Getting it right at the beginning of the employment relationship is crucial.

Make sure your terms of employment are backed up with a set of user friendly policies which suit the needs of your business. A new employer should, as part of their induction, be asked to read this and to indicate that they have done so.

We would recommend a long probationary period of 6 months so that if there are any problems a performance review can be set up at the 3 month point.

It is always crucial to tackle ‘difficult behaviour’ as soon as it occurs. A one-to-one discussion asking the employee why they are behaving in this way is essential to ensure they have the opportunity to explain and for you to be able to discount such other factors such as workplace bullying or lack of management resources.

This is also an opportunity to explain what boundaries you have in place and what behaviour is expected from your employee.

An appraisal process is important to ensure that you have a system for your employee to set out their own perceptions of their current skills, training needs and behaviour which you can then comment on. Although the appraisal should be positive they should also include honest comments with action points put in place so that on a set review date you ensure any identified training has been carried out and in some cases the employee’s performance and behaviour is reviewed to ensure that improvements have already been noted.

If improved behaviour has not been the outcome then it is always important to identify whether this comes down to capability ( 'can’t do' )or conduct- ( ‘won’t do’.) Sometimes there are behaviours that are a mixture of both. But it is important to identify the underlying causes in order to be able to instigate some practical measures to resolve matters.

For capability issues this would include training and support, mentoring and setting clear goals with achievable targets which are constantly monitored. Only once this has been done would you move to a disciplinary process whereby warnings could be issued and if no improvement- dismissal.

In relation to conduct, one informal warning may work but if not then you would need to proceed to written warnings and if no change in attitude this might lead to dismissal. If the conduct was seriously out of order this might mean that you would be entitled to dismiss immediately for gross misconduct.

Difficult behaviour also encompasses constant sick leave. Back to work interviews are an important tool to be used for all staff even though you may only have problems with a few members of staff. This is particularly the case where there are frequent and sporadic sick days.

It is important that if issues arise time is spent investigating the root cause of the behaviour rather than jumping to conclusions. As a generalisation a management style which is fair but firm tends to work for both employees and employers.

Fiona Martin is Head of Employment at martin searle solicitors. They are currently offering 50% off all contracts and handbooks in May 2011