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If you’re here, then you probably have an under-performing employee and need some guidance on what to do. The answer is not easy, and it’s not simple. Ideally, you can move the under-performing employee into a state of average performance or even highly productive performance. Unfortunately, that may not be the case and you may need to part ways. Regardless, you must deal with an under-performing employee as soon as possible.
Leading Under-Performing Employees
Is the Leader the Problem?
You’re the leader, right? So, you need to start with introspection. If you have someone on your team that is under-performing, you need to know if you are the problem. I have a consultant/friend who was asked by a c-suite exec to come in and help his VPs with performance. They were not meeting expectations at all. After a short amount of time, my friend realized the VPs weren’t the problem, his client was. So, he scheduled time to tell him the issue was not the VPs, his contract was ended immediately.
This may be the start of another blog post, because I think I could go much deeper on this subject alone, but for now, let’s assume the problem is not you.
Is the Expectation the Problem?
How do you know the employee is under-performing? There must be a standard by which you measure the performance of your staff. I’ve used 9-box, or even a simpler 3-part measurement: Needs Improvement, On Track, or High Performing. I really like the latter, because it forces you to put names in each category, and it requires you to synthesize multiple, complex aspects of performance into something simple.
However, it can be incredibly difficult to measure the performance of employees by an objective standard. Every person is different, and measuring people by comparison is not ideal. So spend some time to consider what high performance means to you in the context of your team and even within the context of the individual, and start from there.
You may have some homework to do in this area, but again, let’s assume the problem is not the expectation.
Types of Under-Performing Employees
The Hero
Wait, I thought we were talking about under-performance? A heroic employee can be an under-performer. In fact, you may be here because you have an employee who deals in heroics. He or she may like to save the day, keep knowledge tight to the chest, and demean other team members who can’t keep up.
Depending on their motivation and the circumstances, these people can be toxic to team performance. Exceptional knowledge in one area doesn’t exclude them from their obligation to perform in other areas, like relationships. If you do nothing, your organization will lose talent – from your team, or perhaps from the teams you work with. There is a time for heroics in a team, but it should not be frequent. If it is, you likely have a leadership problem that goes beyond the team.
The Disengaged Employee
In this post-Covid world we live in, this is becoming increasingly common. Personally, I think “Cameras On” should be a requirement, with few exceptions. If your team members can’t get presentable enough to get on camera for a meeting, in general, that’s a problem. If you don’t expect cameras to be on, and maybe more so if your camera isn’t on during meetings, a disengaged employee is inevitable.
Keep in mind, having a camera on doesn’t actually ensure a team member is engaged, but it can be a pretty good indicator. Here’s a guy who recorded himself for video meetings, and nobody knew. 🙂
I had a team-member once, an intern, actually, who would fall asleep at her desk, read unrelated books, and generally wasn’t present. As a new leader, I chocked it up to the fact that she had a full course-load at school and was working more than one job. What I didn’t realize was how detrimental it was to the team. I had high performers coming to me with concerns and wondering why I wasn’t doing anything about it. One even made the comment, “if you let her do it, what stops other people from doing it?”. So, I let her go.
A disengaged employee represents an unknown opportunity cost to your team. For the same wage, can you find someone who is passionate about the work and the people they work with? Probably. I’m not suggesting you start with letting them go. Have “the talk” with your team member. I’ll cover “The Talk” in the next post.
The Toxic Team Member
I’ve heard the term narcissist used to describe these types of people. They focus on what they need, what they want, how they feel, and they don’t really care much how they affect others. Without prompting, they will tell you about how bad other employees are at their jobs. They may have odd outbursts in stressful meetings, and they tend to always bring a problem without a solution. It’s strange, but as I recollect, it seems these people tend to get promoted. Perhaps that’s where office politics come from?
You may be thinking, this person is more work then they are worth, and you might be right. Even though you put in the effort to make things work for them, you likely come up short every time. Leaders from other teams might be reaching out to share concerns, to offer help, or to complain. Either way, you can’t leave them be for long, or like the hero, these people will drive good talent away from your organization.
The “Trying but Failing” Employee
This team member might be out of their league. It’s not their attitude, it’s not their desire, it’s their ability to do the job you pay them to do. Perhaps they were promoted too soon, or perhaps they interviewed really well, but totally flopped when they walked in the door. Generally speaking, they are a nice person, in fact, they may be trying to make up for their lack of ability, by building strong human relationships within, and outside of, the team.
Like the hero, and the toxic team member, you must consider the opportunity cost. Perhaps that’s what makes it so difficult. The idea that we can be friends at work, or the fact that it’s easier to let someone who’s not very good at what they do keep their job, than it is for you to find a replacement, makes being a leader tough sometimes. Leadership is not for the faint of heart. It’s not for the introvert that avoids conflict, or the heavy-handed ruler of people. No, these are all people. People who have families, who have bills, and who genuinely want to be appreciated for the hard work they do.
So as we think about “The Talk”, let’s start with considering their humanity before we deal with their ability. In our next post, we’ll jump into having “The Talk” including how to prep, having the conversation, and follow-ups with your employee.