8 Ways to Develop Underperformers
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When looking to develop members of your team that are underperforming, the key thing to remember is that all underperformers are not the same – people underperform for very different reasons. Your key focus should be problem solving – what is it that’s driving the underperformance in their work?
With that in mind, here are 8 possible solutions to underperformance problems:
- Diagnose the issue. Sometimes when asking why there is a problem, there is an obvious but overlooked problem. It could be a relationship issue with a team member; that they don’t actually know how to use a system or a process, or even that you just intimidate them or they don’t understand what you want. Working this out is key to increasing their performance.
- Check their strengths against their role – are they in a job that matches their strengths? If they are constantly required to do things that fall in their weaker areas, they may never be able to perform effectively. Undertaking the strengths cards exercise may help – we regularly see a light-bulb moment, when people go through the exercise and realise why they don’t enjoy their work. It’s wrong to condemn people to continually work against the grain – checking the detail perhaps, when their real talent lies in chatting to people. Can you help them find a role where their strengths come into play? They’ll be happier, and higher performers.
- Take small incremental steps. If they think they can improve and you’re up for helping them to do it, one of the key things is not to overwhelm them with the things they have to change. Focus on getting them to deliver one clear area of improvement at a time. For example, improving the quality before working on speed. Sometimes frustration with an individual can be so high that you want to pile on the pressure. However, you’ll get there quicker if you build a solid foundation and give the person a taste of success as they master one element of the work.
- Praise improvements, not just results. It’s tempting to save your praise for when they achieve the goal that you set, but this may take some time and on the way their motivation may wane. So keep up the positive feedback! Every time you catch them doing something that shows improvement, praise them. And always remember to give at least 2-3 positives with every element of constructive criticism.
- Pair them with other people. Do you have any other team members who can help work with them? This can be a great solution. Think about how the two people will connect together first – do they have complementary strengths? Or if you have an arrogant team member – do you have someone who is genuinely supportive and can adopt a coaching style, without being ruffled by dealing with a difficult person.
- Spend time coaching them yourself. Sometimes you won’t feel like doing this as you may feel they’ve wasted enough of your time already, but investing time in someone is often the key to the quick resolution of their underperformance issues. You need to keep investing time in them until they have either been managed to good performance, or managed out of role.
- Sometimes it’s not just a role clash; it’s a style clash. Certain things that they do, hit your Achilles’ heel, and drive you crazy. In this situation, you may lose faith in the person – and from this perspective, you may be unable to help them. Sometimes a fresh start with another manager in a different role can provide a breakthrough. Don’t feel bad about this; nearly every manager has a distinct style; some excel at building confidence and drawing out quiet people, others excel at shaping action-oriented people who may be arrogant and make big mistakes. No-one can be all things to all people – and if a move works out, that’s the best solution!
- Review regularly and consistently. First of all make sure that they know they are going to be reviewed often, and that you’re going to stick to it. Whatever you do, don’t take your foot off the pedal, get bored or give up. If you do they’ll quickly go back to their own ways as they’ll think it’s not important to you. When they show improvements, keep persisting. As a final challenge, set key measures, and ask them to report to you on a regular basis on their performance. This subtle shift from you evaluating their work to them evaluating their work is the final measure of success.
The most important thing to bear in mind is that all underperformers are not the same. Helping them understand their strengths is the key to identifying their development needs and unlocking better performance.