Tips for Managing Poor Performance at Work

Defining Poor Performance

Poor performance can manifest in several ways, and it may not be a question of work quality.

Poor performance can also relate to:

• How the individual behaves around others
• Their communication style
• Their attendance
• A decrease in output
• A relinquishment of responsibilities

There is also a distinct difference between occasional lapses in performance (we all have our “off” days) and sustained poor performance.

Essentially, poor performance boils down to two key areas:

• Work-related
• Behavior-related

These can be broken down further into intentional and unintentional poor performance.

For instance, unintentional poor performance could be accidentally missing deadlines, misinterpreting instructions, or talking too loudly or too often.

Examples of intentionally poor performance include purposefully ignoring instructions and staff communications, calling in sick when the individual is healthy, and being intentionally rude to fellow staff.

Unintentional poor performance is often much easier to deal with because the employee never meant to act this way. Intentional is a different kettle of fish because the individual is consciously sabotaging themselves and the people around them.

What Can Cause Poor Performance?

The reasons for poor performance are not so cut and dry. External factors can have a huge influence on performance or it may simply be a lack of skills that are causing the problem.

Some common reasons include:

• Lack of training or support: This can be especially true if the individual was recently promoted or moved into a new role.
• Personal issues: Relationship breakdowns, ill health, lack of sleep, financial stress, and more.
• Miscommunication of expectations: Confusion of job roles and responsibilities and unclear goals and standards can contribute to this problem.
• Inadequate resources: Does the employee lack the tools required to do their job properly?
• Overburdened: Is there a staffing issue, and has too much work been piled onto the individual?
• Poor management: Bad leadership can cause apathy, a lack of motivation, and low employee engagement.
• Burnout: Excessive workloads, constant overtime, and unrealistic deadlines cause extreme stress and pressure.
• Work environment: Is the workplace too noisy? Too crowded? Too uncomfortable?
• Bullying and harassment: Is the individual suffering from this within the workplace?
• Poor organizational fit: Some individuals may not align with company values and ethos, especially if there is a strong culture present.

Because there are so many reasons why a person may be underperforming, it’s crucial to approach the situation with an open mind and empathy. After all, it may be completely beyond the individual’s control.

How to Prepare for a Poor Performance Discussion

It’s happened, you’ve identified that an individual’s performance is not what it should be. It’s time to have a conversation.

Before you go in guns blazing, you must take the time to prepare properly. By following the steps below, you can facilitate a constructive discussion that has a positive outcome.

Gather Examples

First off, you need to back up the issue of poor performance with solid examples. It’s not enough to simply go in with accusations—you need to be able to show the individual where and how these problems are occurring.

For example, a poor attendance issue can be backed up with the dates and times of all the individual’s absences or lateness (if you use time and attendance software, you can quickly pull a report to demonstrate this).

If it’s a question of unacceptable behavior, you can interview the affected staff to gain anecdotal evidence. It would also be a great idea to ask them to start keeping a diary of incidents.

For poor work quality, gather examples. This can include the work itself, how much time had to be spent correcting it, evidence of missed deadlines, and so on.

Gain 360 Feedback

Obtaining feedback from others is important for gaining other perspectives and avoiding the accusation that you are biased. This step is especially vital if your employee’s behavior is affecting other individuals or departments.

Gather feedback from anyone that the individual has contact with, including:

• Fellow colleagues
• Managers and team leaders
• External clients or partners

Make sure that all feedback you receive is backed up by examples.

Accept Your Responsibility

This part is often overlooked and can quickly lead to conflict during discussions if not addressed.

Direct some questions to yourself and the organization as a whole to see if you played a role in the individual’s decline in performance. Perhaps you haven’t been as present in the office lately or maybe the organization is going through some disruptive changes.

Accepting that the organization may be at fault can go a long way toward resolving poor performance because it enables you to see where and how to make positive changes before you approach the employee.

