Underperforming employees can discreetly drain your bottom line, morale, and productivity. The good news is that most underperformance is reversible with the right strategy.
Moreover, according to a 2023 Gallup report, only 21% of employees are highly engaged in their jobs, indicating the degree to which talent is being squandered. To resolve the issue, learn to motivate and mentor your employees rather than resorting to frustration and punishment.
Here are 12 practical and tested steps that the leadership can use to tackle the question “how to deal with difficult employees?” and achieve long-term improvement.
1. Identify the Root Cause
Don’t be quick to judge unless you find out why performance is not up to par. Is it a matter of clarity, confidence, resources, or motivation? Underperformance typically has more causes than lack of motivation or lack of capacity.
Underperformance is most likely to be attributed to vague expectations or a misalignment with strengths, according to Harvard Business Review. How can you tackle these problems?
- Approach the employee with understanding and ask open-ended questions such as “What has been holding you back lately?”
- Track their workload, attitude, and communication patterns.
- Keep track of burnout symptoms, disengagement, and external life stressors that may be affecting their performance.
Taking the time to identify the source also prevents misdiagnoses and ensures that your support plan addresses the correct issue.
2. Include Specific and Measurable Objectives
Ambiguous expectations lead to confusion. Quantified and specific goals provide clear direction, enabling employees to accurately gauge their achievements.
Highlight the SMART model (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, Time-bound) to agree on outcomes and timeliness. The model enables staff to know precisely what is required of them, and by when.
What you can also do is to add a “why” to each objective. What it helps achieve in terms of company or team outcomes is what creates motivation and a sense of ownership.
Record these objectives and bring them out during employee performance review sessions in order to track progress.
Read More: Ultimate Guide to Setting SMART Career Objectives (with Examples)
3. Offer Constructive Feedback Regularly
Feedback should not be limited to yearly reviews only. Regular positive feedback fosters a culture of continuous improvement and growth.
As leadership coach Julie Zhuo puts it in one of her lectures:
“The best feedback is not about catching someone doing something wrong, but helping them get better.”
Practice effective feedback in communication with workers:
- Be specific and avoid generalities, such as “You need to do better,” which would be detrimental to your relationship with a colleague.
- Strike a balance between positive reinforcement and areas for growth.
- Offer suggestions and support alongside critiques.
Providing regular feedback sessions shows that you care about their growth and legitimizes the improvement process.
4. Create an Individual Development Plan (IDP)
An IDP defines the employee’s long-term ambitions and outlines the skills they will acquire to achieve them. It’s a great way of showing that you’re committed to their development and that you’re also aligning their development with business priorities. Some of these include:
- Short and long-term professional aspirations
- Deficiencies in specific skills and what will be done to correct them (training, mentorship, or job experience)
- Routine checkpoints and milestones to track development
Not only does IDP personalize the improvement process, but it also brings to mind that improvement is a shared manager-employee goal, a hallmark traits of good leadership skills.
Read More: How to Create a Career Development Plan for Employee Close to Retirement
5. Use Strengths-Based Coaching
Rather than dwelling on what is not working, focus on what the employee is doing right and start from there. According to research at Gallup Strengths Center, individuals who use their strengths every day are six times more likely to be engaged in their workplace.
In order to provide support and ground for employees to show strength, you should do the following:
- Discover their strongest areas through evaluations, such as the CliftonStrengths assessment or performance evaluations.
- Match their natural talents to tasks in order to gain confidence and competence, and most importantly, motivate employees.
- Validate successes no matter how small to help them shift from thinking “I’m failing” to thinking “I’m getting better.”
Strengths-based coaching is of greater interest to employees than a focus on weaknesses alone, and it provides a breeding ground for success and improvement in company efficiency.
6. Improve Communication and Psychological Safety
People cannot thrive in an environment in which they feel judged or unsupported. Teams that experience high psychological safety feel more comfortable taking risks, admitting mistakes, and asking for help.
According to Harvard Business School professor Amy Edmondson in her essay,
“Psychological safety is not being nice. It’s about candor and making it safe to speak up.”
