So I’m going to give this a try. Here are some brief, overview types of steps.
1. The mindset to approach this type of situation is never, “I’m going to move this person out”. The mindset is, “If this person is mine to manage and things have not been acceptable, I will take responsibility for it. I will start doing things differently and bring greater clarity to the standards that must be met.”
2. Gather your facts. Specific, evidential examples of work performance that is not meeting expectations. No opinions or emotionalize conclusions. Just the performance or behavioral facts–clear and concise.
3. Meet with the employee. Take responsibility for lax management in the past whether it was you or a predecessor. Express that things now need to be in alignment with current standards and expectations. Using your facts define the gap between current work performance and current expectations. Clarity is your goal here.
4. Provide training and coaching. Where needed support the employee with focused training, follow up check ins, or coaching.
5. Deliver a performance improvement work plan. In some cases a performance improvement work plan can be delivered. These outline what needs to be in alignment by when.
6. Depending on the nature of the situation it could follow several lanes:
1- the employee’s performance turns around
2- the employee’s performance continues to be below expectations and you move on to performance management with the necessary disciplinary steps up to an including a separation of employment.
3- the employee may self-select out.
So, there’s an overarching overview and certainly it is a good idea to partner with HR.
Here is what I want to say though. There is little reason to move someone out just to have them replaced by another person that we’re not going to manage.
Good management practices take care of the “have to move people out mindset”. It keeps things steady and clear, with expectations being upheld, including sometimes letting people go before a situation compounds into a gnarly knot.