Managing

Performance

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Contents
Introduction ...................................................................................................... 4
Making Performance Management Work ........................................................ 5
Managing performance is an investment ...................................................... 5
Highlight the benefits..................................................................................... 5
Share responsibility........................................................................................ 5
Provide information ....................................................................................... 6
Listen to the employee .................................................................................. 6
Communicate throughout .............................................................................. 6
Setting Goals ..................................................................................................... 7
Maintaining Written Records ............................................................................ 9
Reasons for Poor Performance ....................................................................... 10
Helping Poor Performers................................................................................. 13
• Translate ‘attitude’ to observed behaviours ......................................... 13
• Avoid vague language ............................................................................ 13
• Focus on improvements ......................................................................... 13
Helping Poor Performers - Activity Part 1 ....................................................... 14
Helping Poor Performers - Activity Part 2 ....................................................... 14
Managing Conflict and Discipline .................................................................... 16
Discipline ......................................................................................................... 18
The ‘DESC’ Model ............................................................................................ 19
Performance Conversations ............................................................................ 20
The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership® Theory ................................... 21
Performance Management Discussion ........................................................... 23
Learning Log .................................................................................................... 25
Action Plan ...................................................................................................... 26

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Introduction

Communication between a manager and their employees is absolutely essential to ensure increased
productivity and the motivation to succeed in their role. Only through a careful approach to managing
performance can you ensure teams meet their goals and those of the organisation as a whole.
Therefore, managing performance is important because it means that…

• Employees know what is expected of them

• There is communication between manager and team
• Potential workplace issues are resolved before they occur
• Staff are more efficient, and goal focused
• Productivity is increased
• Teamwork develops where individuals learn to work together
• Tasks are aligned to organisational objectives
• Motivation is increased
• Improvements for the role and the team are identified
• Development opportunities can be established

There are many reasons why managing performance is a good idea and yet many managers dislike the
notion of performance management and see it as a hindrance to their role. This typically occurs where
they do not fully understand the role of performance management and see it as a form filling exercise
that happens once or twice a year.

This approach can lead to managers focusing on the wrong things, which makes it frustrating for both
the manager and the employee.

Managing performance is all about ensuring consistent dialogue with your team members; it’s about
partnership, clarity of roles, clear expectations, honesty and fairness. This approach is established by
focusing on the following elements…

- The role of the employee and what they are expected to do

- How this role contributes and aligns to the organisational goals
- What good performance in the job looks like
- How performance will be measured
- Barriers that hinder performance and how they can be minimised or eliminated
- How the manager and their employee can work together to improve the employee’s performance

By managing your employee’s performance, you are investing in their ability to do their job without
having to be micro managed by you. They’ll have a clear understanding of what they are supposed to
do, how they are supposed to do it, what they will be measured on and when they need to involve
you. This approach will ensure you are free to focus on future developments knowing that your
employees are getting on with the job as they should be.

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Making Performance Management Work

Managing performance is about working in partnership with your employees to help them achieve
individual improvements that in turn develop into larger improvements for your team and the
organisation as a whole.

You cannot work on the principle of using performance management only to review past performance
in the hope that this will give staff the momentum to work harder in the future. Life doesn’t work that
way, and if you want to effectively manage performance you will need to optimise the opportunity of
success for each employee by developing clear goals for the future. This means communicating with
them and helping them develop a structured plan that they can work towards.

So, performance management isn’t just about evaluating the past, it’s very much about the future. To
help ensure you focus on the correct elements, you should consider these main points…

Managing performance is an investment

One of the main inhibitors of good performance management is
the idea that it is difficult to do and perhaps an unpleasant
process. However, when done well it becomes about
partnership and motivation and ensures each employee is
contributing to the performance of your team as a whole.

So, although you might find that managing performance starts out relatively difficult, you will soon
establish good working methods that improve the practice as a whole. Your employees will know what
is expected of them, communicate issues and concerns and consequently work more effectively. The
pay-off is that employees feel empowered to make day to day decisions and your role becomes more
about nurturing that talent.

