - particularly SMEs who may not have dedicated HR resource - the pace and breadth of these reforms can feel overwhelming. The good news is that with the right preparation, most businesses can adapt without significant disruption.

The headline change is the removal of the two-year qualifying period for unfair dismissal protection. From October, employees will have the right to bring an unfair dismissal claim from day one of employment. This is arguably the most significant shift in employment law for decades, and it fundamentally changes the risk profile of every hire you make. Employers who have historically relied on the qualifying period as a safety net will need to rethink their approach entirely.

Alongside this, the Bill introduces new protections around zero-hours and low-hours contracts. Workers who regularly work more hours than their contract states will gain the right to request a contract that reflects their actual working pattern. Employers will need to respond to such requests within a defined timeframe and will only be able to refuse on specific, justifiable grounds.

The Bill also strengthens protections for workers during pregnancy and following a return from family leave. Dismissal during these periods will become significantly harder to justify, and the burden of proof will shift further towards the employer. If you haven't reviewed your family leave and maternity policies recently, now is the time.

The practical message for employers is clear: the informal, light-touch approach to managing people that many businesses have relied upon is no longer viable. Robust recruitment processes, well-structured probationary periods, clear documentation, and consistent management practice are no longer nice-to-haves - they are essential. If you're not sure where to start, a conversation with an HR consultant before October will be time and money well spent.

For the past four decades, UK employers have operated with a degree of comfort during an employee's first two years of service. If a hire didn't work out, the employer could part ways without the risk of an unfair dismissal claim - provided they avoided automatically unfair reasons such as whistleblowing or pregnancy. That comfort blanket is being removed.

From October 2026, employees will be able to bring an unfair dismissal claim from their very first day of employment. This doesn't mean employers can never dismiss someone in their first year - it means that when they do, they must be able to demonstrate a fair reason and a fair process. The Employment Tribunal will scrutinise both.

The fair reasons for dismissal remain the same: capability, conduct, redundancy, statutory restriction, or some other substantial reason. What changes is that employers can no longer rely on the absence of qualifying service as a defence. Every dismissal, from day one, must be justifiable on its merits.

This makes your probationary period process more important than ever. A well-structured probation - with clear objectives set at the outset, regular check-ins, documented feedback, and a formal review - gives you the evidence base to act if someone isn't meeting the standard. Without this structure, dismissing a new employee becomes significantly riskier.

Employers should also review their recruitment processes. The more rigorous your selection process, the less likely you are to make a hire that doesn't work out. Structured interviews, skills assessments, and thorough reference checks all reduce the risk of a poor appointment - and reduce the likelihood of ever needing to have a difficult conversation about performance in the first few months.

If you're concerned about how this change affects your business, the time to act is now - not in October. Review your probationary period policy, ensure your managers understand their responsibilities, and make sure your documentation practices are up to scratch. An HR consultant can help you identify the gaps and put the right processes in place before the changes take effect.

Zero-hours contracts have long been a feature of the UK labour market, offering flexibility for both employers and workers. But the Employment Rights Bill significantly changes the landscape for businesses that rely on them. Understanding the new rules - and acting on them before October - is essential.

The core change is the introduction of a right for zero-hours and low-hours workers to request a contract that reflects their regular working pattern. If a worker has consistently worked a certain number of hours over a reference period, they will be entitled to ask for a contract that guarantees those hours. Employers will be required to respond within a set timeframe and will only be able to refuse on specific, prescribed grounds.

This doesn't mean zero-hours contracts are banned - they remain a legitimate arrangement, particularly for genuinely variable work. But employers who have been using them as a default, even where workers have predictable and regular hours, will need to review their arrangements. Using a zero-hours contract to avoid giving workers the security they've effectively already earned is no longer defensible.

The Bill also introduces protections against the practice of 'last-minute' shift cancellations. Workers who have a shift cancelled or curtailed at short notice will be entitled to compensation. The exact notice periods and compensation rates are still being finalised in secondary legislation, but employers should begin reviewing their scheduling and communication practices now.

For businesses in hospitality, retail, care, and other sectors that rely heavily on flexible staffing, these changes require a genuine rethink of workforce planning. The starting point is a thorough audit of your current zero-hours arrangements: who is on them, what hours they actually work, and whether those arrangements are genuinely flexible or simply a way of avoiding employment obligations. An honest assessment now will save significant headaches later.

Until now, many employers have treated probationary periods as little more than a formality - a box to tick before confirming someone's employment. From October 2026, that approach carries real legal risk. With employees able to bring unfair dismissal claims from day one, the probationary period becomes your primary mechanism for managing performance risk in the early months of employment.

A legally robust probationary period starts before the employee's first day. Their contract should clearly set out the length of the probation, the standards expected, and the process that will be followed if those standards aren't met. Ambiguity at this stage creates problems later - if an employee doesn't know what's expected of them, it's very difficult to justify a dismissal on capability grounds.

During the probationary period, regular structured check-ins are essential. These don't need to be lengthy or formal, but they should be documented. A brief written record of what was discussed, any concerns raised, and any support offered creates the evidence trail you need if you later need to take action. Without documentation, your position in any Tribunal claim is significantly weakened.

If performance or conduct concerns arise during probation, address them promptly and directly. The instinct to wait and see - hoping things will improve on their own - is understandable, but it works against you. Early, honest feedback gives the employee the opportunity to improve, and demonstrates that you acted fairly. If improvement doesn't follow, you have a clear record of the concerns raised and the support provided.

The formal probationary review at the end of the period should never be a surprise. If you've been having regular conversations throughout, the employee should know where they stand. The review is an opportunity to either confirm employment with confidence, extend the probation with clear targets, or - where necessary - end the employment with a documented, fair process behind you.

Getting probationary periods right is one of the highest-value investments you can make in your HR processes right now. If your current approach is informal or inconsistent, October is the deadline you need. A Salus HR consultant can help you design a probationary framework that protects your business and sets your new starters up for success.