How Should We Handle Withdrawing a Warning Letter for a Senior Manager?

Our Directors want to issue a "letter of withdrawal" to an employee regarding a "warning letter" issued recently due to her poor performance. We have issued her a warning letter for her poor performance. She is a senior manager, and now the directors want to withdraw it immediately. I have started the letter like this but need to mention that she needs to do a self-assessment of the points mentioned in the warning letter and submit it to the CFO within 14 days. Also, they need to apologize for issuing the warning letter.

Letter of Withdrawal

Dear Madam,

We are writing to notify you that we are withdrawing the letter of warning dated 1st December 2014. The points mentioned in the letter of warning will be sent to you via email by the CFO for you to review and assess by yourself.

You are further requested to submit a written explanation/feedback in 14 days on your self-assessment as soon as you receive this letter.

Yours sincerely,

Regards

Please help

Dear Irosh, Strange are the ways of your management. Leadership lies in remaining firm. Rolling back decisions erodes the credibility of the management. It appears that they did not anticipate the reaction from the Senior Manager. It seems that upon receipt of the warning letter, she must have retaliated with her resignation. To obviate the void that may be caused due to her resignation, management now wants to withdraw the warning letter.

Anyway, the revised draft is given below. There is no need to directly apologize. A direct apology dilutes the authority of the management.

Date: -

To,

Ms ______

_________ (designation)

Self-assessment of the Performance

Dear Ms _______,

1. We refer to our warning letter issued to you on 1st December 2014.

2. After the issue of the above letter, it was felt necessary to take a second look at the entire process of performance assessment. Considering the nature of your job as well as your seniority, it was decided that you should be given a chance to self-assess. Therefore, it has been decided to withdraw the above letter. Please return the original copy of the letter to the HR Department/CFO. We regret taking this anomalous route for handling performance-related issues.

3. All managers, especially senior managers, need to be self-reflective. However, at times it is far easier said than done. Therefore, to assist you, the CFO will send you an email containing a list of points on which you need to improve. Reflect on these points, create an action plan for improvement, and send this plan to the CFO within 14 days.

4. _______ (name of your company) is on a path of growth. While on this path, sometimes a team member stumbles on a rock. We believe in offering a helping hand. Let us work together to make the journey of our company successful.

Thank you,

_____________

(Name and Designation of the signing authority)

Regards, Dinesh Divekar Bangalore - 560092

Dear Dinesh, I just made it simple. Could you please have a look and make any necessary adjustments?

Letter of Withdrawal

We refer to the warning letter issued to you on December 1, 2014. After issuing the above letter, we reevaluated the entire performance assessment process. Considering the nature of your job and your seniority, we believe you should have the opportunity to self-assess. Therefore, we have decided to withdraw the aforementioned letter. Kindly return the original copy of the warning letter to the CFO. We apologize for taking this unconventional approach in handling performance-related matters.

The CFO will email you a list of areas for improvement. Reflect on these points, create an action plan for enhancement, and send it to the CFO within 14 days.

We look forward to seeing you continue your excellent work and drive the company to new heights of success.

Yours sincerely,