Settle Your Emotions

It’s very easy to get frustrated and angry at an underperforming employee, but bringing these strong emotions to the discussion doesn’t do anyone any favors.

A barrage of negativity and accusations can cause the individual to close up, get defensive, and not speak honestly or openly with you.

Instead, go in with an open mind, empathy, and the understanding that you only have one side of the story. Remaining polite and respectful will facilitate constructive conversations and avoid conflict.

Steps to Successful Poor Performance Management

You’ve done your prep work, and you’re ready to address the problem. Here are the next steps in the process.

1. Set Up a Meeting

First, you need to set up a meeting where you can both meet face-to-face (in person or virtually) to discuss things.

There are some best practices to follow here:

• Schedule the meeting at an appropriate time for both of you. Choose a calm time of the day when you can both devote the time to talk.
• Provide advance notice. Don’t just spring it on the individual—give them time to prepare themselves emotionally and physically.
• Select a private, neutral location.
• Provide a clear agenda for the meeting and share it in advance so the individual knows what information they need to gather.

If the time and date of the meeting don’t work for the employee, be open to rescheduling it so it works better for them.

2. Understand the Cause

Start the meeting by taking the time to establish the cause of the poor performance.

Don’t assume you already know the cause—it’s likely that you don’t.

Present your evidence while remembering to remain objective. Adopting an accusatory or threatening tone here won’t help you.

Ask a lot of questions and ensure you listen properly to the answers. Give the individual space to talk—don’t cut them off or interject with your opinions.

Some good questions to ask the individual include:

• Can you describe any challenges you're currently facing in your role?
• Do you feel you have the right resources and tools for your job?
• Is there anything about your job that you find particularly difficult or unclear?
• How do you feel about the current workload and deadlines?
• Do you feel that you have received sufficient training and support to perform your role effectively?
• Are there any personal issues outside of work that are affecting your performance?
• Are there any changes in the work environment that have impacted your performance?
• Do you feel that the expectations for your role are clear and achievable?
• How do you view your relationship with your team and manager?
• Are there specific areas where you feel you need additional support or development?
• What motivates you in your work, and do you feel the organization does enough to make you feel motivated?
• Do you feel there are opportunities for you to use your strengths and skills in your current role?
• Is there anything specific that you believe is contributing to your performance issues?
• How can we help you improve and succeed in your role?

Pick the relevant questions for the poor performance issue—you don’t need to ask questions that won’t help your investigation.

Remember, keep the tone neutral and make certain to avoid negative phrases and questions such as these:

• Blame and accusations: "You always do this" or "You never do that."
• Personal attacks: “You’re not good enough” or “You always screw up”
• Emotional language: “I’m so disappointed in you” or “You’ve really let me down.”
• Negative statements: “This is a disaster” or “There’s no good solution for this.”
• Unsubstantiated claims: “Everyone thinks you’re useless” or “No one likes you.”
• Threats: “If you don’t improve, you’ll be fired” or “I’ll demote you.”
• Assumptions: “You obviously don’t care” or “You can’t be bothered.”

3. Reiterate Performance Expectations

Once you have established the root cause of the issue, you can outline what the performance expectations are. These can be behavioral or work-based expectations but in both cases, they must be clear.

Also, ensure that the individual understands them. If they don’t, this is your opportunity to explain things to them or make them more understandable.

By doing this, you can show the employee where the performance gaps are, what they need to work on, and to what standard. This information is also going to help you with step 5.

4. Listen to Employee Needs

Now you know the performance gaps, it’s time to listen to the employee again and what they need to get themselves up to standard.

Based on what has already been said, you may already know what they need, but there’s no harm in asking again. There may be something neither of you has thought of yet.

At this point, it is also important to manage expectations. The employee may state they “need” better compensation, a more flexible working structure, or career advancement. However, it may not be realistic for the organization to provide these things

If there is a mismatch between what the organization provides and what the employee wants, then you must discuss whether or not the individual can adjust their expectations to something more realistic.