Highlight the benefits

Employees can be just as negative as leaders about performance
management, particularly where there might have been a fairly
negative culture around the process in the past. This makes it
important for you to communicate the benefits to your team. Some
typical benefits employees can expect from good performance management are…

• Security of knowing they are doing the job the way it is expected
• They can clearly assess their performance against the role requirements
• Ensures continuing dialogue with their manager/supervisor
• They can determine their own success by following the performance plan that has been
agreed
As long as you are fair and consistent in your approach to managing performance, your employees
should agree that these benefits are achievable.

Share responsibility
Productivity is the responsibility of both the employer and the
employee and this means you must both play an active role in
ensuring you are aware of each other’s role in ensuring success.
The employee must be clear on what is expected of them in their
job role and the employer must be clear about the support they will provide in developing and
assisting the individual.

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Employers and employees can often have a different perspective on what is required from a role and
only by sharing these opinions can you establish what is important for that role. Where performance
falls below what is expected, it is useful to discuss why this has occurred. It might be that the employee
is not doing the job as they should be. However, it is just as likely that there are factors in the detail
of the work that are inhibiting success. A good manager will not dismiss this idea out of hand, but will
establish the facts by sharing responsibility.

Provide information
It is important to ensure employees have enough information about
the challenges and goals faced by your department or organisation.
This approach helps them connect their own goals and work
approach to that of the organisation. Without clarity around the
bigger picture, employees can end up working in silos and this can mean that although they are
performing to their job description, their actions are causing issues elsewhere. This can end up in a
very difficult discussion if left until appraisal time.

Listen to the employee

Your employees have a wealth of knowledge, skills and
experience that has been gained from doing the job every day.
They are closest to what is really going on at the frontline and
may well know better than you how to fix things. Therefore, it is
critical that you take the opportunity performance management offers and use employee information
to improve and enhance your product offering. This is one of the best ways to increase productivity
all round. Listening and acting on what you hear will also demonstrate to your employees that their
role in providing business improvements is important to you.

Communicate throughout
Managing performance is ultimately all about communication. Whilst
employees can only act on information you provide them, you can
only resolve issues where they have been pointed out by employees.
When you can encourage an environment where employees are
comfortable in communicating issues and concerns, you will find that the amount of issues that arise
dwindle. This happens where team members begin to follow the example set by their manager and
develop a more open approach to problem solving.

It is also important to be aware of the importance of not approaching performance management as a

one-off yearly discussion. Good performance comes from everyone knowing what is expected of them
all the time. Yes, you may have a time of the year when you set business goals and targets, but these
must be discussed and reviewed consistently throughout the year. Everyone has a responsibility to
ensure that goals are being followed and where there are issues; they are being reviewed and fixed.

Performance management is about providing an investment up front so that you can

ensure employees are fully equipped and confident enough to do their jobs without
constant input from you as manager.

You are better placed to manage performance when you have created relationships and
ensure effective communication with those in your team. It’s about everyone knowing
what is required to succeed and working towards common goals.

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Setting Goals
We’ve already mentioned that an employee’s goals should be directly linked to those of the
organisation and that there should be a clear line of sight from the strategy of the business right
through to the job responsibilities of each staff member.

Ensuring employees have clearly aligned goals is extremely important where you want to effectively
manage their performance as it gives both the employee and you as manager a method of establishing
what good looks like. Once you know this, you can establish when employees are falling short of these
goals, meeting or exceeding them. This not only means that employees can become self-monitoring
and self-directing, it also means you can have meaningful conversations around improvement areas
when necessary.

Consider the following points when approaching goal setting with your team members…

Align employee goals - Identify what the organisation is hoping to achieve through its strategy and
tactical planning. This should in turn link to departmental goals and targets, which means that you
should be able to closely align individual employee goals as well. You should take into account the job
description, but also the reality of the role, ensuring that employees are not only doing things well,
but also that they are doing the right things.

Focus on mutual understanding - Try not to get bogged down in detail where goals are concerned. Of
course, it is important to ensure the goals are clear and meaningful. However, what’s more important
is that both you and the employee understand what you mean by the goal statements. It is useful to
get the employee to state their goals in their own words and compare this with your own
understanding to ensure you agree.

