How do I deal with poor performance?
Poor performance is an issue that most organizations are forced to deal with at one point or another. No one feels happy when an employee is not performing to the level that is expected, especially their supervisors. The most difficult part of dealing with poor performance is trying to communicate it to the employee, without hurting his or her feelings. In this article we will review some steps on how to deal with poor employee performance.
Step 1
Communicating expectations and performance problems. Most performance problems can be resolved through effective communication between supervisors and employees. A counseling session will help clarify expectations and discuss performance problems.
The target of this discussion should be to tell the employee exactly what is expected to be done to bring performance to an acceptable level. It is critical that when you are having such a discussion that you ensure that the employee clearly conveys what needs to be done in the job. The supervisor must ask the employee that he or she understands precisely what must be done in order to improve performance.
Topics that should be discussed:
Step 2
Providing an opportunity to improve. In most cases supervisors do not proceed to Step 2 as Step 1 is usually very effective in resolving poor performance. However, if this is not the case the supervisor will have to move on to Step 2, giving the employee a formal opportunity to improve performance.
This opportunity period is designed to give the employee an opportunity to bring his or her performance to an acceptable level. It is also the supervisor’s opportunity to clearly express his or her expectations and the consequences of not meeting those expectations.
The procedure for providing a formal opportunity to improve is:
Step 3
Taking action. Step 3 is not generic it depends on the organisation and the individuals. If an employee does not manage to achieve the performance that is expected of him or her, then the supervisor can either repeat steps 1 and 2, or give the employee a new role and duties within the organisation or terminate employment. Obviously, the last option is not one that any supervisor would like to do but unfortunately in some cases it is required. An employee that is not performing may be of more value in a different type of organisation.
Also, below is a quick check list of six possible contributors to performance problems that may help supervisors:
Poor performance is an issue that most organizations are forced to deal with at one point or another. No one feels happy when an employee is not performing to the level that is expected, especially their supervisors. The most difficult part of dealing with poor performance is trying to communicate it to the employee, without hurting his or her feelings. In this article we will review some steps on how to deal with poor employee performance.
Step 1
Communicating expectations and performance problems. Most performance problems can be resolved through effective communication between supervisors and employees. A counseling session will help clarify expectations and discuss performance problems.
The target of this discussion should be to tell the employee exactly what is expected to be done to bring performance to an acceptable level. It is critical that when you are having such a discussion that you ensure that the employee clearly conveys what needs to be done in the job. The supervisor must ask the employee that he or she understands precisely what must be done in order to improve performance.
Topics that should be discussed:
- Your expectations
- The employee’s performance standards
- Critical elements
- Where the employee is failing
- What the employee must do to bring performance to an acceptable level.
Step 2
Providing an opportunity to improve. In most cases supervisors do not proceed to Step 2 as Step 1 is usually very effective in resolving poor performance. However, if this is not the case the supervisor will have to move on to Step 2, giving the employee a formal opportunity to improve performance.
This opportunity period is designed to give the employee an opportunity to bring his or her performance to an acceptable level. It is also the supervisor’s opportunity to clearly express his or her expectations and the consequences of not meeting those expectations.
The procedure for providing a formal opportunity to improve is:
- Determination of unacceptable performance
- “Opportunity period” notice issued
- Formal opportunity to improve
- Determination of “Performance improvement”
Step 3
Taking action. Step 3 is not generic it depends on the organisation and the individuals. If an employee does not manage to achieve the performance that is expected of him or her, then the supervisor can either repeat steps 1 and 2, or give the employee a new role and duties within the organisation or terminate employment. Obviously, the last option is not one that any supervisor would like to do but unfortunately in some cases it is required. An employee that is not performing may be of more value in a different type of organisation.
Also, below is a quick check list of six possible contributors to performance problems that may help supervisors:
- Aptitude-does the employee have the natural ability to perform the task?
- Skill-has the employee had the opportunity to learn the task?
- Comprehension-does the employee understand the nature of the task?
- Degree of effort-how much effort is the employee willing to give to the task?
- Persistence-how sustained is the effort?
- Outside factors-are there factors beyond the control of the employee?
Bianca Allery
Client Relations Manager