How to Compassionately Support Underperforming Employees
Managing a team member who is not meeting expectations is a challenging experience for even the most seasoned leader. Underperformance impacts the individual, their teammates, and other internal and external stakeholders. It can quickly negatively affect team morale and organizational performance, so leaders need to stay aware and take action as soon as these issues bubble up.
As with all aspects of leadership, taking a compassionate and empathetic approach is the best way to address the root cause of the performance issues and to help your team member improve. The process can be stressful and frustrating, but it’s never hopeless. There are some simple yet essential steps to help you manage underperformance and ultimately help your employee become a stronger contributor, leading to an even healthier and more productive organization.
Understand the Root Cause of Underperformance
The first and most important thing to do is talk to your employee to see what is causing the issue. It’s important to listen without judgment and truly see their perspective. We often don’t see the many struggles people face outside of work that might impact their professional lives. They might be dealing with mental health issues or burnout. Whatever the cause, the best leaders will use this conversation to reinforce a feeling of psychological safety so your employee feels comfortable sharing what’s going on so you can co-create a path forward together.
Proactively and Collaboratively Address Underperformance
Once you’ve determined the root cause of the issues, work together with your employee to develop an action plan to address it. Depending on the severity of the issue and the state of mind of your employee, you can start with small actions and work up to larger goals. Ask your team member what they need and make every effort to provide it to them, so this plan feels reciprocal. Write down the plan and create a timeline that feels reasonable and achievable to both of you. If you don’t already regularly meet 1:1, set up a weekly session where you can go through progress for the week and look ahead with new action items. Take notes and ask your employee to send out meeting summaries so you both stay on the same page. Track their progress and reassess at a predetermined time.
Decide the Best Way to Coach Underperformance
Your organization might also have formal mechanisms to track this, and you should use your best judgment to determine if and when you should take a more formal approach. If your informal improvement plan is not successful, it might be time to escalate the issue. Hopefully, your employee expresses a willingness to be coached and improve, but if not, using formal resources available would be the next step.
Compassionately Take Action If Underperformance Persists
If the situation doesn’t get better, it might be time to take action and let the employee go. It’s unfortunate and often painful when situations like this arise, but it will ultimately be for the greater good of your team and your organization. Underperformance, like any other negative behavior, can have widespread adverse impacts, and it’s important to protect your culture and your team’s overall health and performance by letting go of folks who cannot meet expectations after sustained and compassionate attempts at coaching.
Trying to help an underperforming employee can be a very isolating experience for leaders. But you are not alone. Get in touch with me to learn more about how I can help guide you through leadership coaching and team effectiveness consulting.