Be practical - Sometimes we can allow process to take over the practicality of writing goals. Don’t get
bogged down in the detail of making a goal perfect if it is vital, but hard to fit into the ‘standard’ goal
structure. What’s more important is ensuring the goals meet the realities of the role. For instance;
don’t neglect an important goal because you’ve struggled to explain how you’d measure it.

Consistently discuss goals - Developing clear channels of communication is really important when you
want to improve performance and productivity. Aligned to this should be the discussing of goals, which
gives you something to focus on and ensures employees are clear on what is expected of them. It also

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allows employees to focus on the correct actions and behaviours and helps make them more
autonomous. They’ll be able to guide themselves and make day-to-day decisions without coming to
you each time.

Change goals if required - In the modern workplace you’ll find that job roles and tasks can change
very quickly. You need to be adaptable to these changes and not stick to rigid goals that no longer
serve their purpose. It’s unfair to hold an employee to a goal that has no further meaning to the actual
job they are doing. Because you will be constantly communicating with your employees and discussing
how they are meeting their goals, you will be able to identify when things are shifting and alter the
goals accordingly.

Highlight individual contribution - Let employees know how they are contributing to the overall
picture of the organisation. If you have facts and figures you can share that will help employees realise
the impact they are having on results you should share them and where you do not have these, you
can still provide an indication of their contribution through anecdotal evidence and departmental
feedback. Employees take ownership when they feel part of organisational achievements.

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Maintaining Written Records
When developing goals and reviewing performance it is important that you maintain a written record.
This is usually done through some sort of appraisal process and could well be stored on a computer
system or perhaps just on paper. Whether your organisation has a formal process or not, you should
ensure that you maintain a written record of performance conversations as it provides you with the
opportunity to review consistently and check and alter goals throughout the year as required. This
approach also gives you a clear method of reviewing performance when necessary as you can directly
link performance to goals.

Another positive aspect of maintaining records is that by keeping a written record of performance
discussions you are in a stronger position should it be necessary to discipline a staff member who is
not performing as they should be. Without written records difficult conversations could come down
to hearsay and opinion which is not a good place to be as a manager.

Good record keeping will provide you with the following…

Records are great and keeping written notes about performance discussions and goals should be
positively encouraged. However, it is important to point out that you should not let the procedure,
forms or systems get in the way of what managing performance is all about and that is clear
communication and positive performance discussions. The technology and forms should be there to
support and record your conversations with employees rather than acting as an obstacle. Be alert to
potential problems that your appraisal process could cause you and don’t be afraid to step out of a
formulaic approach if it helps you provide a more personal touch to a conversation with an employee.

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Reasons for Poor Performance
There can be various reasons for poor performance at work, although of course every situation is
different. The only way to ensure people perform at their best is to try and understand what these
reasons are in order to address them.

Not capable of doing the job - There are times when poor performance will come down to the
employees’ inability to do the job that is being asked of them. This might have occurred because it
was assumed that they could do the job, and this was never reviewed, they might have asked for help,
but not received it, or perhaps they were given help and it was assumed they could then get on with
the task, but they still struggled to cope.

Whatever the reasons for the capability issues, it is important to focus on how you might help them
improve. Of course, if the capability is not there, you have to find a way of providing it. This could
come in the form of training, assistance from another employee, or one on one work with you
(coaching or mentoring). Without one of these methods of support (or another job relevant method)
the employee will become frustrated and the poor performance will continue.

Where you have provided the support as mentioned above and the capability still does not improve
you might need to consider the fact that the employee is in the wrong job role and manage this issue
separately.

Not being challenged - When an employee finds a job too easy they can start to perform robotically
and become bored of their work. This boredom rarely goes unnoticed and could mean they become
careless, communicate poorly or even have a disruptive influence.

It might be that you have not provided the employee with opportunities to get involved in new
challenges, you might have underestimated their abilities, or there simply wasn’t anything more
expansive they could take on in their role.

Obviously in this situation you need to find a way to ease their boredom. This could be by providing
training to others, getting involved in new projects or perhaps adapting their role to include tasks that
others don’t mind giving up.

