We believe the expectations between Made Tech and staff create a healthy tension that has a positive impact on both in equal measure. Occasionally these expectations will not be met for one reason or another. If Made Tech is not meeting the expectations of staff, an employee can raise an issue.
In the case where an employee is not meeting the expectations of Made Tech or another member of staff we can perform an expectation health check. This document outlines the procedure.
Before a health check is requested, we recommend issues are raised as informally as possible. Very much similar to the start of our raising an issue guidance we recommend the following steps.
The first thing you can do, if you feel comfortable and able, is raise the issue directly with the person involved. This type of direct and informal approach is encouraged and we expect your colleagues who are approached responsibly to respond in a similar manner. By vocally mentioning that an expectation is not being met or that performance is less than expected, the member of staff can reflect and work to improve the situation, seeking help where necessary.
If you feel unable to have a conversation directly with the person involved, and they are a member of staff at Made Tech then you can encourage them to discuss the issue in their next line manager 121 session by raising the feedback through that process.
Feedback provided this way is not anonymous but can add a layer of indirection and ensure that the issue is discussed with another member of the team. We hope this will trigger conversations amongst those in the session and we would expect proactive action to happen off the back of that session.
You may ask a colleague or director to intervene informally on your behalf. In some situations you may not feel able to directly approach the person or people involved and so going via a third party to informally raise your concern for you is another option available to you.
If the previous steps have not led to expectations being met or performance being improved then you can request a health check. You can request a health check from a Director. Once you request a health check the following steps will be taken:
- Director will book a meeting in ASAP with whoever requested a health check to discuss their concerns
- If the Director feels appropriate informal steps have been unsuccessful in improving the situation a meeting will be booked with the employee concerned to discuss the issue and the impact it's having on the organisation
- If the issue is not addressed within two weeks or the situation escalates then the Director will notify the employee that an expectation health check will be performed
The purpose of a health check is to clearly identify expectations that are not being met and then to define clear steps to be taken to resolve the situation. Health checks are a slightly more formal process for being explicit about issues, it is not a capability procedure or performance review.
The following steps will be taken in order to perform the health check:
- Director will book a meeting with the employee who has been identified as not meeting expectations, the purpose of the meeting is to clearly define expectations that are not currently being met, these expectations will then be sent in writing to the employee along with instructions for next steps
- The employee will be asked to identify causes (illness and mental wellbeing are valid causes!) for why the expectations are not being met and define steps that can be taken to address the situation
- The employee will then be invited to share their thoughts ahead of another meeting
- During the next meeting the Director will either agree with, or suggest changes to the employees identified causes, steps for addressing and a timescale in which they are to be addressed. If the employee has been unable to identify causes and steps for addressing the Director will define these with the employee
- The plan will then be sent in writing to the employee
- On a weekly basis the plan will be reviewed and based on feedback from both the employee and if necessary their colleagues the Director will track progress towards achieving the plan
- We expect the health check to be reviewed and resolved within the defined timescale
In some cases, the health check will be unsuccessful in its aim of addressing unmet expectations. In this case, our formal capability procedure will be followed.