Managing Under-Performance

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MTL: The Professional Development Programme
Managing Under-Performance
MANAGING UNDER-
PERFORMANCE
Sort out problems before it’s too late

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Attribution: All images are from sources where a Creative Commons license exists for commercial use. All icons are on subscription
from thenounproject. All clipart is from free sources. The MTL Professional Development Programme is copyright of Manage Train
Learn.
Managing Under-
Performance
Introduction: If you are a manager, there is no more important task for you than
to get everyone in your team working to optimum performance. They won't
always achieve it. They won't do it every single day. However, when they
regularly fail to achieve the standard expected of others in the team, then you
must act to put things right.

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Symptoms of Under-Performance
The symptoms of under-performance can appear in various guises. They all amount to a failure to reach
minimum standards or agreed targets. 12 common symptoms of low performance are...
1
Poor attendance
3
Slow work
4
Sloppy work
5
Lack of attention
6
Dishonesty
7
Lack of trust
8
Withdrawal
9
Laziness
10
Irresponsibility
11
Low targets
12
Conflict
2
Insufficient work

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1. IDENTIFY
UNDER-
PERFORMANCE
Aim to spot the signs of poor performance
before it becomes an employee's default mode
of working. Symptoms of poor performance
include: patchy attendance; slow, inadequate, or
sloppy work; and conflicts with others in the
team. You can also detect poor performance
from sub-standard results. If you detect under-
performance, you need to sit down as soon as
possible and explore what is going wrong.
Find out if people are having problems
Flickr attribution: /ebtexam/8475990382 /

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2. ANALYSE
THE REASONS
To work through a meeting with an employee
whose work has deteriorated, you need to use
the techniques of counselling. This means
helping the employee look at the cause of under-
performance, accept that something is going
wrong, and help them develop a plan that will
reverse the decline. There are at least 5 common
causes of under-performance, including de-
motivation, lack of ability, and ill-health.
Identify the performance blocks
Flickr attribution: /paulk/2745465901/

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3. WON'T: A
LACK OF
MOTIVATION
When people no longer want to work to previous
levels, something is missing from their
motivation and interest in the job. This could be
due to something at work, something outside
work, or some change in the employee
themselves. Help the employee explore what the
cause might be. Three top reasons for de-
motivation are: when it is more attractive not to
try than to try; when there seems to be nothing
to gain from making the effort; and when
nobody else is trying very hard. De-motivation is
more infectious than motivation.
De-motivated people soon fall behind
Flickr attribution: /74285857@N05/6697132255/

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4. CAN'T: A
LACK OF
ABILITY
Sometimes, people under-perform because they
simply don't have the skills to do the job well. If
this is a lack of training and coaching, you need
to put some kind of training remedy in place. If it
turns out that they simply don't have the ability,
you may need to think about changing their job,
particularly if the reason is a physical disability.
Gregg – the maniacal mechanic

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5. ILL-HEALTH
Ill-health can be the cause of under-performance
when a job-holder is ill, infirm, injured, unfit or
temporarily unwell but decides to stay at work.
There are three common categories of ill-health
at work: mental ill-health such as depression and
anxiety, physical limitations that restrict what
employees can and can't do, and stress.
Tip: statistics show that 1 in 7 men and 1 in 4
women suffer from some form of mental ill-health
at some time in their working lives. Statistics also
show that many people continue to work while
suffering from disabling ailments such as diabetes,
epilepsy, pre-menstrual tension, migraine and back
problems.
Stay fit and well
Flickr attribution: /k790i/3852576091/

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6. PROBLEMS
IN THE TEAM
Not everyone is fortunate to work in happy and
successful teams. Sometimes, we work alongside
people whose personality just does not fit in
with ours. That's when all sorts of problems arise
resulting in a dip in performance. Only skilful
counselling will get you to the bottom of such
personality clashes and only skilful counselling
will help your employees find a way out.
People under-perform when they start in-fighting

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Alienation and Exclusion from the Rest of the Team
Alienation from others arises when people
are excluded from a group or exclude
themselves. It can occur in the workplace
when a person is noticeably different from
others in the group, perhaps because they
are of a different class, race, education or sex.
It is not surprising therefore that when
someone is alienated from the rest of the
group, there is a lack of teamwork, low
morale and more energy diverted into
dealing with the exclusion, for example in
playing win-lose games between the person
and the rest of the team.
Robert Blauner said that the result
of alienation for individual
employees was a feeling of
powerlessness, meaninglessness,
isolation, and loneliness, a sure
recipe for under-performance.

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7. ILL-MATCHED
TEAM CULTURE
Sometimes people who would otherwise
perform well fail to make the grade because they
are in the wrong job, the wrong team, or even
the wrong organisation. All organisations have a
style or culture of working. Those who do best
are the ones who work with the style or culture.
Where people just don't match the style of
culture, problems will arise and performance will
suffer. This can be such a serious mis-match that
the only solution is to remove the person from
the team or organisation.
A shy team
Flickr attribution: /pedrosimoes7/5152812298/

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8. SOLVE IT
Once you have explored the reasons for under-
performance, you need to look at solutions. If
the problem is one of low morale, talk to people.
If the problem is ability, look at a learning plan. If
the problem is personal, consider some kind of
professional help. If the problem is practical, for
example, poor working conditions, rectify it. Only
if the problem is none of these, should you
consider your final option which is to discipline.
You cannot let under-performance go unresolved
Flickr attribution: /teegardin/6147270119/

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This has been a Slide Topic from Manage Train Learn
AFinal
Word
You cannot be a successful manager unless you are able to get all of your team working to their
optimum level. It is what you and your team go to work for. When you put steps in place for every
case of under-performance, you'll not only demonstrate one of the toughest tasks of
management; you'll also show you can succeed.

Managing Under-Performance

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