If you do not work on reducing this boredom, the employee may well become overly disruptive, or
they could even leave the company. This would be a shame for someone who is ultimately very good
at the job.

Don’t feel appreciated - Nobody likes to feel that their contribution is not valued and this can occur
in the workplace when an individual feels that their self-esteem needs are not being met. This could
be because they don’t get enough positive feedback, they feel they are not paid enough for what they
do, given enough opportunities, or simply because they don’t feel that they are being acknowledged
in any way.

Where you are following a good performance management process, the likelihood of these incidents
occurring are lessoned, but when they do occur they can be relatively easy to resolve if you focus on
taking effective action. The key is to communicate with the individual as much as possible, if it is a
simple case of giving them more acknowledgement (and some people need more than others) then
be prepared to find methods of ensuring this.

Where the issue focuses on them expecting more benefits, you will need to have a frank discussion
about what is and is not possible. For instance, if it is not possible to offer more money, an honest
conversation should be able to identify other things you can do to demonstrate your commitment to
the employee i.e. more flexible working, workplace opportunities and non-monetary benefits.

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Don’t like their colleagues - Not everyone gets on all the time and it can be difficult for a staff member
who does not get on with those around them for whatever reason. This can occur where there are
disputes over work, personal clashes or in extreme cases it could be a form of bullying. It’s important
to realise that often the cause of poor performance could stem from issues that have nothing to do
with the actual work.

It is your responsibility as a leader to create a positive culture and environment that everyone feels
comfortable working in. Of course you can’t force people to like each other, but you can enforce a
situation where people at least respect each other. Where situations are not influenced by your
encouragement and the issues lie deeper, it might be necessary to bring the team together to get to
the root of the problem and have a frank discussion as a whole.

Don’t like their manager - Sometimes the problem with an employee’s performance comes down to
the fact that they do not get along with you. Again, we can’t all get on with everyone all the time and
whether it’s a dislike of your policies, style of management or a particular difficult decision you have
had to make, when an employee doesn’t get on with their manager it can become disruptive leading
to performance issues.

In this situation you have to look within. Is there some way you can improve your approach to work,
if not for everyone, then just this individual? You may feel that it is the employee that should change,
but as it is you that is having the issue, it seems sensible that you are the one to alter your behaviour
to suit the situation. This doesn’t mean giving the individual everything they want, but it does mean
thinking about the best method of getting the most out of that particular member of your team.

Have an attitude - When an employee develops a poor attitude (if indeed they have a poor attitude
rather than this being your interpretation) it is usually as a result of something that is not easily
identifiable. Often it is not down to the job role at all but could be related to any number of different
things. In these cases, it is important that you communicate with the individual and try and understand
what is causing the issue. We will explore this area in more depth later.

Have personal problems - Issues outside work can often have a fundamental effect on our workplace
performance. Of course, we all go through difficult times in our personal life and it is understandable
that these problems are not always left behind as we leave the house for work. However, it isn’t always
obvious that the poor performance is down to personal problems, particularly where a staff member
is not inclined to share this personal information.

The important thing from a manager’s perspective is to be conscious of personal problems staff might
have and how this could affect performance. Try to speak to staff members where you have concerns
that this might be the case, and if there is any support your company can provide it is useful to be
aware of this.

The positive thing about this type of poor performance is that once the problem is resolved, often the
performance picks up again.

Not motivated - A lack of motivation in an employee usually comes about as a symptom of other
problems such as those we have already highlighted. When issues are not confronted and corrected
in good time, the result can lead to a lack of motivation. However, employees can also become
demotivated when they don’t see the need to perform to the standard you expect.

Of course, where an employee is demotivated, it is your responsibility to find out what will motivate
them. It could be that you need to review previously unresolved issues, or perhaps you need to identify
what it is that will excite the individual about their work again.

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In the wrong job - There may be times when the job is simply not the right fit for the employee and
they are never going to have the desire to improve their performance. In these cases, you can either;
try and alter the role to suit them more, move their role into something more appealing or have a
frank discussion about the fact that they might be better off moving on.

