How to handle poor performers

Use these resources to help you deal effectively with an underperforming employee.

Question: I have an employee who has some productivity and behaviour problems. I've put off dealing with it because I thought the problems would resolve themselves. But now the rest of the people on my staff have begun to feel resentful. What should I do?

Answer: An employee with performance problems is not just a manager's problem. It's a problem for the whole staff. Staff members can resent taking up the slack for a poor performer, and rightly so. Hostility and anger from a problem employee can permeate and infect the whole environment. Ungrounded cynicism can also spread to the rest of your staff, even your good performers.

For these reasons, it's important that you take action with an employee who is exhibiting problems with productivity and behaviour as soon as you detect there is a problem. Here are some of the best ways to approach this tricky issue.

Identify the problem
First, you should identify the problem and try to find the reasons behind it. Why should you do this instead of just starting dismissal procedures? There are several reasons:

Staff morale: You don't want your staff operating under the assumption that the axe will fall at the first sign of a mistake. As a manager, arming yourself with a God complex can be tempting and seem less complicated, but do resist the temptation. No matter what you think, people are more productive in a supportive environment than they are in an intimidating one. And besides, a problem employee who is "rehabilitated" could become one of your organisation's greatest assets one day.

It's not always the case, but sometimes problematic employee behaviour is an indication that there's a bigger or more pervasive problem in the department or organisation. Maybe the employee is just not in the right role; a change in duties could turn everything around. Talk to the employee, then ask yourself if the problems are caused by organisation-induced obstacles that are beyond the employee's control. Is the working environment respectful? Is its culture exclusive of those who don't "fit the mould"? Are your departmental rules counter to institutional policy? Is an employee's perceived bad attitude just a reflection of your own bias in favour of a preferred communication style? It could be that a supervisory deficiency is at fault.

You may find, however, that your department is not to blame and that the problem rests solely with the employee. If that's the case, then direct your efforts accordingly. Begin your employee performance improvement process.

The bottom line: Believe it or not, fixing an existing problem is cheaper than recruiting, hiring, and training a replacement employee. (Keep in mind that I'm addressing run-of-the-mill performance problems. This statement wouldn't be true if you'd just discovered that the employee has been covertly selling off parts of your technical inventory.) Also, if you fire an employee prematurely, even for what you know are legitimate reasons, you could set your organisation up for some hefty legal fees. If you haven't worked with human resources to follow a standard and well-documented dismissal process, there's a good chance that the employee will feel wrongfully terminated and will sue. Don't forget that federal law, institutional policies, and special status through entitlements affect the disciplinary process.