How To Write Professional Notice To Non Performer

Dear Experts,

I am working in an Small IT company as HR Executive.
one senior employee had joined our company as DGM- defence Sales, in the year 2011..after joining of his 2 years he was not performing upto mark.
in the year april 2014 we decided to upgrade his position from DGM to Bid Manager..so he can justify his role.
but still we are facing the same problem..his current designation is Bid Manager..but he is doing job like a coordinator.....as he is holding rich experince around 26+ years....smartly he put all the blame to other depart for any incomplete work/task.

Please guide me to write a smart and professional mail as final notice where he has to answer on:

1. no relpy on several mails by his boss..even after so many meeting..no improvement in working style.
2. blaming other depart. for any work.
3. not taking work seriously
4. huge dependency to other depart...so what is his responsibility as bid manager.
5. not taking ownership..as he is the single bid manager in bid depart.

your prompt reply will really appreciate.

Regards
Dimple Singh

What targets were given and by how much has he fallen short?
Was mid term reviews of targets carried out along with corrective steps etc?
Upgrading a non performer is counterproductive and will go against the basic theme of non performance.
You demote non performers and not promote.
Being a bid manager was he having authority over other departments in getting information etc?
Non biased performance review needs to be carried out and if no improvement then he can be given notice and exit route.
As far as drafting a letter/email is concerned
Kindly put up a draft for correction,amendment etc by senior members of forum.
The whole thing need careful handling because non cooperation by other departments does happen and hampers fulfilment of targets.

Dear Dimple,

The problems of this kind arise because of two reasons. One is proper performance targets are not defined. Mr Nathrao has asked this question in the very first sentence. The second is proper system and process might not be defined.

While designing the targets, you need to design these based on (a) direct and indirect costs associated with each department and (b) process flow of each department.

Last but not the least, possibly, at the time of recruitment, the interviewer got carried away because of the length of the experience. Whether the person has requisite job competencies was not ascertained. Today, the person has become a liability.

In the meanwhile, to avoid blame game, is it possible to make concerned departments also to him? With all the associated departments under his wings, he will not have anyone to blame.

As a part of the solution, look for his replacement. Give him/her designation as Senior Bid Manager. Tell this fellow to report to this new person. He will put in his papers within 1-2 months. But this is only ad hoc solution. Some time, you need to design comprehensive Performance Management System (PMS) that assigns scientific targets and eliminates the blame game.

If the solution of Senior Bid Manager is not possible then give him show cause notice for poor performance. When he gives reply, issue warning letter, stating that the reply was not acceptable. After 2-3 months, issue him one more show cause notice. Again tell him that the reply was not satisfactory. Third time issue notice and ask why services cannot be terminated. However, this is long drawn procedure.

As far as draft of notice is concerned, as Mr Nathrao has stated, please write on your own and upload it here. Some senior like me will correct it. This is the internal matter of your company and we the outsiders do not know the facts. Any notice has to be factual and who else than you or your senior would know the facts?

Thanks,

Dinesh Divekar

Dear Experts,

thank you so much for sharing your valuable input.

Please have a look on below draft notice-

To,

Mr. XYZ

Refer to meeting held on 10th July 2015 and meetings we had in last 6Months it is been notified so many times thru discussions and mail complaints received (mail attached) by your reporting Managers at present and past. Finally like to state that I am not receiving any positive response/working feedback from present & left colleagues and reporting Boss, the feedback which I received from said sources it seems you are not at all keen to work seriously and take your job work very casually.

Since your joining in the organization and further to as Bid Manager in the month of April 2014 you are not performing upto the level that been expected/KRA made and get signed by you, resulting to put you in the list of poor performers, which is directly resulting in willful insubordination and gross negligence of duties, in your capacity as Bid Manager (as lead role of bid team).

Also so many meetings and written warning has been given to you till last month for improvement in any of the areas that were cited as needing improvement your work performance continues at an unsatisfactory level. The following problems have been noted within the past years:

1. Your approach towards closure of cases, not able to drive on your own. Lack of self-motivation and interest in case conversions.

