Supervisors and managers should meet with all of their employees on a regular basis throughout the rating period to give feedback on the employee’s performance relative to the written performance standards and objectives for the position. This feedback should include both recognition of good performance, and constructive suggestions on aspects of the employee’s performance needing improvement. In feedback sessions, supervisors should share samples of the employee’s work, quality review reports, customer comments, and any other examples of work performance with the employee. These sessions should be documented in the supervisory file. See Section 2: Documentation for more information regarding documentation. If need be, the supervisor can also give the employee a memo covering the issues discussed in the conference. It is strongly recommended that supervisors and managers establish a written schedule of feedback sessions for each employee.

Ideally, a supervisor should meet with each employee on a biweekly basis. When the supervisor has noted a performance problem, he/she should monitor the employee’s work closely and conduct more frequent counseling sessions, possibly on a weekly basis, to assist the employee in improving. The supervisor should develop a written Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) outlining areas needing improvement, and timeframes in which improvement must be made. See Sample Performance Improvement Plans. Your Employee & Labor Relations representative can assist you in developing this plan. If the employee’s performance does not improve in accordance with the corrective action plan, the supervisor should prepare a special performance evaluation.