5. Collaborate and Develop a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP)

When you have all the required information, you’re ready to go ahead and develop a performance development plan (PIP).

This needs to be a collaborative effort, so it presents a solution, not a punishment. In other words, the PIP should incorporate the employee’s needs as well as ensuring workplace standards are met.

The PIP should consist of a plan that outlines the goals, objectives, and actions required to achieve the desired performance level. Also:

• Clearly define the actions that the individual and the organization are responsible for.
• Establish a timeframe for when the improvements should be made.
• Outline what will happen if poor performance persists.
• Detail the level of support you will provide during this process.
• Create a schedule for regular check-ins and reviews.

Once the PIP is in place, you need to do your bit in fulfilling your side of the bargain.

This includes arranging support, booking training, redistributing workloads, or anything else that you and the organization are responsible for.

Make sure you do this immediately. If not, you can’t possibly expect the employee to improve their performance.

6. Set Up Regular Check-Ins

Next, carry out regular check-ins with the individual to discuss progress. These aren’t just to monitor progress—they’re to ensure you and the employee both remain accountable for what was outlined in the PIP.

Update them on the actions you have taken and what they can expect in the coming days or weeks. In turn, the employee should outline their efforts and what they have been doing to improve things.

There will probably be some adjustments to the PIP along the way to reflect any changes or as new challenges arise.

7. Recognize Progress

Finally, be sure to recognize the positive changes that you see in the individual. Showing appreciation is key to ensuring the employee stays motivated and on track to keep driving improvements.

Praise their efforts and accomplishments and demonstrate the impact they have had. This could be gathering positive feedback from others, showing an increase in performance metrics, or a flawless attendance record.

What to Do If Performance Does Not Improve?

Performance management isn’t always going to be a success, especially if the poor conduct was an intentional act.

So, what do you do if the individual doesn’t improve despite giving them every opportunity to succeed?

One thing is for sure. You can’t let it slide. To do so will continue to negatively affect the organizations and the morale and motivation of fellow colleagues. You must take action, and there are several ways to address the problem.

Review and Adjust PIP

As we discussed, the regular check-ins are a way to ensure the PIP is working for both of you. The lack of improvement could be due to misaligned actions within the PIP or the failure to fulfill objectives.

Review and adjust the PIP to see if that generates a positive outcome. If not, it’s time to move on to a different step.

Explore Alternative Roles

This can be a great outcome if the individual is performing strongly in some areas but not others. Redefining job roles or moving them into a more suitable role is a solution that could work for both your benefits.

Another alternative to this is exploring the possibility of switching up shift patterns or going part-time. This can work if the individual has time-management issues.

For organizations that have multiple teams within a department, it could work to move the employee to a different team. Perhaps they will fit in better with the new group.

There are lots of ways to adjust job roles, and we thoroughly recommend exploring this avenue before writing off the employee.

Disciplinary Action

If all else fails, you may be left with no alternative but to start the disciplinary process.

This process differs between organizations but typically involves steps that determine the point at which the individual will be terminated. This could be a verbal warning followed by a written final warning, after which the individual is let go or demoted.

Make sure your organization has a clear disciplinary policy that leaves no room for misinterpretation and that it complies with local labor laws. For transparency, add it to the employee handbook.

When you start the disciplinary process, hold a meeting with the individual, refer to the policy, and make them fully aware of what will happen next if nothing changes.

Termination

When all else fails, the last resort is to terminate the individual's employment. It’s not ideal, but it could be the best outcome for everyone involved.

At this point, you must get HR and relevant leadership involved and do things by the book. This will help avoid any complicated situations or a dispute arising.

Final Thoughts

Managing poor performance is an uncomfortable but necessary aspect of being a leader.

To successfully move through the process, preparation and self-reflection are key.

Remember, poor performance isn’t simply about bad behavior. The reasons can be complex, but most employees will welcome an open, non-accusatory, and collaborative approach to the situation.

If the individual knows you are looking out for their best interests, the outcome is far more likely to be positive.