Poor Performance Is a Symptom

Someone on your team keeps missing the mark.

You gave them clear direction. You checked in. They fell short again.

Now you're doing the math in your head. Performance plan. Replace the person. Hire someone who "gets it" this time.

You might be right.

But before you make that call, I want to walk you through the process I use to diagnose this, before I ever decide an employee needs to go.

Wrong first question

Here's the instinct almost every manager has when someone is underperforming.

Something's wrong with this person.

Maybe they're not cut out for it. Maybe they don't have the drive. Maybe they just don't care as much as everyone else.

I want to offer you a different first question. The one I've trained myself to ask instead.

Everything that happens on my team is my responsibility.

So when someone is struggling, my first move isn't to ask what's wrong with them. It's to ask what I'm doing, or failing to do, that might be contributing to it.

This doesn't mean every struggling employee can be saved. Some can't. I'll get to that.

It means before I decide the employee is the problem, I look at everything I own first. Not because it's fair, though it is. Because it's higher leverage. If the only question you ever ask yourself is whether to keep them or fire them, you've boxed yourself into two options. Start asking what you own, and you'll find a lot more you can actually influence.

Did I set them up to succeed

The first place I look is the setup.

Before this person ever missed an expectation, did I give them a real shot? Did I hire the right person for this work? Did I onboard them well? Were my expectations actually clear, or just clear in my head? Did they have the resources and relationships they needed? Was I leveraging their strengths, or asking them to operate outside them? Did they understand why the work mattered? Did I give them enough ownership to actually make decisions?

It all comes down to one question. Did I create the conditions where a capable person could succeed here?

Sometimes the answer is no. I've handed someone a project and assumed the goal was obvious, when it was only obvious to me. I've asked someone to own a piece of the business and never actually taken my hands off the wheel. I've put a new hire on a cross-functional project and never paired them with a veteran who knew where the bodies were buried.

That's not on them. That's on me. And that's fixable.

Did I help them succeed

Next I look at how I coached and supported them along the way.

Did I pre-schedule and actually protect a weekly 30-minute one-on-one with this person?

I'll harp on this one because it's the foundation. In that one-on-one, they own the agenda. I'm not broadcasting my priorities at them. I'm listening for early signs of struggle. I'm making small course corrections before they veer too far off. I'm connecting them to people on the team or in the company who can help.

If you're not meeting weekly with every direct report, I'm not surprised you've got problems.

Outside those one-on-ones, have I given timely feedback? Sometimes that's correcting a behavior before it becomes a bad habit. Sometimes it's naming a good behavior I want repeated. I should be giving far more positive reinforcement than correction. That's how trust gets built, and how someone learns what good actually looks like.

Did I hold them accountable

Now the harder question. Have I actually held them to the standard I expect?

Be honest. We let this slide all the time. We avoid the uncomfortable conversation. We're busy. One day slips into the next, and suddenly it feels too late to bring it up.

If I'm frustrated enough to be thinking about a performance plan, but I haven't had the conversation yet, that's a me problem, not a them problem.

Here's what it should sound like.

First missed deadline, keep it simple: "This deliverable is arriving a day late. When we miss deadlines, the next step starts late and the whole project is at risk. Can you be on time with the next one?"

Second miss, escalate: "This is the second time this has happened. We need the team to be able to count on us. Is something preventing you from meeting these deadlines?" Then a real conversation, and another forward commitment. "If this continues, it may result in disciplinary action."

Third miss, more serious still: "This is the third deadline we've missed. We've discussed this twice. I'm formally documenting this as a step in our performance process, and that process could lead to your termination."

The number of conversations and how you escalate will depend on the severity of the issue and your company's process. The point is the same either way. Simple and short the first time. More serious with every repeat.

And through every one of these conversations, I'm still asking myself where I might have failed to give this person what they needed.

When it really is the person

Sometimes the person does need to go.

I set them up well. I coached and supported them. I held a clear standard, gave feedback, escalated as needed, and they still aren't meeting the bar.

At that point, separation is the right call. I owe it to everyone else on the team, the ones holding the standard every day, to remove the person who isn't cutting it and bring in someone who can contribute.

Managers ask me all the time, how do I know when it's time to let someone go. This is it. You've gone through all three steps. You've done everything you can. Now you can make the call with a clear conscience.

I've never exited someone from a team without asking myself afterward what more I could have done. Not to beat myself up. To get better.

If it happens, take the loss, learn from it, and do better with the next person.

Best,

Jeff

P.S. If you've got someone on your team right now who you're already thinking about exiting, and you haven't run this three-step diagnosis yet, let's grab 15 minutes and go through it together before you make that call. This is not a sales call. This is a help call. Here's a link to my calendar.