There is nothing more frustrating than when a member of the team isn’t pulling their own weight or fails to meet expectations. For a manager, this is frustrating and disappointing, but for the rest of the team, it can be one of the key ingredients for a toxic work environment. So, what do you do about it? Here are the three most important questions to start with…and those questions aren’t for the under-performer in question. They’re for you.
- Does the employee know the expectations and are they clear on their role in the organization and day to day responsibilities?
- Have they been given regular and clear training, process documentation, and regular and direct feedback from you?
- Are they aware they are underperforming?
These questions may sound silly, but oftentimes underperforming employees lack clear direction from their supervisors, aren’t given regular feedback about their performance, and as a result, aren’t aware of whether or not they are meeting expectations. I once worked with a client who was frustrated by a member of his team who “hadn’t done anything in the last 6-12 months”. That was the first red flag – how does a manager allow behavior, or in this case perceived under-performance to continue for that long? So much time had passed that this leader had let the feelings of frustration fester into feelings of deep resentment and he was ready to write up a performance improvement plan (PIP) for the employee in question.
Without getting off track, I encourage you to read this pointed post from Forbes on PIPs. It is a message many need to hear about performance improvement plans and it emphasizes the importance of open dialogue between managers and staff and understanding the root cause of performance issues.
Now back to my client. Instead of taking the PIP route, we sat down and reviewed the questions above.
Does the employee know the expectations and are they clear on their role in the organization and day to day responsibilities?
Answer: The employee’s job description had not been updated in 7 years and the employee was promoted 3 years ago without any update to the job description or documentation of the new role and the responsibilities that came with it.
Have they been given regular and clear training, process documentation, and regular and direct feedback from you?
A: The employee had received one annual review in his seven years with the company. The manager who wrote the review was no longer with the organization. The new manager had occasional, informal meetings with the employee (every few months).
Are they aware they are underperforming?
A: The employee’s last (and only annual review) was glowing. No other negative feedback or concerns were documented in the employee file or communicated in person or via email to the employee by the current supervisor.
At this point, I began thinking writing a PIP would be a whole lot easier than what really needed to happen. My client needed to start back at the beginning with a proper definition of the role and the expectations. Goals and key performance indicators needed to be defined, documented, and shared with the employee. We needed to compare the employee’s skills and experience with the role to identify any training or professional development opportunities. What we created was a plan, but not a PIP.
Once all of the documentation was prepared, my client was ready to meet with the employee to provide all of the information on the role and responsibilities and specific examples of how expectations weren’t met in the last 6-12 months. This was not a punitive conversation, the focus was on equipping the employee with the tools and information they needed to be successful. After all, an employee with seven years of organizational knowledge is a valuable resource and worth trying to rescue.
In addition to the three primary questions, there needed to be a conversation about why the employee didn’t raise any flags to the supervisor or HR about the lack of work they were being given, or the company’s failure to present interesting and challenging projects. In my client’s case, the employee was not the self-directed type and was intimidated by leadership and afraid to come forward and ask for more work or direction. There’s a larger project there related to company culture, but that’s for another post entirely.
So in my client’s case, we were able to rescue a dedicated and knowledgable employee, extinguish the frustration and resentment the supervisor was feeling, and create a sense of direction and a path forward for both. If you’re looking for an employee performance improvement plan, try this approach first.