As a young manager, the second biggest challenge to get my head around was to identify when lagging performance became poor performance. The biggest challenge was then to determine what to do once that decision was made. The reason tackling poor performance was an even bigger challenge than naming it, was because once I knew what the problem was, I then had to deal with the personality of the poor performer, and as we all know, people react differently to the same information. In those early days of my career as a manager, I was also the youngest in the team and telling someone they weren’t cutting it was particularly daunting for me. I very quickly learned how to do this with damage limitation, and as my experience grew, I learned to help and support the poor performer in a much kinder and effective way. Here is some of what I learned. Managing poor performance can be one of the most stressful parts of managing a team. The problem is of course; good managers know that the vast majority of employees want to come to work to do a good job. When an employee is not performing, more often than not it is either because: a) They are in the wrong job b) They have problems outside of work c) They simply need more knowledge or information or understanding. It takes a skilled and experienced manager to be expert and slick when it comes to raising poor performance. Often teams become less than enchanted with their manager when the manager fails to address poor performance, even when the impact isn’t extreme. One of the most frustrating experiences for a team is when they feel they are carrying a member who is not pulling their weight, frustration can turn to stress when the manager simply does nothing about it Poor performance can appear at any stage in the employment life-cycle. Managers need to be extra vigilant in any trial period. I have seen managers give new employees the benefit of the doubt and live to rue the day they confirmed a permanent appointment, when they had experienced niggling doubts during that time and failed to listen to their intuition. What follows are some simple ways to help both prevent problems and when they do occur, what to do about them. Don’t · Miss the telling signs in the trial period. Follow up on any issues which arise during that time. · Wait until the next performance review. Deal with any emerging problems as soon as they become apparent. · Develop an attitude or fixed view of the employee, there may be many reasons for under-performance · Ignore what other people are saying about someone’s under-performance; subtly check it out, if you don’t at first agree · Wait until a major incident or disaster occurs · Wait until everyone else in the workplace is totally fed up because of the under-performance. · Confuse a performance issue with a conduct problem. Misconduct of course impacts on performance, but they are two totally different issues. · Wait until the under-performer goes off on sick leave. Do · Have a fair and equitable way of measuring performance for all employees · Use your internal policies and procedures for managing under-performance. Your policies should be designed to assist you to get it right. If your policies hinder the process, they need to be rewritten. · Identify the precise areas of under-performance. Exactly what element of performance is the employee not achieving? Performance can be lack of productivity, efficiency, effectiveness, or an under developed skill set for example. · Gather clear examples and facts which demonstrate the level of performance. Do not rely on hearsay, because your boss told you to do it, or niggling doubts. · Keep an open mind about the reasons for under-performance. You do not know what is going on in the employee’s life. Don’t assume they are under-performing and they just can’t hack it. · Talk to the under-performer as soon as possible, and listen to what they have to say. Let them know you are concerned, not accusing. · Ask them about external factors, their own views about their performance, and what they think the expectations of them are. Ask them about training and skill sets. · Develop a clear and SMART action plan. The outcomes of the action plan must actually prove to you that the employee is capable and willing to bridge the performance gap, and be able to sustain it without constant supervision. · Be clear about the time-scale in which you require the performance to improve and for how long before you relax monitoring. · Meet regularly and give honest accurate feedback about their progress. Listen to them and amend the action plan if there are credible reasons for lack of progress, but stick to your agreed time-scale except if there are exceptional circumstances. · Give them every support in terms of training, mentoring, materials and guidance they might need. · Be kind. The majority of people want to do well at work and it can be a nightmare experience for them if for some reason their performance isn’t up to scratch. Genuinely wish them well and hope that they succeed. · Be confident. You know how you want your team to work. Don’t settle for anything less, and expect great not mediocre results for your team. If you manage poor performance well and manage to raise performance, then this not only instils a sense of achievement for the employee, but also gives a great message out to other staff that you are fair and tuned in to what is happening. Your team might not know when poor performance is being tackled. But they certainly do know if it is not being addressed at all. See also Poor performing workers biggest drain on HR departments, survey reveals If you’d like to find out more about Leadership Development and the work we do at People Discovery, then read our great new monthly Ezine: The Extra MILE Why not sign up to get your free copy direct to your mail box and when we send you your first issue, we will also send you a copy of our free E-book “Don’t Just Smile – LAUGH” – The 5 Steps to Guarantee You a Happier Life! |
Christina has managed people for twenty seven years and led hugely successful teams. She has worked with people at all levels in various organisations to help them achieve their potential, and she has been actively involved in the learning and development field in a number of different roles. People Discovery is a Leadership Development coaching consultancy, based in North East England, working globally. By Christina Lattimer Follow us on |
