What to Do About Poor Performers

Source: Partner Insights

This article from Aquila Global Advisors, titled “How To Help Underperformers,” was excerpted, with permission, from Patrick J. McKenna and David H. Maister, authors of First Among Equals, The Free Press, 2002. We have included some of the excerpts in this review.

When a group of leaders were asked to name the most common causes of poor performance, they listed burnout, loss of enthusiasm, quality of life choices, personal/family issues, and externally driven market changes. What the authors found fascinating in their “unscientific survey” is that lack of performance rarely had anything to do with competence, and everything to do with confidence. If they aren’t doing what they should, it is probably due to something deeply personal in their lives. The only way to find out what it is, and to deal with it, is to talk about it.

Very often we just rush into assumptions about why people are unproductive. The reason is usually not hard to figure out if you have a track record of ongoing informal conversations with your people. You’ve got to have a discussion, trying to find out what’s going on. Say something like:

“I don’t want to get things wrong here, but I get the sense that you’re not fully engaged with everything here. You don’t seem to be showing the normal levels of passion you have shown in the past. Something is going on. I would love to help you if I can. Is there anything I can do?”

It is important to remember that the goal is to convey a genuine concern: “How can I help you?” while leaving the responsibility for improvement with the individual concerned. No group leader would tell you that this is the easy part of the job. It isn’t.

For the complete article, click here.

From Partner Insights, Aquila Global Advisors, LLC, February 10, 2009, www.aquilaadvisors.com.