Solving Employee Performance Problems: How to Spot Problems Early, Take Appropriate Action, and Bring Out the Best in Everyone

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Introduction

Why is it so difficult for most of us (leaders) to have timely and productive performance conversations? There are lots of reasons— none of them valid.

Leaders tell us that the reasons they don’t have or procrastinate having performance conversations are:

 It is so obvious that the employee must know and should be correcting the problem.

 I don’t have time.

 I tried, and nothing changed.

 I’m not sure what I can and cannot say—my HR rep warns me about lawsuits.

 I’ve never had or am uncomfortable with this type of conversation—I’m not sure where or how to start.

Our responses are:

 These situations are rarely clear to the employee. It is not realistic to expect that employees will make changes they do not know they should make.

 You are more than likely spending more time dealing with the consequences of the performance issue than it would take to have a productive performance conversation.

 Many leaders believe they have performance conversations and are frustrated with the lack of responsiveness from the employees. Most of the time employees do not recall having a performance conversation and are unaware of any problems.

 It is important to understand the dos and don’ts of performance conversations. However, once you understand how to prepare for and have these conversations, you will stay on the right course.

 Don’t worry—by applying the tools and resources included in this book, you will become skilled at having successful performance conversations.

Now that we have addressed the reasons and excuses for not having successful performance conversations, let’s see how best-in-class organizations and leaders have performance conversations.

A recent report published by the Aberdeen Group surfaced the primary themes that drive performance management.

The report validated the clear tie between managing performance and business operations. Companies that achieve best-in-class results in employee performance management are those in which employees are engaged in the work, where individuals are meeting and exceeding individual performance goals, and where employees are able to best serve the needs of the customer. The key to creating this type of work environment lies with the business leaders. The top five capabilities put in place by these top-performing companies all have to do with the manager’s role in helping to draw links between individuals and the growth goals of the organization:

1. Managers meet with employees on a regular basis.

2. Managers are held accountable for managing performance.

3. The performance management process enables leaders to assign individual goals that are linked to organizational goals.

4. Managers are held accountable for employees attaining their goals.

5. Leaders are trained to execute performance management strategy.

Best-in-class organizations state that the top two barriers to effective performance management are lack of follow-up between leaders and employees regarding progress toward goals and performance expectations followed by difficulty communicating the organization’s strategy. It was found that these managers rely too heavily on a manual process for communicating with employees, while managers in best-in-class organizations use technology, such as the company intranet, and regularly scheduled staff and one-on-one meetings that consistently include an agenda item to communicate to provide updates on performance and the strategic plan. Obviously these leaders are not having performance conversations with their team members. The lack of interaction has a negative impact on business results. In addition, leaders who are not managing the performance of their team members are leaving a gap in developing organizational talent. When leaders demonstrate through their actions that they take their responsibility seriously, they become a model for the managers on their team.

This book provides leaders with examples and templates that will enable them to have performance conversations that will allow them to contribute to the organization’s objectives and talent development.

Let’s back up and look at the big picture before we take a deeper dive into the why, how, and when of having performance conversations.

The following graphic outlines the talent management cycle, which reminds us of the different stages employees go through. Without productive, performance conversations, employees cannot effectively move through each of these stages. And the organization does not see a return on the investment made in each employee. Instead the employees stumble to and through each phase without clearly understanding how they are doing, and they have no reason to make changes needed to have a positive impact.

What happens both during and in between each of these stages that causes these performance issues in the first place? The answer typically comes down to the level of communication between the leader and the employee. Do leaders understand that a significant part of their role is to set their team members up for success? Do they have the communication and coaching skills to spend most of their time proactively managing performance and effectively handling performance challenges that surface? Most leaders struggle with communication and coaching; many were promoted because of their strong technical or operational performance and are expected to suddenly develop leadership skills. Of course this is setting the leader up for failure or at best spotty success. This book is designed to provide leaders and human resources partners with resources, talking points, and strategies to build and implement the skills needed to be leaders that proactively manage their teams’ performance through effective communication and coaching. It is often a difficult road with lots of mistakes made along the way; it should be viewed as a marathon and not a sprint. The payoff comes when the leader has a high-functioning team whose members have a clear understanding of what they are being held accountable for. With such a team, performance issues are handled efficiently and professionally.

