9 Effective Approaches to Support Your Underperforming Employees in Achieving Success
The world of work has changed dramatically in recent years. There was the pandemic, the resulting ongoing mental health crisis, a reassessment of what's important in work and life, the rise of remote work, and the great layoff. There is a growing awareness of the reality of the workplace - a toxic culture and poor management practices that lead to coping strategies such as "acting for pay" or quietly quitting.
Employee productivity is no longer a given. To identify and manage underperforming employees, a leader must have the right skills, strategies and a high level of emotional intelligence.
However, great leaders focus on high performance, on everyone doing their best, not on preventing poor performance. They strive to empower, inspire and motivate their teams.
Good leaders support their teams in completing their tasks and delivering the expected performance. Great leaders help them realize their potential and thrive at work, which in turn motivates their employees to go the extra mile.
How to identify underperforming employees
How can you tell when someone is not performing as expected? An employee with inadequate performance does not achieve the agreed goals of his job. Poor performance is a recurring problem, not a one-time problem or bug. Below-average performance can occur with any employee - regardless of whether they have just started or have been with the company for a long time.
It is not difficult to identify underperforming employees. The employee does not provide the required performance if he constantly misses deadlines or delivers poor quality work. Your manager may receive complaints from the teams they work with. They are more likely to be absent from work or present but not engaged. In extreme cases, they do not follow company rules or policies, are negative and disruptive.
How inadequate performance manifests itself depends on the type of activity. If a B2B salesperson underperforms, their manager may notice a decline in sales or receive a complaint from a potential customer about delays. Or a low-performing accounting employee's manager may notice errors in his reports and that he isn't following proper approval procedures.
When a team member doesn't perform well, it impacts the team and the company as a whole. The team may feel more stressed, morale may be affected, productivity may decrease, and the overall quality of work is likely to deteriorate.
Why are they not performing as desired?
There can be a number of reasons why your team member is not performing as expected. These can be work-related, organization-related or life-related:
- The employee is not clear about the expectations of his work
- The tasks differ from the original job description
- They don't have the right skills for the job or haven't been trained for it
- There was no or insufficient training
- They don't fit the job well
- Bad leadership
- Bad communication
- Workplace culture is toxic
- Lack of work-life balance, stress or burnout
- Health or personal circumstances
Whatever the reason, if your employee isn't performing as expected, they're unhappy. It is your job as a manager to understand the causes and use your leadership skills and the available organizational tools and resources to help them get back on the right track.
How to deal with underperformance
When dealing with underperforming employees, managers follow a specific process. This process generally includes five phases:
- Preparing information and gathering facts
- Have a conversation with the underperforming employee as soon as possible
- Agree on a performance improvement plan
- Regular control meetings
- Decide on the next steps, e.g. Whether you need to go down the performance management route.
It's important to note that new technologies like AI content analysis can also help identify performance issues and provide data-driven insights.
1.Prepare
Because conflict management and resolution do not come naturally to many of us, managers may avoid dealing with issues of underperformance. However, underperforming employees must be addressed directly and as early as possible.
As a manager, start by gathering the facts and concrete examples of underperforming employees.
At this stage, you should ask the employee's colleagues and other managers for feedback, gather previous performance reviews and your own observations. Be as objective as possible and let the data paint the picture.
2.Be open-minded
Start by understanding why the employee is not performing as expected. Don't assume you know what's going on. When in doubt, be confident and assume the best.
Be prepared to listen to your employees and really hear what they have to say. Practice active listening and ask open-ended questions.
Are they clear about the expectations of their work? Do they have the right skills? Are there any personal or health issues they are struggling with? Are they motivated? Once you understand the cause of the problem, you can work together to develop a solution.
3.Provide resources and support
Be clear about your expectations. Make sure the employee understands what is expected of them in their role, their responsibilities, goals and deadlines.
If the employee does not have the required skills or knowledge, offer them training and development opportunities. Review goals together to ensure they are realistic and not dependent on people or factors beyond the employee's control.
Additionally, using tools like recruiting tools like IceHrm's recruitment management can streamline the hiring process, allowing your team to seamlessly onboard new talent, which in turn can have a positive impact on team performance and productivity.
When setting goals, you should use the SMART framework to ensure they are clear and achievable. For example, if you hire a marketing manager to purchase a domain for a new website, you should clarify your requirements and the criteria for selecting the provider.
4.Help them see the big picture
After the pandemic and two years of uncertainty, many people have reconsidered their living and work situations and have become clearer than ever about their goals, values and priorities. If they can afford it, they prefer to choose work that matters, has meaning and makes a difference.
What the employee does has a direct impact on the company's performance. Help them see this connection. You're not just a product manager - you help the company take its customer service to the next level. They are not just a financial manager - they help find funds to invest in new technologies and promote the growth of the company.
5.When in doubt, communicate too much
Your employees can't read your mind. If you don't tell them, they won't know what you expect and how you view and measure success.
Once you have agreed on a performance improvement plan with the employee, you need to give them regular, straightforward but constructive feedback. Communication in both directions is crucial so that the employee knows how things are going and what they need to continue working on.
Successful managers communicate. They use formal performance reviews to communicate their feedback, but also provide real-time feedback in their interactions with employees and have regular one-on-one meetings.
Tips by Icehrm.com, A promising digital HR platform.