The key to resolving performance issues lies with identify why the issue is occurring. First, describe
the problem as accurately as you can. When does the problem occur? In what situations? You might
find that performance is absolutely fine when an employee has a light workload, but as work increases
their performance falters. Looking out for these problems will help you identify the true causes of
poor performance.

Another way to spot how poor performance occurs is to pay attention when everything is working as
it should. When we understand completely why something works really well, we can easily pick up
information when things are not going to plan.

Here are a few things to bear in mind…

Consider Potential for Multiple Causes - It’s unlikely that there is a single cause behind every
performance issue. It’s typical that you will find a variety of factors that influence what is happening
in the workplace. Just because you find one of these factors, it doesn’t mean you can relax. The more
causes you can find and fix the more likely performance will improve.

Consider People AND Process - Don’t be too quick to blame your employees when things are not going
to plan. It could be that you have outdated or newly implemented processes that are not working and
although the employee is doing everything possible to make them work, their performance is
suffering. It’s not always down to individual performance.

Use Trial and Error - If the ideas you have implemented to resolve poor performance have not had
the desired effect, go back to the drawing board and consider what else might be behind the issues.
Don’t blindly stick to one course of action because you are sure that is it.

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Helping Poor Performers

We’ve already discussed potential causes of poor performance and the fact that it is very hard to
pinpoint why a person might not be performing as expected and indeed whether the fault is entirely
theirs. For this reason, it is extremely important that you focus on behaviour and results when
considering whether someone falls into the ‘poor performer’ category. Without this approach, a
manager can fall into the trap of working on the principle of ‘attitude’ and this can never be anything
other than subjective and if you focus on attitude you will never improve performance.

Your focus as a manager is not to worry about attitude, but instead improve productivity and
performance. These two things both occur as a result of their behaviour, which can be assessed
without emotions clouding decisions. So, focus on behaviour and results if you want to help an
employee improve their poor performance. To help you do this, consider the following points…

• Translate ‘attitude’ to observed behaviours

You may be thinking to yourself, ‘Sarah has a bad attitude, which is affecting her work.’ However, this
way of thinking is not constructive and does not provide you tangible behaviours to focus on. Instead,
try to understand what behaviours might be leading you to think Sarah has a bad attitude. For
example, it could be that Sarah argues with others, comes in late or doesn’t complete work on time.
These are behaviours that you can have a meaningful discussion around rather than just your opinion.

• Avoid vague language

It is tempting to use language that is vague when we are discussing poor performance. However, this
does not help the individual to focus on specific personal improvements and can also make them
become resistant to your improvement points or worse, ignore them completely. For instance, you
might say, ‘You need to be friendlier with our customers’. However, this vague language provides no
help to the person you are talking to. Instead, you could provide a clear explanation i.e. ‘You just told
that customer they were awkward and then slammed the phone down’.

• Focus on improvements
Remember, the aim of your feedback is to improve performance, so you should always consider
whether your comments will help the individual improve their performance, or if it is just a personal
attack. If your comments will not help the person improve, you should consider whether to say them
at all or at least find an alternative method of getting your point across.

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Helping Poor Performers - Activity Part 1

Consider an individual who works for you, or has worked for you in the past, who you believed is or
was underperforming. Discuss the situation with your partner using the questions below. Once you
have discussed the performance issue/s use the space below the questions to frame the performance
concerns into a clear statement that focuses on behaviour and results.

• Exactly what behaviour is leading to poor results? If I could show the person to an invisible
observer, what unsatisfactory features of their work would I want to point out? How can I
give specific examples rather than vague generalisations?

• How does this behaviour adversely affect our business or other people's performance? Can I
make out a reasonable case that it is costing us money, or effort, or time that would be better
spent elsewhere? Can I demonstrate the ways in which it has an adverse effect on others?

• Would any other manager or supervisor see the same poor performance as I see it and
interpret it in the same way, or am I being overly judgemental?

• Am I over-generalising on too little evidence, or on the basis of small traits that I dislike?

• What reasons could there be for the poor performance that might alter how I approach the
issue?

Behavioural feedback statement:

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Helping Poor Performers - Activity Part 2

If you are confident that you are dealing with a real problem and not one of your own imagining, then
coach each other to answer the questions below:

What's the alternative, and why?

