Dealing with low performance as a manager

The other month I was speaking to a number of high flying execs - and one thing that still seems to be common is “moving problem people around”. As in, low performers are simply moved around a business - rather than managers dealing with the problem.

I remember a talk about 5 years ago where a high flying exec said they’d done the same thing when moving to agile. Those that didn’t “get it” were simply moved to other teams that didn’t need to be “agile”.

There’s a lot wrong in these statements, which we’ll unpack in a minute, but what surprised me was the cheering and nods of support when he said this. As though this is seen as a victory.

Let’s jump into it.

Communication is something other people do - so it's your fault if they "don't get it"

When people don’t “get a message” the problem isn’t them, it’s the person delivering it. Communication is decoded by other people - and if they don’t understand something…..it’s the fault of the sender, not the receiver. We cover this in great depth in the Communication Super Power course.

You're not solving the problem

Moving people around is merely moving the problem.

Where do all these people go? Do they all end up in the same team? Is there some really low performing team somewhere that people get moved to?

The reality is, moving people around is based on the assumption that you cannot deal with low performance and/or remove someone from the business. This is simply not true - it does, however, require good management.

Here's how to deal with low performance (simplified):

1. Give regular feedback to the person about their behaviours. Not about them, or your opinion, but about the very behaviours that make you think they are performing below the bar.
2. Talking of which - have you expressed, clearly, what the high bar is and what is expected from them? I often find that simply explaining how they are dropping below what's expected is enough. Trust me, most people who appear to “under perform” have often never been given feedback and a direction to head towards.
3. Take and keep copious notes of performance conversations, feedback and coaching plans. Keep these records should you need to exit someone. They don't need to be pretty, formal or digital - just notes. Keep them. You may need them.
4. Build a coaching plan that consists of resources, material, opportunities and learning plans that will help them get to the high bar. Talk about these plans with them and support them as best you can (but spend longer with your high performing people - you want to retain them, right? - manager-tools solid advice)

If, given the high standard and a coaching plan, they don’t meet the high bar, then ensure you’re giving them plenty of feedback. Keep track of all performance conversations, all feedback and all coaching plans. Keep working with them. Keep trying. And keep coaching. Open a conversation with HR and explain how you’ve given feedback, provided coaching and are working on a plan.

Work with HR to move this to the next stage, if needed (typically a performance improvement plan), which is typically an official step before removal. Very few HR professionals will turn away a request to help a manager, if you’ve been doing the right thing; coaching, feedback, support.

The way to do this professionally is to think about this;

If you remove this person from the business imagine the carnage you’ll bring to their lives.

They have bills, families and a life. It’s not something to do lightly. Equally, it helps nobody to avoid talking about performance and doing what is right for the business. Firing is failure of everybody involved. Go carefully and empathetically.

Let removing someone from the business be the last resort. But don’t avoid this process and simply move people around - it helps no-one. The business deserves better than this. The employee deserves more. And so too do all of the other people you’ll be pushing this person towards.

Honestly, 99.9% of the time most people have simply never been told that they are not meeting the bar (or they don’t even know what the bar is). Start there and move forward.

Solving problems grows businesses

Solving problems in their entirety is the number 1 way to unblock systemic problems and move the business forward.

"Not passing the burden" to others is the second way to unblock systemic problems and move the business forward.

These two concepts apply to processes, rules, work, the system and of course, people.

Solve the problem in its entirety by helping to address the low performance. Don’t pass the burden to other people or managers. Fix performance issues, don’t pass the burden.

Good managers own their own problems and solve them in partnership with others (like HR and other managers). They don’t pass the burden. And they certainly don’t move under performing people around to avoid dealing with low performance.

Work on the system (and your high performers too)

But remember this.

You should spend the majority of your time with your high performers. They are the ones you don’t want to leave.

And remember Edward Deming; he said 94% of success comes from the system, so be sure you’re diverting the majority of your time to fix systemic issues (rules, process, communication, flow of work) and then spend the remaining time split between high and low performers, with an over index on your high performers.

In my experience most “under performers” have never been told they’re not meeting the bar, usually because they’ve never been told what the bar is. Start there. Be honest and constructive. And remember, the turmoil you will bring to someone’s life through an exit should not be taken lightly. But you also work for the business - and the business needs good people (working in a great system) to stay alive.

Performance is an ongoing process and it requires active participation of managers and leaders, not moving people around because it’s too hard to deal with the performance short fall.

Management is hard, but that’s why we signed up to be a manager or leader..right? To nudge the people and business in the right direction. Not to pass the burden to someone else :)