This is the last article in the Managing Employee Performance Series.

You have an employee that hasn't improved through discussions and finally decide an official probation period is necessary. Meeting with your employee to discuss probation is only the beginning. Now you both have work to do.

Mark your calendar with every deadline you mentioned in the probation memo. You need to follow-up on each one with your employee. Read my Tracking Your Employee's Success or Failure article in this series for more detailed information. Probation periods are usually 90 days because, over time, that's the amount of time that juries have decided is needed to make a real change in someone's behaviors.

Usually the only shortcut to the full 90 days is if your employee is consistently failing to meet the earlier deadlines, making it difficult or impossible for them to successfully meet all expectations within the 90 days. This isn't an automatic end to the probation period but it should definitely be part of the follow-up discussions.

At each deadline you have a follow-up meeting with your employee to discuss whether or not they have met the expectations at that point. Don't move your other deadlines back if they haven't met the earlier deadlines. You need to make it clear that they need to work harder to meet the goals set out in the probation letter.

On the day the probation period is scheduled to end, you must meet with your employee to discuss their status. If they have improved to the level you requested in the probation letter, you congratulate them on successfully improving their performance and inform them that their probation has ended. Keep smiling while you tell them you expect them to keep up the good behavior!

If your employee has been unable to improve sufficiently, now is the time to end the probation and their employment. Be nice but firm. Tell them they did not successfully complete their probation and you have decided to terminate their employment. This is the exit meeting. Have their final paycheck and any other termination paperwork ready before the meeting begins. Keep the meeting short and to the point.

As a side note, I'll make a comment about that final paycheck. I'm a fan of giving two weeks' pay when terminating an employee … if you expect to receive two weeks' notice from an employee who is quitting. However, an employee on probation has had 90 days' notice so I don't recommend paying for additional time in this circumstance.

If you read this whole series, you'll understand why I mentioned at the beginning that a little time spent communicating with your employees each week can save you a lot of time overall. It's also easier for an employee to continually make small corrections rather than big changes after things become stressful.
Good communication helps build a stronger team and improves morale throughout your whole department or company.