How to deal with underperforming employees in summary:
Addressing underperformance in employees is crucial for maintaining a productive work environment. Key strategies include:
- Identify the root cause: Investigate underlying issues affecting performance, such as workload challenges, role changes, or personal circumstances. Understanding the cause enables targeted support.
- Prepare for constructive dialogue: Schedule timely, well-thought-out discussions to provide clear, specific feedback. Approach these conversations with empathy and focus on behaviours, not personal attributes.
- Set clear expectations and provide support: Define role responsibilities and performance standards explicitly. Collaborate on an action plan that may include training or mentoring, and establish regular follow-ups to monitor progress.
Dealing with an employee whose performance isn’t up to scratch is a challenge most managers will have to face at some point in their career.
Thankfully, very few resort to the rather extreme action taken by one boss in East China’s Jiangsu Province, who doused his employee with a five-litre bottle of water, in front of assembled colleagues, as punishment for failing to meet his sales targets.
While this kind of sanction is definitely a step too far, finding the best way to tackle staff about below par performance can be a real challenge. In fact, managers often avoid this task – either to keep the peace or because they’re worried about a confrontation.
Pushing poor performance under the carpet, however, is not an option. If employees are left unchallenged, they are unlikely to change their behaviour. And when co-workers become increasingly resentful of their colleague’s ability to ‘get away with it,’ they may even start to take their foot off the gas themselves.
So what can you as a manager do to overcome the fear of conducting a difficult performance review, and nip poor performance in the bud?
5 top tips on how to deal with with underperforming employees
1. Get to the root of the issue
Poor performance is not always what it seems. Often there is a reason why someone is making frequent mistakes or just doesn’t seem to be making an effort anymore. Dig deep to find out what’s at the root of the issue.
Is the employee overwhelmed with work and having trouble prioritising? Has a shift in their role left them exposed and needing more training to cope with new responsibilities? Or maybe they have just become bored and disillusioned in their role?
Of course, people may also be struggling with personal issues which could be affecting their ability to focus. Understanding the cause of the issue helps you tackle it more effectively.
2. Prepare for the conversation
Delivering negative feedback or difficult review is never going to be easy, but a bit of preparation will help to ensure a more meaningful and productive dialogue.
An effective way of dealing with underperforming employees is to choose your time to act carefully. Preferably, not in the heat of the moment when you are angry or upset about a poor level of performance, a project that’s gone off the rails, or the way someone has dealt with a client. However, this doesn’t mean delaying the conversation until the next formal appraisal, by which time the employee will probably have forgotten about the incident altogether.
It’s important to give effective feedback soon after the event; just wait until you have had a chance to calm down and think rationally about what you want to say. Be clear about the key messages you want to get across and what you want to be done differently next time, and give some thought to how the person is likely to react and how you will handle it.
3. Clarify expectations
There will always be people who don’t take the job seriously and try to get away with doing as little as possible. But most employees don’t set out deliberately to do a bad job. Often, poor performance arises because people are ‘fuzzy’ about their role and unsure exactly what is expected of them.
Ensure the underperforming employee is clear on their role’s boundaries, such as meeting availability, reporting lines, and decision-making autonomy. Clear objectives, if relevant with targets and timelines, will also help people understand how to make the best use of their time and what they need to prioritise.
Review those objectives regularly to ensure they remain relevant if business priorities change. If there is no scope for misunderstanding, people will be focusing their efforts in the right direction and there is fewer likelihood problems will occur.
4. Feedback on behaviour, not personality
Wouldn’t it be great if our workdays were filled with people we liked, respected, and enjoyed being around? The reality is, there’s always going to be someone on the team who pushes our buttons, gets under our skin, and we’d rather avoid.
If your under-performing employee falls into this category, make sure you are separating the behaviour from the person. Take a step back and make sure you are not criticising someone’s performance just because you don’t like them.
Stick to the facts, not feelings. Give clear examples of work that didn’t meet expectations or situations that needed a better approach. Accept that not everyone will go about a task in exactly the same way as you and that sometimes, that is OK.
5. Plan ahead
The key to dealing with underperforming employees is a clear, agreed-upon action plan. So, put together a performance improvement plan, and identify any training that may be needed and get it booked. Schedule informal catch-ups every couple of weeks so you can assess, progress and deal with any barriers that may have arisen.
Ensure the employee knows you’re fully supportive and committed to helping them improve their skills and overcome any challenges. Equally, make sure people know that there will be consequences if, despite your support, they fail to pull their socks up. Familiarise yourself with your company’s disciplinary procedure – and employment law – and don’t be afraid to escalate the issue if necessary.
Erika Lucas
Writer and Communications Consultant
Erika Lucas is a writer and communications consultant with a special interest in HR, leadership, management and personal development. Her career has spanned journalism and PR, with previous roles in regional press, BBC Radio, PR consultancy, charities and business schools.