How to build open communication with employees to provide better psychological help:
- Maintain an open-door policy, where queries and grievances are welcomed.
- Let’s focus on discussing solutions rather than blaming.
- Ask for feedback from your colleagues so that you can be transparent and for them to be more open about their vulnerability.
Employees who feel secure in their jobs are more likely to be proactive and take responsibility for correcting their own performance issues.
7. Adjust the Role Positions and Responsibilities
Poor performance is sometimes caused by incompatibility between the employee’s abilities and his/her current role. In these circumstances, a reassignment of responsibilities can unlock latent ability. What you can do here is to consider making adjustments such as:
- Transition from project work to detailed work (or vice versa)
- Experiment with fresh teams and reporting arrangements
- Adjusting their workload or schedule to prevent overloading
This level of flexibility demonstrates that being a leader is all about taking people where they are and helping them reach the highest likelihood of success.
Read More: 18 Crucial Questions To Ask An Underperforming Employee
8. Be Compassionate to Personal Challenges with Compassion
Workers’ lives do not stop once they get to the workplace. Medical issues, personal issues, and mental issues quietly disrupt employee performance. Best practice here is to:
- Enable mental health care and promote its use
- Offering flexibility by permitting remote or flexible working hours whenever possible
- Creating a culture in which it is acceptable to be vulnerable, understood, or all of the aspects that make us human
By focusing on the entire person, rather than just the job, you establish trust and demonstrate that performance management is not just about getting things done, but also about individuals.
9. Document Everything Professionally
On the other hand, when serious problems do occur, documentation is critical. It protects your company legally and provides a paper record of communication and assistance. Keep in mind to document these things:
- All meetings related to performance
- Goals set and whether or not attained
- Written and spoken (where applicable)
Record-keeping is especially helpful where disciplinary action against staff members or official action at a later time is called for.
10. Know When and How to Let Go
When we weigh in the last two points we talked about, we need to come to the realisation that not all situations can be rescued. Unless you’re continually investing effort with zero return on investment, you’re likely to need to think about how to fire an employee from the role.
Prior to deciding on the termination of the employee, discuss with HR to ensure that company protocol and labour legislation are being followed. It must be done respectfully, on record, and preferably with assistance towards a graceful exit. To do so, there are several things to do:
- Provide a brief summary of performance issues
- Offer job search counseling and/or outplacement assistance (when possible)
- Being honest and kind during the termination meeting
Firing or reprimanding employees is never enjoyable, but if executed properly, it is a graceful choice that is often beneficial to both parties.
11. Make Investments in Leadership Development
Employee success begins with the manager. If you’re unsure of the ways of dealing with underperforming employees, continuous training for managing difficult employees is a powerful remedy. Things that you should expand your knowledge in include examples such as:
- Emotional Intelligence and Self-Awareness
- Giving difficult feedback with empathy
- Methods of addressing problematic employees
Leadership training enables you to be confident in leading your employees, and it is a valuable way to acquire additional leadership advice and peer feedback.
12. Promote a Culture of Accountability and Development
A healthy culture prevents most performance problems from arising in the first place. By establishing accountability and development in the workplace, employees will step up to the challenge. Promote it by:
- Celebrating Success and Learning from Failure
- Setting expectations for employees
- Develop rituals that focus on accountability (such as weekly wins or peer shoutouts)
Regularly setting expectations and consistently following them in a fair manner, when you have a strong culture, will result in establishing a tone of strength and fair leadership.
You’re not merely correcting the behaviors; you’re creating high expectations in all things happening in the office.
Read More: 50+ Happy Workplace Quotes For A Positive Office Culture
Helping Struggling Employees is All About Good Leadership
No one is fond of working with underperforming employees. By openly addressing problems and conditions with empathy and consistency, you build the resilience of your team and establish a benchmark of greatness.
From setting employee expectations to dealing with problematic employees, the actions you take in these two steps reflect the kind of leader you are. Helping underachieving employees perform is not so much about fixing deficiencies as it is about unleashing potential.
Great teams don’t happen by chance. They’re developed, with clever chess moves and stoic leadership. Always remember that.
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