Performance conversations: preparing evidence and agreeing next steps
For team leads, supervisors and managers who need to raise a performance gap and agree what happens next, and for HR staff who advise them. Complete 'Performance conversations' first. That course covers how to describe behaviour and impact in the meeting. This one covers the work before and after the meeting: building an evidence record, working out likely causes, writing an improvement plan, knowing when the informal route has run its course, and writing a record the employee sees. UK examples follow Acas guidance. US examples come from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), whose guides cover federal employees. Your own policy and local employment law decide what you must do. This course is not legal advice and gives no HR qualification.
- Level
- Intermediate
- Length
- About 75 minutes
- Contents
- 5 lessons · final exam
- Status
- Published · updated 10 Oct 2026
Skills you'll practise
- Build an evidence record of dated, observable examples measured against the objectives or standards agreed earlier
- Identify likely causes of a performance gap, such as skills, workload, health or environment, before choosing next steps
- Write an improvement plan with specific objectives, support, a reasonable timescale and review dates
- Choose when to move from informal support to a formal capability or performance procedure, and who to involve
- Write a meeting record that separates facts, the employee's view and agreed actions, and share it with the employee
Course outline
- 1.Building an evidence record against agreed objectivesLesson · 14 min
- 2.Identifying likely causes before choosing next stepsLesson · 13 min
- 3.Writing an improvement plan with support and review datesLesson · 14 min
- 4.Choosing when to move from informal support to a formal procedureLesson · 11 min
- 5.Writing and sharing the meeting recordLesson · 8 min
- 6.Performance conversations: preparing evidence and agreeing next steps: knowledge checkKnowledge check · 14 questions
- 7.Performance conversations: preparing evidence and agreeing next steps: practical exerciseKnowledge check · 1 question
- 8.Final exam10 questions · passing it completes the course, so people who already know the material can test out
Sources it draws on
The lessons and questions are written from these references, so learners can go back to the original.
- Acas: Performance management (performance reviews, written records, SMART objectives; reviewed 23 June 2026)
- Acas: Problems with an employee's performance (reviewed 23 June 2026)
- Acas: Dismissals for capability or conduct (reviewed 23 June 2026)
- Acas: Disciplinary procedure step by step, step 1: understanding the options (reviewed 4 December 2025)
- Acas: Disciplinary procedure step by step, step 2: following a fair procedure (reviewed 4 December 2025)
- U.S. OPM: Addressing and Resolving Poor Performance: A Supervisor's Quick Guide (2025)
- U.S. OPM: Performance Improvement Plan: A Supervisor's Quick Guide (2025)
- U.S. OPM: Performance Management Toolkit for managers and supervisors
See it with your own jobs and topics
Tell us about your team and we'll walk you through setup, from choosing jobs to your first skills check.