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A clear Poor Performance Policy template that supports fair, consistent performance management and shows commitment to a supportive process.
1 Purpose
The purpose of this policy is to provide a clear framework for managing situations where an employee’s performance falls below the expected standards. This policy ensures that poor performance is addressed fairly, consistently, and with a focus on improvement, while giving employees the opportunity to succeed in their role.
2 Scope
This policy applies to all employees of [Organisation Name] and covers instances where performance issues are identified due to lack of skills, knowledge, effort, or failure to meet key job requirements.
3 General Principles
Employees will be treated fairly and with respect at all stages of the process.
Performance concerns will be identified early and communicated clearly to the employee.
Support will be provided to help employees improve their performance, including training, guidance, or reasonable adjustments.
The policy ensures a consistent approach to managing performance issues across the organisation.
Employees will have the opportunity to respond to concerns and be accompanied at formal meetings.
The policy does not apply to performance issues arising from conduct or behavioural concerns, which are handled under the Disciplinary Policy.
3.1 Identifying Poor Performance
Poor performance may include, but is not limited to:
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This policy helps organisations manage poor performance in a fair, consistent, and supportive manner.
It offers managers a clear process for identifying and addressing performance issues early on.
Employees benefit from a structured approach that prioritises improvement, communication, and fairness.
Adopting this policy reflects a commitment to treating employees with respect and supporting them in reaching their full potential.
Yes. This template has been designed for organisations of all sizes, including small businesses, charities and growing employers. It follows UK employment law best practice and can be adapted to suit your organisation.
Our templates are developed with UK employment legislation, Acas guidance and HR best practice in mind and are reviewed and updated as relevant requirements change. However, every employment situation is different, so the template should be adapted to the circumstances and checked against the employee's contract and your organisation's procedures before use.
Yes, we highlight the areas of the document that you need to update with your own details, and where you need to make decisions to suit your situation. This saves you time and ensures that you meet best practice.
Yes. Once purchased, you'll be able to download it instantly. Templates are provided in editable format (such as .doc or .xls) so you can customise them easily, and in PDF format for easy sharing.
If you're looking for broader support, we also offer toolkits and library bundles that include the Poor performance policy template, along with other HR templates and policies for fully managing your situation. These may be more cost-effective if you need deeper advice.
AI can produce a document quickly, but effective HR documentation needs to be more than well-written words. It needs to reflect relevant UK employment law, HR best practice, practical considerations and the circumstances in which it will be used. These resources have been professionally developed around that wider HR context, drawing on extensive practical experience, rather than simply generating a generic document from a prompt.
How this content is developed and reviewed
The Poor performance policy template is developed using a practical HR methodology that considers current UK employment legislation, ACAS guidance, CIPD good practice and the real-world HR process it supports. Templates are regularly reviewed and updated, with additional reviews triggered by significant changes to legislation, guidance or established HR practice, helping ensure each document remains practical, relevant and suitable for UK employers.
Darryl Horn, Chartered HR Director
Darryl is a Chartered HR professional with over 25 years' experience in senior HR and employee relations roles.
He has extensive practical experience of managing conduct processes and founded hrdocbox to provide businesses with practical, professionally developed HR resources grounded in UK employment law and best practice.
HRDocBox has been creating practical UK HR documents since 2009.
"Darryl provides support and advice with excellent judgement, and has a strong understanding of people, policies and UK employment legislation."
"He is someone I trust; consistent, dependable, and committed to doing things properly."
Conduct policies
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