What alternative suggestions can I communicate clearly?

How can I encourage the other person to adopt more effective ways of doing things?

How sure am I that my way is any better?

How can I help the person to want to deliver better performance?

What can they realistically do?

What might I and others need to do in parallel?

How can I build up the person's confidence?

How shall we monitor and maintain progress?

Finally, it's useful to reflect on the large number of successful people who have significant or even
massive failures behind them. People who make no mistakes do not usually make anything. Inside
your current poor performer may lurk a future high flyer. In other words, is it a short term hiccup
where you need to give help, or is it a more deep seated problem?

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Managing Conflict and Discipline

Disagreement and conflict are perfectly natural occurrences in any organisation or team where people
care about the issues. In fact, you should probably worry where conflict does not occur as it could
mean that your employees do not care enough about the job.

Of course, no matter how usual conflict is, it can still be very difficult to deal with and can cause stress
and concern for even the best manager. However, if you learn how to handle conflict effectively you
can significantly reduce the frequency and seriousness of any disagreement.

Disagreement and conflict can be a really positive starting point for creating new ideas and developing
different ways of working. Some useful tips to consider are…

Never Avoid - Conflicts are how priorities get set and decisions get made. It allows communication
around issues that might otherwise get neglected and cause negativity and underlying tensions. A
good manager will embrace negativity and use it to develop their interpersonal skills and create an
inclusive culture.

Depersonalise It - Don’t take conflict personally, even if the person causing the conflict means it that
way. Focus on the interests and issues involved and resolve things from that perspective.

Detach Yourself - Take an unemotional approach to the issues and observe from a detached position.
If you lose your temper, you will lose credibility and people will not respect any decision you then
identify. You may have some very strong feelings inside and want to explode, but remain focused and
stay calm on the outside.

It can be tempting to use your power as a manager to make a unilateral decision quickly when conflict
occurs. You should explore the position of those involved in the conflict and try to truly understand
the viewpoints of those involved before you respond.

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There will be times when conflict does become emotional and come to be difficult to deal with. When
this occurs, the following simple model can help to diffuse situations and ensure you approach the
problem positively.

There is a temptation to move straight to resolving a problem when conflict becomes emotional.
However, this is rarely the best method of reducing the conflict as the individual’s emotions will always
get in the way. Therefore, you must first diffuse the person’s anger by providing empathy to their
concerns. This means really seeing things from their point of view and stating that.

Once you have defused the emotions and demonstrated that you understand you can move on to
agreeing what the problem is without the emotional element attached. This helps you to resolve the
way forward.

At this point it is probably worth reminding ourselves of the old saying, ‘Win a friend, not the
argument’.

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Discipline

Another part of performance management is that of discipline, which is about holding an employee
accountable for their actions where they are not meeting the standards expected. This process should
not come as a shock to individuals (unless something extreme has occurred that requires immediate
attention) as you have been ensuring regular conversations with them around poor performance
issues throughout the performance management process.

Where disciplining is required, you should consider the following components.

1. Identify the aspects of performance that must

change
2. Determine what will happen if the change does
not happen by a specific time
3. Communicate and document the information
to the employee
4. Re-evaluate when you reach the specific time
5. Apply the consequences
Once you reach the consequences stage, the employee will be fully prepared as they have been
communicated with throughout. It is likely that the consequences are progressive and that where an
employee has not met the required standard you will implement minor consequences and restart the
process from point 1. This would depend on factors such as; how much you value the employee, the
severity of the problem and any other factors related to the specific situation.

It is important to emphasise that any disciplinary action must be fully documented and in detail. This
would include the actual performance gap, how it was identified, how it was communicated to the
employee and the steps you have taken to resolve it.

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The ‘DESC’ Model

This is a communication formula which can be useful in dealing with conflict and confrontational
situations. Use it as a guide and fit it to your own style of communicating. Try to make just one or two
simple sentences for each step:

D describe the behaviour specifically. Remember it is the behaviour that you are addressing, not
the individual.

E explain the effect on you, relevant others or the business.

