Kuba is the Founder of Zety — a career advice site visited by over 40 million readers a year.
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For most companies, having a lagging employee on the team is a luxury they can't afford.
After all, underperformance is often frustrating, causes projects to drag out, and it can generally have a ripple effect on other team members. If you don’t grasp the nettle before it grows, the struggling worker might eventually become a profit-killer for your organization and a time-drainer for you as a manager.
The good news?
There are ways you can help an underperformer turn around without bruising their feelings. Here’s how to get started:
Unearth the root of the problem.
Sometimes, people just aren’t cut out for the job. In a case like this, you should think long and hard before investing your time and effort in them.
That being said, I've found that more often than not, performance friction happens because the person lacks either the skill or motivation needed. If it's a skill gap, it's nearly always fixable and requires time, resources and support. If the employee has lost steam, however, it'll take an honest conversation to learn why things aren't clicking. Perhaps they are having trouble coping with the stressors brought on by today's daunting circumstances, or maybe they aren't aware of your managerial expectations.
Whatever it is, put in the legwork to identify the root of the problem before taking action on poor performance.
Be crystal clear about expectations.
A 2015 Gallup poll found that nearly half of U.S. employees weren't aware of what management expected of them. Now that most businesses have switched to telecommuting, there's a good chance things have only deteriorated.
After all, most workers no longer get to share a physical space with direct managers, and, as a result, they might not have a clear idea of what's expected of them. That can lead to major misalignment, particularly for new hires who have never set foot in your brick-and-mortar office.
Luckily, there are a few things you can do to communicate your expectations:
• Roll out an objectives and key results methodology to ensure the lagging employee understands the full scope of their position.
• Have an open-door policy that encourages workers to discuss role-specific questions they might have.
• Always set specific, measurable, achievable, results-oriented and time-bound (SMART) goals.
• Continually paint a picture of what success looks like in the person’s job.
Give an exorbitant amount of feedback.
When you notice that someone is veering off into underperformance territory, you need to take action immediately and provide as much feedback as possible.
For starters, put together three to five concrete examples of the mistakes the struggling employee is making. Below are some questions to guide you:
• What was the last task they delivered subpar work on? What made it subpar?
• Did their output let the team down? If so, how did it impact their colleagues and the team in general?
• What are the things the lagging employee does or doesn’t do compared to their more successful colleagues?
Next, set up an out-of-turn one-on-one meeting with the underperforming employee and present your feedback. When you explain what’s not working, ask them politely to repeat it back to you to ensure you’re both on the same page.
Lastly, pen a well-defined list of SMART goals for the struggling employee to deliver on in the next 30 to 90 days, depending on the nature of their role. Having measurable goals will help gauge if the employee is actually making progress and provide tangible evidence they are moving in the right direction.
Don’t be stingy with praise.
One of the challenges of being a manager is giving meaningful recognition to employees.
According to the Harvard Business Review, most managers assume it's their duty to correct direct reports when they lose the ball, whereas giving props is optional. As a result, nearly 40% of leaders avoid praising their workers.
But, giving recognition for a job well done can make the difference between sparking motivation and making an employee give up. That's why if you see tangible, positive changes in the employee's performance, say so to acknowledge you're paying attention. Here are a few ideas on how to praise struggling employees for making progress:
• Recognize the employee's efforts in your next one-on-one meeting.
• Give them a shoutout in one of your upcoming LinkedIn posts.
• Deep-dive into their work, find something you like and let them know you like it.
• Give them props at your next team meeting or during the all-hands.
Managing an employee who's struggling to execute on their deliverables can be challenging. But with the right on-the-job training, supervision and support, you can almost always get a "bad hire" back on track, as long as they align with your core company values.
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