Dealing with Poor Performers

In today’s market, employers cannot afford to tolerate employees who are marginal performers. Inevitably, every manager sooner or later will have to deal with a poor performer, an employee who is not successfully performing his or her duties. The key is to monitor employees’ performance frequently and identify performance issues in the early stage before they become problematic warranting disciplinary action. 

 

Poor performers are not always easy to spot but their impact is profound, as they jeopardize the morale, productivity and effectiveness of the entire organization.  By continuously addressing performance issues, employers signal to the entire organization that they do not accept poor performance.  

 

Immediate intervention is necessary. Managers must confront poor performers immediately, when the problem is first detected. Most performance issues can be resolved through early intervention and counseling. Schedule a time to meet with the employee to address the situation. Often this meeting serves as a “wake-up call” to the employee. Employees are more receptive to discussing what needs to be done to improve their performance in this stage without fear of job loss. Commit to investing in your employee to resolve the issue, it’s actually more cost effective to retain than to replace.

 

Identify the cause. To address the issue, employers must understand the root cause. What is causing the employee to fail? Is it a lack of skills, poor work attitude, inability to learn new tasks, or personal problems? Sometimes there are extenuating circumstances beyond the employee’s control that impacts his or her performance. If this is the case, direct the employee to available programs to assist with these issues.

Communicate clearly. Managers must communicate clear and precise performance expectations and standards. The job description, which outlines the scope of work, goals and performance objectives, should be the basis for this discussion. Review the employee’s current level of productivity and performance in relation to the established goals. Then specifically define the performance problem and work together to jointly define solutions. If the employee doesn’t comprehend the expectations, then it becomes virtually impossible for them to meet expectations.

Conduct follow-up. Establishing a specific performance improvement period, of one or two weeks for example, provides the employee the opportunity to concentrate on improving his or her performance. Summarize the specific unsatisfactory occurrences and expectations that must be achieved within this evaluation period.

 

Give timely feedback. Specific, meaningful and frequent feedback is essential to keeping underperforming employees on track. Managers should provide positive, constructive feedback to the employee, whenever possible. This is crucial in ensuring the employee understands what he or she has done right and where additional improvements are needed. Effective communication during this stage is vital and can mean the difference between success and failure.

 

Increase supervision levels. Poor performers often require more of the manager’s time, energy and direction. Managers should monitor progress and address issues in the moment; but don’t lose sight of the goal for the employee to work independently. Consider providing the employee with an opportunity to shadow one of your top-performers. The employee may acquire some effective work habits and time saving tips to enhance their productivity during this process. 

 

Positive reinforcement is a must. It is critical during this time that the manager acknowledge the employee’s performance when he or she does something correctly by recognizing small improvements.   Coaching and positive reinforcement increases the employee’s commitment, understanding and desire to achieve performance expectations.  

 

Provide opportunities for training.  In some situations, additional training, both formal and informal, may be necessary because the employee lacks the skills to perform the job successfully. Training should be offered in a variety of formats including formal classroom training sessions, on-the-job training, seminars and webinars. Training is not a one-time event, but requires ongoing support and guidance to measure the success.