Seek feedback, actively listen & respond. Do not specify the changes you wish the person to make
without hearing the other person’s point of view. Before progressing consider whether the feedback
received makes it appropriate to continue.

The ‘D&E’ part of the model can equally be applied to giving recognition for good performance or
behaviours.

S specify the change you want – what would the improved situation look like? When would such
a change need to be made?

C consequences – what will they be? These may be positive i.e. if change does occur or
negative i.e. if the change does not occur.

It is important that you do not put the other person down, that you show them that you want a
positive outcome for them as well as for yourself. This is important if you are to have long-term success
in getting what you want to happen.

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Performance Conversations
We’ve already emphasised how important communication is to the process of managing performance.
However, this is the area that most managers tend to do less well even though it’s actually the area
where they can have the most impact on an individual’s performance.

The key to good performance conversations is to use cooperative language that encourages
conversation with the employee and puts you on the ‘same side’. This means being careful with the
way you approach conversations and working with the employee to find solutions. How you come
across when talking to people has an incredible impact on how you are perceived and what they are
willing to do for you. Because of this, it is critical that you use practical skills to ensure you get the best
out of conversations.

Here are a few tips to help you in your conversations…

Avoid Criticism - Cooperative language means avoiding criticism and instead using language that
suggests you are working with the employee to find solutions. So, instead of saying, “You don’t know
what you are talking about” you might say, “I’m not quite understanding where you are coming from
there. Could you explain in more detail?”

Focus on the Future - It’s also useful to focus on the future rather than only considering the past.
Otherwise you are focusing on things that can’t be changed rather than the future where there are
opportunities to improve. That doesn’t mean avoiding anything that happened previously, but
speaking about it in terms that mean it can be addressed. For instance, you might say, “I can recall a
few times this last few months where you were late into the office. What will help you avoid that in
the future?” This is more constructive and will result in fewer disagreements.

Reduce Unsolicited Advice - There are of course times when offering advice is the right thing to do.
However, during performance discussions it is often best to let the individual come to their own
conclusions. Of course, you can make suggestions, but it might be better to phrase the request in such
a way that you are asking for permission first.

Reduce Demands and Commands - As the manager, you have a right to demand certain things are
done for you. However, if you overuse this you will run into rebellion, particularly where your tone
and approach suggest you expect it done with no questions. There are many ways to send a message
without beating an employee over the head with your harsh language. Be prepared to adapt the way
you speak to ensure employees are receptive to the suggestion.

Don’t Overstate - If you use words such as; ‘always’, ‘never’ or ‘all the time’ you are overstating and
people tend to resist these types of comments. For instance, “You are always getting your project
reports to me late” is unlikely to be factually true and will likely lead to argument and resentment.
These types of statements are unhelpful and should be avoided as they add no value to conversations.

There is obviously much more to conversations than the key points we have made here. Usually we
know when we are having a positive and constructive conversation as this is reflected by the person
we are communicating with. However, the only real way to try and eliminate some of the negative
behaviours that can creep into our communication approach is to practice whilst reminding ourselves
of what is important to make conversations work.

Notes on improving my performance conversations…

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The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership® Theory
Choosing the Right Leadership Style for the Right People

You've just finished training the newest member of your team.

Now that he's ready to start working, you give him the data he needs to enter into the company's database, and
you hurry off to a meeting.

When you return later that afternoon, you find that he hasn't done anything. He didn't know what to do, and he
didn't have the confidence to ask for help. As a result, hours have been lost, and you have to rush to enter the
data on time. Although you may want to blame the worker, the truth is that you're as much to blame as he is.

How can you avoid situations like this?

Management experts Paul Hersey and Ken Blanchard argue that these things happen because leaders don't
match their style of leadership to the maturity of the people they're leading. When style and maturity aren't
matched, failure is the result.

In this article, we'll review the Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership® Theory, and we'll explain how it's used
in different leadership situations.

Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory

The Hersey-Blanchard Situational Leadership Theory was created by Dr Paul Hersey, a professor and author of
"The Situational Leader," and Ken Blanchard, author of the best selling "One-Minute Manager," among others.

