Resolve Staff Performance Problems

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Five Tips to Quickly Resolve Staff Performance Problems

Identify the Problem(s) First

Performance problems can appear in many varieties and for a myriad of reasons. While some are caused by inferior management, the majority of performance problems stem from personal and professional situations of which managers may not be aware. In some cases, your problem employee doesn’t even recognize the source of the problem.

Much like a doctor observing the symptoms of a patient’s discomfort and identifying the cause of the problem, good managers must try to first identify the source and type of performance problem to apply the proper treatment. Often, identifying the nature of the problem is more difficult than the cure.

Sometimes, installing more discipline solves the problem. In other cases, longer term empathy, counseling, or training is necessary. In all cases, you need to identify the basis for the performance problem in order to fix it quickly and efficiently.

Should the employee’s unsatisfactory performance be caused by a personal problem, your approach should be even more “delicate” in implementation. Humans are complex beings. Even your most direct and straightforward employees may be reluctant to mention or discuss personal issues causing decreased performance. Yet your responsibility as a manager to motivate and deliver maximum performance remains intact. If a personal issue is triggering unacceptable performance, you need to work around sensitive areas to re-focus your troubled staff member.

The following five tips to help you resolve performance issues will typically be successful only if you have some confidence in the root of the problem. The treatment and “delivery” will be much more effective if you know the cause of the negative performance.

Five Tips to Resolve Performance Problems

Please understand one important fact: These tips may quickly resolve performance problems, but quickly does not equal easily. Directly addressing performance problems is neither easy nor comfortable for even the most experienced manager. If your strategy is simply to reprimand and/or terminate the employee having these problems, the resolution may be easier, but may create more problems (with the rest of your team) than it solves.

Your goal should be to rehabilitate the under-performing employee to avoid turnover and spur a quicker return to high performance. This is seldom easy, but usually the best, most productive option. Try one or more of these tips to achieve this goal.

1. Address the problem as soon as it arises or as soon as you are aware of it. Never procrastinate or delay your action. Along with your employee possibly believing under- performance is acceptable, the rest of your team (who will be aware of the performance problem) may perceive that you simply don’t care or you accept this level of performance.
   
   
2. Use your conversation or meeting as a positive new starting point. Don’t spend time on negative history, but concentrate on ways to eliminate the unacceptable performance and improve results in the future. Few under-performing employees are unaware of your displeasure in their recent efforts. It is counterproductive to spend time restating the unfortunate obvious. Concentrate on prevention of future issues. You’ll feel better and your employee will appreciate the opportunity to improve going forward.
   
   
3. Ask your employee for suggestions on how to improve his/her performance. Don’t be surprised if there is a moment of silence, as your staff member may be a bit shocked that you asked. If they know the reason for your meeting, they will initially have a defensive position. It may take a moment for them to realize that you actually care about their ideas to improve performance. Once they realize you sincerely want their suggestions, your problem may already be partially solved.
   
   
4. Be very clear that your concerns relate to behavior, attitude, and performance, not personal shortcomings. Discussing an employee’s mother or spouse, off work activities, or political leanings is useless. You must focus on the workplace and your employee’s place and performance therein. Even if you have determined that the source of the under-performance is a personal issue, you should impress on your employee that your concern must be workplace performance, not personal shortcomings or problems.
   
   
5. Stress your concern for personal improvement, not in creating a fear motivator. Instilling a sense of fear of continued employment or other career disasters is more likely to diminish, rather than improve, performance. Your goal is to help improve the performance of your employee and your team, not display your power to make everyone afraid.
   
   

You may be surprised at how using one or more of these tips can quickly turn around an under- performing employee. If you can identify the source of the problem, you can address the situation with more knowledge and comfort, choosing the best approach to achieve the result you want. Any combination of these five tips should work, but knowing the root cause of the problem allows you to “customize” your approach.