Now, you are convinced, and you regularly meet with your employees. You give them advice, and you encourage and congratulate them. But then, one of your employees still isn’t meeting the objectives. As a manager, one of your duty is managing underperformance.
The questions to ask oneself
What could be the causes? Tool mastery? Dexterity? Personal stress? You must very quickly put in place an action plan to understand and help the person.
What if, after a few months, this doesn’t produce results? The questions about this person become: Is this an adequate position for him? Is this the right environment for him? Does he have a place on this team? Is he comfortable in this company culture?
Yes, these questions are difficult, difficult to ask, but still, so much easier than dismissal for professional failure.
Time to act
Don’t wait!
If someone in your team is in a constant position of failure, he is not happy. It becomes a negative cycle. You must start by establishing a common understanding of the issues and, to do this, have the employee express what his motivations are for the role, what he believes are the associated expectations, the level of responsibility, and expected autonomy. From this mutual starting point, we can then agree on how far apart expectations and reality are. And now, we can help them effectively, look at what can be done, and help them with training and coaching. But if, sincerely, this person is not in the right role, you have to tell him you have to help him bounce back.
A real case
I know this situation; I have lived it, and I have managed it. In one of my teams, more than 15 years ago, a person had been hired as an aerospace stress employee. In fact, when he had his job interview, he was late because of a dramatic event he had witnessed on the way, and during his job interviews, no probing questions were asked because the person was in shock.
When he joined our team very quickly, after 2-3 weeks, it became clear to me that the person had neither the skills nor the basic knowledge to fulfill the mission. I had to go back to the discussion with Human Resources several times to get the situation addressed. In parallel, I redefined a job focus that was more aligned with his skills and interests, and there was an acceptable result, but it was far below the initial definition of the mission.
Human Resources and my manager who had hired him never wanted to acknowledge this fact and make a decision to resolve the situation. This job redefinition protected this person, not putting him on a path of complete failure, which would be traumatic and damaging for him and his career future.
The win-win outcome
A year after his hiring, I managed to transfer him to support the implementation of modifications on the assembly line. In this position, which he had never imagined doing, he performed without any problems because he was using his skills in an environment that suited him better.
Your manager role
We all have skills and talents, and as a manager, it is our duty to help our employees identify, recognize, and develop their skills. And, if the person is not in the right place and cannot flourish, it is our role to help them realize this. And then, to help him bounce back into a role that will suit him. Even if this bounce back happens outside of your organization, you must prepare this person. This approach of listening and courage, and therefore respect for people, is essential.
The importance of writting
This managerial approach focused on authenticity and proximity with employees, while enriching, requires a considerable expenditure of emotional energy. These discussions, sometimes difficult and focused on efficiency and defining what is just necessary, can be intense. In order to protect your mental well-being, it is crucial to take time to capture your emotions in writing. After these exchanges, capture the discussion, and how the person and you reacted and interacted. This exercise will allow you to take a step back to understand your feelings better. It will reduce the accumulated emotional load, and find new approaches for future discussions.
In addition, this writing practice will help you to prepare technically better, demonstrate the efforts made to support your employees, and clarify your actions if success is not achieved. In the end, everyone must take their share of responsibility.
At the same time, this approach fosters a deeper engagement with your teams for their development and support.
By prioritizing the mental health of everyone, employees and managers alike, you create a healthier and more sustainable work environment.This role is difficult, this role is exciting, this role will make you grow as a human being. Your employees deserve these discussions. You deserve these discussions. Your company needs them.
Question : What would you consider your most important advice when having sensitive discussions?