Five years on from Covid and the resulting move to hybrid working has led to historic underperformance of employees for businesses.

Research of HR professionals* found that over half (55%) said that managing historic performance was the biggest challenge when it comes to performance management. 

Remote and hybrid working made it difficult to monitor and address performance and now the longer term effects of the workplace of the last five years could be this historic underperformance that HR is now battling. 

Toyah Marshall, Head of Team and Solicitor at WorkNest said: “Dealing with chronic or long-term performance issues was ranked as a much bigger challenge than other elements such as the appraisal process or handling grievances as a result of performance issues. The way the working world has changed in the course of the last five years is likely to be a contributing factor. For many organisations, it has created a lag in addressing performance concerns promptly.” 

In good news for businesses however, the actual number of employees who are underperforming appears low. Six in ten (61%) of those asked said that less than 10 percent of their workforce weren’t working at the expected level. 

Toyah added: “For those minority of employees who are underperforming and have been doing so for some time, businesses need to take a proactive approach. This means ensuring managers are confident and equipped to handle these conversations, setting clear expectations, and providing the necessary support for improvement. Consistency and timely intervention are key to preventing these issues from becoming entrenched.”

A further challenge raised by the research was the ability of managers to effectively address performance. Over a third of HR (36%) said they weren’t confident that managers could do so and limited managerial experience or capability was HR’s main concern about tackling issues. 

*Research from WorkNest