Coaching and Corrective Action Process

Contact the HR Business Partnerships Team (hr-bp@austin.utexas.edu) as soon as possible when there is an employee performance issue. The HRBP Team will help by recommending the most appropriate course of action and guiding any formal corrective action through the proper approval process to maintain fairness and minimize risk to the department and to the university. Be timely; do not delay when there is a performance problem. Timely action shows the seriousness of the problem and provides the employee the opportunity to make immediate improvements.

Upon notification of a potential employee performance issue, the HRBP Team will follow-up with the supervisor for consultation, review the employee’s history and the severity of the current issue, and recommend an appropriate course of action. 

  • Informal Coaching – recommended typically when there is no history of formal corrective action and the infraction is not severe.
  • Formal Corrective Action Letter – recommended typically when there has already been informal coaching and the employee has not improved, or when the infraction is egregious.

A formal corrective action letter can only be issued to an employee after these criteria are met:

  1. ​ The supervisor provides sufficient documentation of the issues.
  2. The supervisor has a discussion with the employee. The letter is not the corrective action; the discussion is the corrective action.
  3. The corrective action letter is vetted and approved through central HR - Strategic Workforce Solutions (SWS).

Document, document, document!

Maintaining thorough documentation of performance issues is key to moving forward with the performance management process.

  •  Keep a supervisory file organized for each of your employees.
    • The supervisory file is an informal organizational tool and should not be confused with the permanent employee personnel file.
    • Supervisory files never contain formal documents that belong in the employee file, and therefore should not be passed down to future managers.
  • Documentation should include dates and what events transpired, any prior communication of expectations, and the employee's response(s) to discussions.
  • Gather both positive and negative observations to be used for performance management and input for performance evaluations.

Points to remember when having a performance discussion:

  • Provide a clear explanation of the unacceptable performance or behavior and resulting business impact.
  • Follow-up with clear expectations of performance or behavior moving forward.
  • Give employee the opportunity to provide their own account of the events.
  • Document the employee's response (this information must be included in the corrective action letter).
  • Ensure that the employee understands the consequences, and that a formal letter may follow.

Employees have the right to file a grievance for a corrective action letter or appeal a dismissal. 

Helpful Resources