2. Not focusing on closing numbers, against your defined target.

3. Lack of leadership quality & understanding business and your role responsibilities

You are further advice to submit your written explanation/confirmation on claim made against you within 7 days. We are giving you this month (August 2015) time frame to justify your work/Role. Else management will be left with no other option but to initiate disciplinary action against you.

I am awaiting for all your suggestion on same.

Regards

Dimple

Who will be signing this letter from your company side?
Draft letter
Please refer to meeting held on ------- between ------,----- on the subject of------.
You have been appointed as---------- with a KRA of -------.
Inspite of reminders there has been considerable shortfall in achieving KRA.
Shortfall in business target have occurred to the tune of Rs--------.
It is also noticed that prompt feedback and reply to emails addressed to you are not being received in time or not at all.
You had been warned earlier on ------(date) for ------(reason) and still no improvement is seen in your performance.
This may please be treated as a final warning calling upon you to improve professional performance and deliver results.
This may be amended to suit your needs.

Dear Dimple,
Good attempt by you to prepare draft of the notice. Kudos to you. Mr Nathrao has shortened the the long draft. There is a reason to it. If you wish to know why notices should be short and crisp then you may call me on my mobile. I will explain to you. Secondly, you have added phrases like "willful insubordination". Mr Nathrao has dropped that also. Poor performance and willful insubordination both are different.
Thanks,
Dinesh Divekar
+91-

Hello Dimple,

I join Dinesh in appreciating you in making the effort to post the draft & inviting suggestions for improvements/corrections.

I would suggest you to REPLACE the line in the end [as per Nathrao's corrected draft]--

"This may please be treated as a final warning calling upon you to improve professional performance and deliver results"

WITH

"This may please be treated as a final warning calling upon you to submit tangible, concrete & actionable steps that will lead to improvement of your professional performance and delivery of acceptable results ON OR BEFORE..........".

In such Letters/communication, NEVER EVER leave things vague/floating as far as timelines & steps are concerned. Put the onus on him to say what he wants to do & then you have measurable parameters to compare later [if mutually agreeable measurable parameters are not possible].

You may include the line you mentioned 'Else management will be left with no other option but to initiate disciplinary action against you'. The consequences ought to be clear to him.

Most likely, this lack of clarity of communication in KRAs, etc @ the beginning COULD have led to this sorry state of affairs.

There's a LOT for the Company also to learn from this incident. Else, this could only repeat.

All the Best.

Rgds,

TS

Hello Dimple,

I join Dinesh in appreciating you in making the effort to post the draft & inviting suggestions for improvements/corrections.

I would suggest you to REPLACE the line in the end [as per Nathrao's corrected draft]--

"This may please be treated as a final warning calling upon you to improve professional performance and deliver results"

WITH

"This may please be treated as a final warning calling upon you to submit tangible, concrete & actionable steps that will lead to improvement of your professional performance and delivery of acceptable results ON OR BEFORE..........".

In such Letters/communication, NEVER EVER leave things vague/floating as far as timelines & steps are concerned.

Put the onus on him to say what he wants to do & then you have measurable parameters to compare later [if mutually agreeable measurable parameters are not possible].

You may include the line you mentioned 'Else management will be left with no other option but to initiate disciplinary action against you'. The consequences ought to be clear to him.

Most likely, this lack of clarity of communication in KRAs, etc @ the beginning COULD have led to this sorry state of affairs.

There's a LOT for the Company also to learn from this incident. Else, this could only repeat with whoever else fills this positions later.

All the Best.

Rgds,

TS

Dear Experts,
thank you so much to all..for sharing such a knowledgeable inputs.
will certainly/definitely (sorry for mistyping it as defiantly) take care of all this advice in future
thanks a lot.
Regards
Dimple
PS: Corrections made by Nashbramhall

I had edited the mistake as "will certainly/definitely (sorry for mistyping it as defiantly)" Somehow the edition could not be incorporated.