To cross the finish line, leaders must make a commitment, look for opportunities to practice, get feedback on how they are doing, make adjustments, and practice again.

The 10 chapters that follow can be used as standalone resources to support you as you address specific performance challenges. They will provide you with a clear understanding of how to build your performance management skills.

Make the commitment and enjoy the journey.

Chapter 1

Set Expectations to Avoid Performance Issues

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

As our research and our work has told us, many performance issues result from the lack of understanding of performance expectations or the lack of clarity of those expectations. Without a clear target, it is impossible for employees to know where and for what to aim. On the flip side, their managers should not be able to hold them accountable without these same measures or tools.

Leaders need to build a performance-based team whose objectives are consistent with the organization’s vision and mission.

CREATING TEAMS

The synergy that comes from putting employees together to form teams to solve problems, make decisions, and take action is power that organizations can harness for greater success. In these increasingly complex, changing times for your business, using the principles of teams can supply more creative solutions and more powerful support for your teams and the organization as a whole. With an effective team, The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.

Creating teams and leading them to success require skill and finesse on the part of the team leaders. We discuss and provide practice for the skills that can help make you successful in creating a good team environment.

Teamwork is the ability of people to work together toward a common vision. It is the ability to direct individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives, and it is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

WHAT DOES A TEAM LOOK LIKE?

To help you determine whether you have a team or just a group of individuals, consider the following questions:

 How do you make decisions?

 How do you deal with conflicts?

 How do you solve problems?

 What happens when things go wrong?

 How do you build a team that makes effective decisions, surfaces and manages conflicts, and works together to solve problems and handle issues?

BUILDING THE VISION

At the center of every high-performance team is a common purpose, a mission that rises above and beyond each of the individual team members. To be successful, the team’s interests and needs must come first. This requires, we-opic vision (What’s in it for ‘we’?). A challenging step up from the common, me-opic mindset.

To embrace this principle, make sure your team purpose and priorities are clear. What is your overall mission? What is your game plan? What is expected of each team member? How can each member contribute most effectively? What constants will hold the team together? Then stop and ask yourself whether you are putting the team first.

In order to develop successful plans, it is necessary for managers both to understand their organization’s strategic vision and to incorporate that vision into their plans and day-to-day operations. To accomplish this, consider the following steps:

1. Become comfortable articulating your organization’s vision and strategic direction. To clarify and increase your understanding in this area, ask yourself questions such as:

 What is the organization’s strategic vision?

 What does the strategic vision mean for me and my department?

 What are the future opportunities?

 What talents and resources will I need to accomplish my part?

2. Ask for whatever information you need to understand the strategy and direction.

3. Link your operational plans with the organization’s vision and strategic direction.

4. Plan for ongoing review and updates to ensure that your departmental plans support your organization’s strategic vision.

Company’s Vision/Strategy

Write your vision here:

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If you are unclear about your company’s vision, you can get more information by:

 Reading the annual report.

 Attending company meetings, such as town meetings, and reading quarterly updates, newsletters, and press releases.

 Talking with members of the management team.

 Reviewing annual objectives.

Your Team’s Vision

What is the vision for your current team? What is the purpose of the team? How does your vision fit into the company’s overall vision and strategy?

Team Vision: Write your team vision here:

Purpose of Team: Write your team purpose here:

How Does the Team Vision Fit into the Company’s Vision/Strategy?

MAKING THE VISION HAPPEN

Now that you have established your vision, established clear expectations for each team member, and assessed the strengths and weaknesses of your team, it is time to implement the vision and make it happen. The first step in making it happen is communicating the vision and keeping it alive. Use the following worksheet to develop your communication plan.

COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE, COMMUNICATE

The communication process can also be thought of as a public relations initiative. As we learn in the case studies in Chapter 8, the team’s purpose and vision not only needs to be communicated to the team members, but they also need to be communicated to the rest of the organization, particularly those functions with which the teams will be working closely.

STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR TEAM

Many leaders are focused on tasks, results, and projects. While these items are important, leaders must also take the time to communicate with their teams. Effectively communicating with team members increases productivity and minimizes confusion and wasted effort. The following strategies outline opportunities for leaders to communicate with their teams.

 Hold regular staff meetings:

 Make these important meetings a priority.

 Plan an agenda, allowing for changes when needed.

 Include a development activity on a regular basis.

 Keep formal department documents up to date, such as:

 Organizational charts

 Department vision

 Management by objectives (MBOs)

 Hold regular breakfast or lunch meetings monthly or quarterly:

 Discuss current items affecting the department.

 Cover broader items that are happening in the organization.

 Allow for and encourage questions.

 Display current news items. Put up a bulletin board or something similar for department and company news items to be placed. Keep it current.

 Hold impromptu meetings as needed. When new, urgent information comes to your attention, share this information with those on your team who are affected.

 Return phone and e-mail messages to your team members promptly.

 Develop your own way of sending handwritten notes to your team members.

How to communicate with your manager:

 Have regularly scheduled meetings with your manager. If he or she does not initiate them, arrange to get on his or her calendar.

 Know how your manager prefers to receive information.

 Make sure there are no surprises:

 Keep your manager informed of any important issues that affect your team.

 Invite your manager periodically to attend your staff meetings.

 Make use of informal opportunities, such as lunches, travel, and social events to communicate with your manager.

STRATEGIES FOR COMMUNICATING WITH OTHER KEY GROUPS

In addition to effectively communicating inside the team, it is also critical that leaders develop strong communication across departments. Clear and open communication channels between departments have several advantages: surfaces issues, problem solving, minimizes rework, and increases productivity. Below is a list of strategies to first identify these key groups and then foster strong communication with them.

 Identify the key groups that your team needs to interact with.

 Develop relationships with your peers in those groups.

 Create opportunities to relay pertinent information on your team’s activities and successes to these key groups. Opportunities might include:

 Your manager’s staff meetings

 Newsletters

 Lunches

 Meetings that include members of these groups

The next step is to understand how to apply the strategies within your specific company culture.

Company culture is made up of the psychology, attitudes, experiences, beliefs, and values (personal and cultural) of an organization. It has been defined as the specific collection of values and norms that are shared by people and groups in an organization and that control the way they interact with each other and with stakeholders outside the organization.

UNDERSTANDING A COMPANY’S CULTURE

Answers to the following questions can help uncover and articulate a company culture:

1. How would you describe this company? Answer as if you were describing a person (three words). When you talk about where you work, what do you tell people?

2. What does the company value? What is important here? How do you know it’s important?

3. What areas are dominant here? Does marketing lead, or finance, or production? Why?

4. What are the unwritten rules for getting along in this organization? What do we always do? Never do?

5. How does the organization handle conflict? Good news? Bad news? Deadlines? Decision making? (Provide examples of ways that the company has handled crises.)

6. Whom do you see as the primary customers of the company? What happens when a key customer complains? To what extent does the company hold true to its expressed standards for dealing with its customers? Shareholders? Stakeholders? Employees?

Having a clear understanding of the culture provides leaders with important context for managing performance situations. Without this context leaders are vulnerable to making mistakes and taking missteps that can lead to larger and potentially risky situations.

A leader’s HR partner is typically a good resource for explaining the company culture as well as how performance is managed within the culture. Successful leaders join with their HR partners to gain an understanding of the culture and how to navigate within it.

ONBOARDING: A FRESH START

Starting a new role or hiring a new employee is one