Effective talent recruitment and performance management isn’t just a box-ticking exercise.
Instead, when it comes to meeting challenges like high staff turnover, low team productivity, or widespread employee resentment, it’s fundamental.
That’s true irrespective of the size of your business, or the sector you operate in.
This is especially important following a recent amendment to the UK’s Employment Rights Bill, which reduces the qualifying period for making an unfair dismissal claim from two years to just six months.
If an employee can claim unfair dismissal much sooner following the passing of this updated legislation, then attracting, retaining, and managing new talent becomes even more integral to the success of your company.
Best practices for talent and performance management
Between rising recruitment costs and persistent skills shortages, UK businesses can no longer afford inconsistent management practices, rushed hiring decisions, or unclear employee expectations especially during the first months of employment.
So, what should you do?
Invest in attracting the right talent
Hiring the wrong person is far more costly than many businesses realise.
According to UK recruitment statistics published by StandOut CV, the average cost of hiring an employee is more than £6,000, and it tends to take around 42 days to fill a vacancy.
More worryingly, this source adds that a poor hire at management level can cost a business in the region of £132,000.
When you consider lost productivity, disruption, and rehiring costs, it’s a miracle any business can survive the expense of a poor hiring decision.
Instead of focusing on putting out fires caused by poor (or rushed) hires, the most effective strategy is to save yourself the daily panic, be proactive, and get serious about attracting high-quality candidates before vacancies arise.
Through implementing stringent recruitment processes, focusing on employer branding, and improving onboarding procedures, you can encourage candidates to actively seek you out, reducing both risk and long-term cost.
Equip managers with the right skills
For managers to be able to handle HR issues consistently and fairly, you need to equip them with the confidence and capability to do so.
That means ensuring they receive specific training in this area – something that UK businesses often neglect.
In fact, a nationwide study, conducted by CMI in partnership with YouGov, into the state of UK management and leadership, found that while 25% of people in the workforce have management responsibility, only 18% of managers have any kind of formal training.
This goes some way to explaining why so many managers seem to have learned on the job – which really means having survived ‘trial by fire’.
However, this skills gap creates perfectly avoidable performance issues, inconsistent decision-making, and greater exposure to potential employee disputes under the updated legislation.
By investing in proper management training, UK businesses can protect themselves, strengthen their in-house leadership capability, and create a culture where staff performance issues are handled proactively rather than reactively.
Arrange regular performance reviews
Between constant emails and endless meetings, finding time for regular performance and feedback reviews isn’t always easy.
But the reality is these conversations aren’t optional anymore; they’re essential for maintaining clarity, accountability, and momentum across your business.
These structured meetings foster a culture of continuous improvement, support the detection of small issues before they escalate into full-blown HR issues, and help to keep expectations on both sides fully aligned.
Essentially, they reduce any frustration between managers and their teams – which is something that every business should be aiming for!
Implement clear policies for managing performance
As a manager, addressing underperformance or conflict can be the most challenging part of the position – particularly when wider performance management processes are unclear or inconsistent.
Whether the problem is low productivity, team resentment, or high staff turnover, even the smallest of niggling issues can quickly develop into migraine-inducing, HR headaches without appropriate intervention.
That’s why the creation of clear policies alongside a fair and structured performance management system is key.
This helps set clear expectations, create opportunities for constructive feedback, and ensure managers can intervene early if an employee is consistently falling short.
In short, managers can feel empowered to make confident, evidence-based decisions, while employees understand exactly what good performance looks like, what support is available, and what happens if standards aren’t met.
How can Peach Law help?
A cost-saving and flexible alternative to an in-house specialist, we’re an approachable extension of your team, providing you with expert HR advice when you need it most.
Be it consistent underperformance or rushed hiring decisions, you can trust our team of HR consultants to recommend the appropriate solution for a wide range of issues facing your business.
Whether that’s improved performance management, professional recruitment support, smoother onboarding processes, set probation reviews, or even targeted disciplinary action, we’re on hand to help.
To discuss your needs, you can either reach out online or get in touch via:
Phone: 0161 478 3800
Email: joanne.wilson@peachlaw.co.uk
