Why charities can no longer afford to let poor performance drift

At her three-month probation review, however, her manager identifies some concerns. Susan is taking longer than expected to complete tasks, making mistakes and needing more support than anticipated. The line manager discusses these issues with her and agrees some areas for improvement.

By the six-month probation review, there has been some progress, but not enough for the manager to be completely confident. Wanting to be supportive, they decide to confirm Susan in post, believing she simply needs more time. The decision is signed off by their own manager.

Over the next 16 months, Susan's performance never quite reaches the required standard. Some weeks are better than others, but the concerns never disappear. Her manager is inexperienced and dislikes difficult conversations. Rather than addressing the ongoing issues directly, they continue offering encouragement, extra support and repeated opportunities to improve, hoping things will eventually click into place.

Unfortunately, they don't.

Almost two years after Susan joined, the problems are now becoming much more serious. Deadlines are being missed, colleagues are becoming frustrated and the manager is spending increasing amounts of time checking Susan's work.

Susan also complains that she has too much work to do.

The reality, however, is that the workload is shared equally across the team, and everyone else is coping well. The issue isn't the volume of work, it's that Susan is struggling to perform the role.

The charity finally decides it's time to seek HR advice from Action Planning.

Action Planning HR expert Tracy Madgwick writes:

Here’s a very common scenario that our HR consultants here at Action Planning are often asked to advise on.

Where did it go wrong?
The problem wasn't recruiting Susan. It wasn’t identifying the areas of concern. The real issue was allowing the performance concerns to drift for almost two years without tackling them properly.

Many managers believe that avoiding difficult conversations is the kind and supportive approach. In reality, the opposite is often true. Employees deserve honest feedback. They need to understand what's expected, where they're falling short and what support is available to help them improve. Hoping the problem will disappear rarely benefits anyone.

What should have happened?
At the end of probation, the charity should have honestly assessed whether Susan was meeting the requirements of the role. If not, it should have considered extending probation (where appropriate) or deciding that the appointment wasn't the right fit.

Once probation ended, the manager should have continued holding regular performance discussions, setting clear objectives, reviewing progress and, where necessary, moving into the organisation's capability process.

Just as importantly, the manager should have been supported. Many managers avoid difficult conversations, not because they don't care, but because they lack the confidence and experience to handle them well.

Why this matters even more today
For many organisations, there has been a temptation to let performance issues drift, believing there was plenty of time before unfair dismissal rights became a consideration.

That approach is becoming much riskier.

For employees starting work on or after 1 July 2026, ordinary unfair dismissal rights arise after six months, rather than two years. Employers now have a much shorter timeframe to recruit well, manage probation effectively and deal with performance concerns promptly.

So what can we take away from this lesson? For me the issue is simple.

Supportive management doesn't mean avoiding difficult conversations. In fact, having honest, respectful conversations early gives employees the best chance of succeeding and helps charities deal with problems fairly before they become much bigger.

The sooner performance issues are addressed, the better the outcome is likely to be – for the employee, the manager and the organisation.

If you think you have a “Susan” in your charity and are not quite sure what to do about it, why don’t you have a free initial call with one of our friendly HR consultants, who will be able help you navigate the challenge. Get in touch