How can you address underperformance in your team?

The first step to addressing a performance issue is to remain open and curious and not place blame or point fingers. Start asking powerful questions and gathering information from everyone on the team to understand their perspective of what might be happening. Often times I see the root cause of underperformance be a breakdown in process and training and not a person issue. As the leader or manager, taking extra steps to look at the SOP's or running through the process with those executing on the front lines will likely start to uncover some blind spots.

Underperformance is the result of lack of clear understanding of your role and how it impacts the bigger picture. Open communication and transparency from day one are vital to your and the business' success. You cannot over communicate. Do your research. Ask questions. Find out "why?" so you can figure out your whats and hows". Don't second guess.

Addressing underperformance in a team requires a combination of understanding, communication, support, and accountability. Here's a step-by-step approach: 1. Identify the Issue: 2. Private Conversation: 3. Provide Clear Expectations: 4. Offer Support: 5. Set Goals and Action Plans: 6. Regular Check-Ins 7. Recognize Improvement:. 8. Address Persistent Issues: 9. Seek Feedback 10. Lead by Example: Remember that every individual is different, and what works for one person may not work for another. Flexibility, patience, and ongoing communication are key to effectively addressing underperformance in a team.

In my experience 1:1 sessions do wonders here. Sit with your team member and converse to understand problem areas and provide guidance. It should be a dialogue not monologue. You may also seek feedback from your team member to have more engagement. This way he/she will understand the motive of the session is to identify the problem areas and not to pinpoint or blame him/her.

Addressing underperformance in my team must begin first by looking at the antecedence of the team member in question. If the individual had previously been a high-flyer, I would then drill down to identify factors that could be responsible for such by engaging with the individual. Where there are personal issues taking a toll on the employee, I will recommend such for an employee assistance program to help address underlying issues affecting their performance. For a staff who has not shown to be a top performer, I will also engage but by identifying learning interventions that can help equip such with identified skillsgap wit a performance improvement plan & where there is no improvement, the need to either consider redeployment or termina

Performance related discussion especially underperformance are tricky conversations, few guidelines that can be followed to make this conversation constructive - Listen first, if there any fitment issues or team conflicts that's affecting the performance - Speak with data- events & feedback that was given in the past recorded in the system comes handy - Be clear & assertive on the way forward

Clear communication in these situations should be filled with empathy, motivation, and support. A meeting involving the employee, their reporting manager, and a balanced, understanding HR representative is essential. HR should leverage its expertise to simplify the situation, clearly explaining the expectation gap to the employee. Listening to the employee is paramount to understand the challenges they face. Then, a clear path with defined timelines should be communicated, offering motivation and complete support throughout the process. This empathetic and structured approach can be a game-changer in most Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) cases.

In my experience clarity on the issue is very important. Making the person realise on underperformance is the critical milestone. If done, majority of the people improve performance without any extraordinary support.

In my opinion regular catch up with team is very important to maintain clear communication as to what is expected from them and simultaneously also help in areas of improvement. Quarterly catch up for performance review in recent times doesnt work much and most of the times communication gap is noticed. Also it is important that all your team members are equally aware of the goals. So it is important that you spend good amount of time for clear communication with all your team members or if most of them have same goals dedicate a half an hour stand up call with them everyday.

Es de vital importancia tener claros los objetivos y las métricas de cada colaborador, de esta forma el equipo se mantiene activo y motivado, se debe agregar la mejor retro de tu parte como líder.

As part of the support process, HR should regularly follow up with the employee to review progress. It's also crucial to communicate the organization’s clear intent to the reporting manager, ensuring they provide necessary support to the employee. By taking these steps, performance issues are likely to be addressed effectively. However, if the underlying issue is related to attitude, further actions may be necessary, which can be identified through consistent follow-ups.

Sitting with team members for review is very important but at the same time the review should not sound like a pin pointing session. It should be a healthy discussion so that team member can feel engaged and motivated to participate and accept the areas of improvement to do better.

A PIP should be viewed as a Performance Improvement Plan, not an employee exit plan, by both employees and the organization. HR plays a crucial role in guiding both the employee and the reporting manager on the importance of meeting expectations and the cost of replacement. HR needs to emphasize to reporting managers that their role is to nurture the team and transform non-performers into performers, rather than opting for the easiest route of replacing employees. While replacements should occur when necessary, they should always be the last option.

A melhor forma de conduzir o baixo desempenho é tratando com a conversa 1:1, desenvolver ritual de alinhamento semanal, quinzenal ou mensal, ter líderes preparados para desenvolver equipes. Buscar pessoas com sede de aprendizado e com mais sede ainda de aplicar conhecimento.