One of the duties of being a business leader or managing is having to hold difficult conversations with staff. This can be uncomfortable all parties, but it’s essential if you want your team to really succeed.
When a member of staff is underperforming, it is vital that you act. Here is a step-by-step approach to identifying and rectifying performance issues within your business.
Why does performance management matter?
Companies who effectively manage the performance of their employees will see increases in both employee retention and employee engagement.
It is a sign of leadership to look after employees and work alongside them to rectify issues and encourage better performance. The impact on your company culture will be huge. Employees will feel more engaged, happier and open in the workplace.
How do you identify underperformance?
One of the most obvious signs that something is wrong, is a decline in work quality or quantity. Has an employee’s output decreased significantly? Is the work they are turning out not up to their usual standard? Everyone has off days, but if an employee is consistently producing work that’s not up to scratch, this could be a sign of burnout or underlying performance issues.
Another red flag is changes in behaviour or attitude at work. If an employee who is usually active and engaged becomes irritable or apathetic, it might be time to step in and open up a conversation – even if it’s not currently affecting their output or productivity, having respectful channels of communication that go beyond work metrics are what’s going to keep an employee happy, improve job satisfaction, and ultimately boost their performance.
Communication breakdowns are another area that can signify underperformance – failure to respond to feedback, communicate on the progression of tasks or avoiding discussions about work are all indicators of underlying issues.
It’s important to note that other team members may notice a decline in someone’s performance before management does. Pay attention to any complaints or comments made by staff, as these will signal where an employee might need some extra support.
How should you conduct an effective performance meeting?
Once you have identified the signs, holding a performance meeting will give both parties the chance to explain themselves. In this, you can explore exactly what’s going wrong and hopefully put the steps in place to improve things.
During this meeting, it is important to foster trust, in private and comfortable surroundings. You should review their performance, provide feedback, set goals, address any concerns each party might have.
Start with their strengths
It’s important not to go in all guns blazing, even if you feel an employee is severely underperforming. You never know what’s going on in someone’s personal life, so making sure you understand exactly why someone is struggling at work is crucial for addressing your concerns professionally and respectfully.
A good way to approach this is to start by acknowledging an employee’s strengths and accomplishments, before you move on to areas for improvement. Make sure they understand that they are a valued member of the team and that you are there to offer support where they need to improve.
Actively listen
When you’re managing poor performance, you have to remember to be an active listener – allow the employee space to give feedback and reflect on how they feel they are being managed at work. They might be experiencing issues as a team member that you weren’t even aware of, such as dealing with toxic behaviour from another employee or feeling overwhelmed with their current workload.
Set clear goals
Without defined objectives, managing underperformance will go nowhere. Set out clear, achievable goals with metrics designed to give employees the steps they need to take in order to get to where you’re asking them to go. These goals need to be realistic, relevant, and ideally time-bound so you can put a plan in place to reflect on their progress.
When you’re setting goals, it’s also important to focus on specific work behaviours, rather than personal attributes or things you just don’t appreciate about the employee. Focus on their output, tasks, and job duties that fall under their specific role, and define objectives based on these.
A good way to conclude your chat is by writing down a clear and concise plan for you both to refer back to over time.
It is important to give employees who are experiencing performance issues the chance to improve before more severe action is taken. Having an actionable plan for improvement will allow them to take away areas to work on, in order to improve their performance in the long run.
Monitoring and support progress
Following your performance meeting, it’s crucial to maintain a level of support with continuous monitoring and scheduled chats. You could have a specific day in the week or the month that’s dedicated to getting together for a coffee and a chat, or you could arrange for regular reports to be written up by both parties to help manage your experiences and expectations as they develop.
Make sure your regular feedback is realistic and achievable in order to facilitate growth and keep on asking them what they need in terms of support, whether that’s training, check-ins, or something to help them manage their stress outside of work.
Get professional help
Managing staff who are underperforming can be a tricky task. If you don’t get it right, it could lead to increased discontent, disengagement and have a negative impact on your company culture.
Get your performance issues sorted with help from a professional HR expert from The HR Dept.
AUTHOR BIO
Sam is the Marketing Manager for The HR Dept. The HR Dept is a national network of local experts, providing practical and helpful HR advice to SMEs across the country.