U.S. Office of Personnel Management - Ensuring the Federal Government has an effective civilian workforce

Use the following checklist to make sure that you have completed all the actions related to Step One.

Step One Checklist
Item	Yes	No
Are you sure the issue is primarily a performance problem (as opposed to misconduct)?
Have you communicated performance standards to the employee?
Are the standards clear and reasonable?
Have you asked the human resources staff to review the standards for any possible problems?
Have you told the employee what critical elements he or she is failing?
Have you counseled the employee on how to improve to an acceptable level?
Let the employee know if performance is improving or not!