Comment: Caroline Cooper on dealing with poor performance
05 February 2011
Dealing with poor performance
In my role as a leadership coach there are a few key questions I get asked over and over. They are all presented in a slightly different way, but the themes are the same.
This week I was asked “How do I deal with poor performance in a positive way?”
This is one area that so many people shy away from and then live to regret it. Or worse still, they encourage that person to apply for a job in another department thereby simply moving the problem.
So why is that we hold back? Is it for fear of challenge? “It’s not fair, everyone else does it? Or “It wasn’t my fault.” “I didn’t know that’s what you wanted.” “Why should I care?”
Poor Performance: What?
The first question I ask here is “How do you know their performance is poor?”
That sounds like an odd question, but what I mean is we need to quantify it. What is the gap? What is the performance being compared to or measured against? So this raises the question – are your expectations or standards clear, and have they been communicated? If you get the comment like, “That wasn’t my fault – I was told the wrong things” or “I didn’t know that” be prepared to draw a line in the sand and establish what is expected in future.
What is communicated goes beyond the laid down procedures or standards. What precedent has been set by others, or even by the way you do things? So avoid “What about them, they’re not perfect” by ensuring there are no mixed messages, one rule for one and another rule for everyone else!
In what way has the employee’s performance fallen short? Focus on the facts, not on hearsay or on subjective assessment. Phrases such as “bad attitude” or “poor team player” are intangible – what are the things the employee says or does that give the impression of the bad attitude or poor team player. Be prepared to back this up with specific examples, and ideally ones you’ve observed or heard first hand, opposed to the ‘tell-tale’ feedback from others, which will never carry the same weight, and often ends up with the comment “I bet I know who said that”. The more specific the examples you are able to give the less you will be challenged.
When there are several areas of poor performance it’s tempting to try and address everything in one meeting. The result is overwhelming and demotivating. You are unlikely to see an improvement. Of course, in an ideal world you would nip problems in the bud and avoid having to address multiple issues, but there may be times when you inherit problems and it’s a challenge to know where to start.
Identify which area of performance or behaviour would have the greatest impact if it were improved. Then concentrate on this one first. You might find a knock effect on others, but if not you can address those one by one once you will see improvements in the key area.
