Employee development is a major component of any successful business. Employees aren’t expected to get everything correct 100 percent of the time right out of the gate, and whenever there are issues that need to be addressed with employee performance, corrective action plans are the right tools for the job.
But what are corrective action plans, exactly? These employee development tools are ideal for many reasons, and not just for identifying problem areas. The goal of such plans is to aid employee growth. Here’s what you should know about how corrective action plans look and how they can help.
The Essentials for Corrective Action Plans
Correction action plans can’t be effective unless they have the right combination of elements. Here they are in the following order:
What’s Causing the Problem and What Risks it Poses
A corrective action plan always begins with the cause of the problem that the employee is facing. Additionally, the risks the problem poses to both the employee and the company should be stated in this section as well.
A Detailed Look at the Problem
Next, it’s necessary to go deeper into the problem for a detailed look. This includes examining the actions or behavior of an employee and why these actions are in need of addressing. The more specificity and clarity here, the better.
Plan for Addressing the Problem
The part that puts the “plan” in corrective action plan, this step is for describing each action that needs to be taken. This includes both what the employee needs to be doing as well as what the employee’s manager will be doing to support them. The plan itself should be broken down into a timeline that’s reasonable and achievable.
A List of Everyone Who Has a Stake in the Plan
Next, it’s necessary to create a list of everyone who has a stake in the corrective action plan. Again, this extends well beyond just the employee themselves. In fact, it involves direct supervisors of that employee, the head of their entire department, and anyone else who will be taking a direct role in working with the employee in their attempts to reach their goals and milestones.
Reporting and Metrics for Corrective Action Plans
Corrective action plans aren’t designed to be static documents. The progress an employee makes toward their goals needs to be charted and measured carefully. This provides not just an accountability component but also offers opportunities to revise the plan when necessary. Part of this is keeping a close eye on metrics that can be used to gauge the long-term resolution of the plan. Additionally, this will help motivate the employee to continue with their plan when they can clearly see the progress they’re making towards attaining their goals.