The theory states that instead of using just one style, successful leaders should change their leadership styles
based on the maturity of the people they're leading and the details of the task. Using this theory, leaders should
be able to place more or less emphasis on the task, and more or less emphasis on the relationships with the
people they're leading, depending on what's needed to get the job done successfully.

Leadership Styles
According to Hersey and Blanchard, there are four main leadership styles:

• Telling (S1) – Leaders tell their people what to do and how to do it.
• Selling (S2) – Leaders provide information and direction, but there's more communication with
followers. Leaders "sell" their message to get people on board.
• Participating (S3) – Leaders focus more on the relationship and less on direction. The leader works
with the team and shares decision-making responsibilities.
• Delegating (S4) – Leaders pass most of the responsibility onto the follower or group. The leaders still
monitor progress, but they're less involved in decisions.

As you can see, styles S1 and S2 are focused on getting the task done. Styles S3 and S4 are more concerned
with developing team members' abilities to work independently.

Maturity Levels
According to Hersey and Blanchard, knowing when to use each style is largely dependent on the maturity of the
person or group you're leading. They break maturity down into four different levels:

• M1 – People at this level of maturity are at the bottom level of the scale. They lack the knowledge, skills,
or confidence to work on their own, and they often need to be pushed to take the task on.
• M2 – at this level, followers might be willing to work on the task, but they still don't have the skills to
complete it successfully.
• M3 – Here, followers are ready and willing to help with the task. They have more skills than the M2
group, but they're still not confident in their abilities.

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 • M4 – These followers are able to work on their own. They have high confidence and strong skills, and
they're committed to the task.

The Hersey-Blanchard model maps each leadership style to each maturity level, as shown below.

Maturity Level Most Appropriate Leadership Style

M1: Low maturity S1: Telling/directing
M2: Medium maturity, limited skills S2: Selling/coaching
M3: Medium maturity, higher skills but
S3: Participating/supporting
lacking confidence
M4: High maturity S4: Delegating

To use this model, reflect on the maturity of individuals within your team. The table above shows which
leadership style Hersey and Blanchard recommend for people with that level of maturity.

Leadership Style Examples

1. You're about to leave for an extended holiday, and your tasks will be handled by an experienced
colleague. He's very familiar with your responsibilities, and he's excited to do the job.

Instead of trusting his knowledge and skills to do the work, you spend hours creating a detailed list of
tasks for which he'll be responsible and give full instructions on how to do them.

The result? Your work gets done, but you've damaged the relationship with your colleague by your lack
of trust. He was an M4 in maturity, and yet you used an S1 leadership style instead of an S4, which
would have been more appropriate.

2. You've just been put in charge of leading a new team. It's your first time working with these people. As
far as you can tell, they have some of the necessary skills to reach the department's goals, but not all of
them. The good news is that they're excited and willing to do the work.

You estimate they're at an M3 maturity level, so you use the matching S3 leadership style. You coach
them through the project's goals, pushing and teaching where necessary, but largely leaving them to
make their own decisions. As a result, their relationship with you is strengthened, and the team is
successful.

Key Points
All teams, and all team members, aren't created equal. Hersey and Blanchard argue that leaders are more
effective when they use a leadership style based on the individuals or groups they're leading.
Start by identifying whom you're leading. Are your followers knowledgeable about the task? Are they willing and
excited to do the work? Rate them on the M1 - M4 maturity scale, and then use the leadership style that's
appropriate for

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 Performance Management Discussion

Employee Name

Manager’s Name

Date of Discussion

Detail performance issues (ie what is the gap between required performance and the
performance of the employee)

Ask employee to confirm that s/he understands that there is a gap in performance standards

Discuss the issue and provide clear feedback (based on observed behaviour / actions)

Establish the root issue and the real cause of the poor performance

Explore the options and alternatives available to help bring the person back on track

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Agree the next steps and set clear objectives for improvements

Establish regular review meetings to monitor progress (document progress)

Identify and arrange training and coaching opportunities

Explain the consequences of continued poor performance or the impact of continued poor
performance

Document any other comments / issues / actions

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Learning Log

Section of Key learning point

session

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Action Plan

Action Priority When by?

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