subject: How To Deal With Poor Performance [print this page] Success as a Team leader or Manager depends on your team working together towards a common goal with everyone pulling their weight. Even one employee with a bad attitude or poor work habits, can seriously undermine the results of the whole team, and if you, as the leader, don't step in to take action, then not only will it damage your reputation as a Leader, it will ultimately affect the morale and performance of everyone.
The challenge with ignoring poor performance is that it spreads. If one person is allowed to get away with persistent lateness, then pretty soon others will notice and think it is OK for them too, and then you won't have just one person late for work every day, you will have a whole team or department. Imagine the cost of that on productivity.
The problem is, we have all been brought up in a world which said 'if you don't have something nice to say, then don't say anything at all.' Yet if we don't tell people what they are doing wrong, then how will they know? People are very poor mind readers.
Poor work habits can take many forms:
persistent lateness to work
showing up late and/or unprepared for meetings
slowness in coming back from breaks
not leaving tools/equipment in the right place
putting dirty or broken tools/equipment away
only doing as much as they have to
treating other team members badly (put downs, sarcasm, bullying)
sloppy work habits
poor quality outputs
poor personal habits
constantly getting into fights/arguments
grandstanding at meetings
saying nothing during meetings and then having plenty to say outside the meetings
gossiping about other team members
saying one thing and doing another
fanning the flames of any kind of potentially negative situation
These are all really annoying habits. However, before you take action it is also important that you ask yourself a few questions:
1.What am I basing my decision of poor performance on - hearsay, assumption, gossip, or hard factual measures?
2.If you can't measure it you can't manage it. How have the measures been created? (some aspect of the job may have changed since the measures were defined)
3.Is this a recruiting problem? (e.g. square peg in round hole)
4.A training problem? (e.g. new employee or new job)
5.Is this a coaching problem? (soft measures)
6.Is this a performance issue? (hard measures)
7.Is it a counselling problem? (personal problems)
8.Is it a perception? (I just don't like the person)
If you have decided that there absolutely is a performance problem, whatever its nature, then to minimize the effects of one employee on the rest of the group, IT IS IMPORTANT THAT YOU TAKE ACTION SOONER RATHER THAN LATER.
A guiding rule is that action absolutely must be taken when:
1. The work habit affects the employee's productivity
2. When it affects TEAM output
3. When it violates organisational policies and procedures
4. When it has simply become too annoying or offensive to overlook
People need to know:
Where they are going wrong
What is expected of them to put that right
How they are doing in relation to the improvements (not just once a year)
That they will be treated with respect throughout the process
That they are valued even despite not being perfect
That they will be supported while trying to improve behaviours/skills
HOW TO DO IT!
1. Describe in detail the poor work habit you have observed.
2. Indicate why it concerns you.
3. Ask for reasons and listen openly to the explanation.
4. Indicate that the situation must be changed and ask for ideas and or suggestions for solving the problem.
5. Discuss each idea and look for the best option (win/win) - offer encouragement and wherever possible use their ideas.
6. Agree on expectations and actions to be taken by the employee
7. Set a follow up date to review progress
8. KEEP THE APPOINTMENT
For example:
1.'I've noticed that you seem to be 10-15 minutes late to work every morning'
2.'This concerns me because other people have to cover for you until you get here, which impacts on their performance'
3.'Tell me what is going on for you ...................'So you and your wife share a car and she works nightshifts which means that she isn't always back in time for you to leave and get here for 8.a.m?'
4.'I can understand that this is a challenge, however I need you to be here to start work at 8 a.m. John, so I would like to hear what ideas you have for that to happen'.
5.'So from what you have told me, you will get your wife to ring you if she is going to be late which will allow you to catch public transport?' I think that is a great idea.
6.So we can agree that you will be here ready to start work at 8 a.m. every morning?'
7.'How about we see how this goes for a month and catch up same time 4 weeks from today?'
8.Diarise the next appointment and make sure you let nothing come in the way of meeting up with this employee to ensure that his time keeping is back on track.
This simple process can't guarantee that employees will turn into angels but it is a good first discussion to have. The worst thing a manager can do is to ignore poor performance, whatever form that takes and hope that it will go away. It won't.
