Follow Up When an Improvement Action Was Not Attempted

An agreed improvement action has little value until someone tries it in the work itself. When an employee has not attempted the action, a manager should address the missed commitment promptly. The conversation needs to cover what happened, what made the action difficult, and what will occur before the next review.

Bring the prior agreement and the relevant work examples. Avoid arriving with a judgment about motivation. The employee may have faced a changed priority, misunderstood the action, or chosen not to do it. Each explanation calls for a different manager response, and the record should describe facts rather than guess at intent.

Manager Emilio said, “Last Tuesday we agreed you would send the project summary before the client call. I do not see one in the account file. What happened?” Rae answered, “I planned to, but the technical issue took the whole morning.” Emilio asked, “When did you know the summary would not be ready?” Rae said, “About an hour before the call.” Emilio replied, “The client still needed a clear update. Next time, send me a note when that risk appears so we can decide who prepares it. For Thursday’s call, draft the summary by Wednesday at three and bring it to our check-in.”

The manager has made the expectation concrete and connected it to the customer impact. If a pattern continues, the manager should use the organization’s approved performance process and consult the appropriate HR contact. A single missed action should still receive a direct conversation.

At the next check-in, ask the employee to show the attempted action or the message used to escalate a blocker. Compare it with the original agreement. Record the completed step, any barrier, and the next deadline in plain language so both people can see whether the plan is moving.