Timothy LaMacchio //October 11, 2013//
Certain words and phrases evoke fear and anxiety in any manager: performance problems, performance reviews, performance plans and performance feedback. Yet understanding, evaluating and changing employee performance are key responsibilities of every manager.
No one would disagree – fixing performance problems is difficult and painful, especially when the performance problem has remained unresolved for long periods of time. Managers need a structured and “user-friendly” approach to solving performance problems. An approach that is:
Here are three questions managers can ask to solve the stubborn performance problems employees often face. These questions are diagnostic and prescriptive –defining the problems and identifying potential solutions – and based on the common reasons employees fail to perform.
These questions highlight a powerful approach to solving employee performance problems. Performance deficiencies are seldom caused by incompetence or laziness. Instead, they arise when employees lack the support they need to work successfully.
When employees fail to perform, managers must act – and act quickly – to provide the job support the employee needs to work successfully.
Consider these key issues: