Professional Documents
Culture Documents
07 Job Performance Final
07 Job Performance Final
07 Job Performance Final
The worker was given clear guidelines but seems under-qualified for the task.
You assumed the employee should know what's expected of her, so you didn't bother to outline your expectations – a big no-no,
especially where new workers are concerned, even if they were previously employed in a similar line of work.
The employee (or her manager) appears to be a pessimist rather than an optimist. A worker (or leader) with a negative attitude is
never good for business.
An employee lacks the confidence to speak up, offer ideas or motivate the team, even though he appeared assertive and poised
throughout the interview process. This type of red flag may be pointing at performance or behavior problems throughout the teams,
including higher-ups.
A lack of knowledge or direction seems to be making the worker nervous or uncomfortable around clients or customers. It's usually
quite evident that an employee is trying to fake their way through a technical task that's beyond their qualifications.
As for the less-distinct signs of poor job performance, you may have to keep your eyes and ears open to spot them. For example, if
the employee in question usually works on a team, he may be able to hide his work inefficiencies by piggy-backing the others,
adding little value and going unnoticed if no one speaks up. Watch for signs that your best workers seem to be carrying more than
their share or that their usual high morale or enthusiasm is waning.
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Extra work for coworkers since they must take up the slack.
A lull in morale because no one wants to work with a lazy, pessimistic or unqualified person.
A team-wide drop in energy, if the employee is underperforming due to low energy, a lack of team spirit or an all-around
bad attitude.
A drop in performance from other workers, if management doesn't step up and deal with the worker who demonstrates poor job
performance. If you don't appear to care about your business, why should anyone on your payroll care about it?
A drop in sales, if you don't correct poor performance promptly.
An overall tarnished company reputation that may or may not be salvageable.
Identify what's causing an employee to underperform. Does she understand her role? Is she working well with the team or
seem like she doesn't fit in? View the situation with an open mind. For example, rather than asking yourself, "What's wrong
with that employee?" ask, "Why is that worker having difficulties performing her job?" That way, the focus remains on the
situation, rather than becoming personal.
Confront a poorly performing employee immediately. Do it in private, with data or evidence to back up the discussion, so
that there's no misunderstanding, and without an emotional outburst.
Ask for the employee's opinion on the situation. That way, you know that he understands where he's going wrong. He can
begin to think about ways to redirect his focus and improve performance. The meeting should be quick, simple and non-
threatening.
Listen to your top performers' concerns and suggestions. Get them involved in motivating and aiding the success of the low-
performing coworkers. Ideally, you want to coach and rehabilitate struggling workers before taking more aggressive steps,
such as demotion or replacement.
Quantify employee performance by using a rating scale or benchmark analysis to measure their success. Whichever method
you use, make sure that the written evaluation includes quality and quantity of work, individual achievements, working
relationships and job knowledge. Optimally, ratings should motivate your employees, encouraging them to do more, not
less.
Reward improved performance with recognition, compensation, perks or a simple show of appreciation.
On the flip side, if your leadership skills may be causing one or more employees to perform poorly, don't stress out about it – do
something about it. What can you do? For starters:
Perform a business checkup; Is your organization providing sufficient training, tools and support for new employees? Starting a new
job can be intimidating, especially if employees aren't given clear guidelines. If you've had the same training module since you
opened your doors, years ago, it may be time to review and update it.
Ask for feedback. Are you checking in often to see how employees feel they are progressing, or to ask if they have any questions or
concerns? New employees might not approach you out of fear of appearing inadequate or judged. But when you approach them
with sincere openness and a willingness to help, you aid in their success, and ultimately the success of your business. An employee's
first year is critical to her success; Check in regularly, watch for improvement and listen for clues that all is not well.
Listen, listen, listen. Just like you expect your employees to listen to your work-related direction and needs, you have to
listen to their requirements, too. They may not come to you directly, so train your ear to pick up on frustrations, low team
morale or complaints within work groups.
Regardless of why an employee is performing poorly, don't take a wait-and-see approach. The sooner you get to the
bottom of a worker's poor job performance, the sooner you can sort it out and get business and morale back on track. Less-
than-ideal performance can occasionally leach into any business, even yours. Ideally, you'll spot trouble in the making and
use the dilemma to build on your interviewing, training and coaching methods. In the best case scenario, you'll move
forward with the offending employee working to improve, but if that's not possible, it may be time to assign her a more
suitable position or to part ways. Your company is only as good as the people who work there, after all, so be watchful and
diligent for the best chance of success.
References
How to Deal With a Defensive Employee When Addressing Performance Issues?,et al
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