CHAPTER 11

How to Develop Someone Who’s Struggling

Every organization has a range of performers, from thriving stars to those who are struggling. On one end of the spectrum are the A players, the top 10% of the workforce whose contributions are exceptional. The steadily contributing B players do good work and generally form the solid backbone of units and departments. These two groups make up the vast majority of your workforce and consistently deliver strong performance.

On the bottom 10%, though, are your C players. These individuals produce work that is just barely acceptable. These aren’t generally strong contributors who simply struggle with one part of their job but rather employees who consistently underdeliver and don’t provide the results your team and organization need.

It’s tempting to ignore this group of employees—or summarily dismiss them from the company. After all, shouldn’t managers spend most of their time and energy working with the people who add the most value? Failing to develop your C players’ skills outright, though, comes with its own set of downfalls. These individuals often:

• Stand in the way of advancement of more-talented employees
• Hire other C players, which lowers the performance bar across the board.
• Tend to be poor role models who encourage a low-performer mentality among their peers and direct reports
• Engender a culture of mediocrity that repels highly talented and ambitious people away from your team and organization

What’s more, replacing an employee is a time-consuming task—and even a stellar new hire will need a period of training and acclimation before adding much value. So while it’s true that in some cases firing a C player may be the best choice, it’s rarely the place to start. You owe it to yourself and your organization—as well as the underperforming employee—to diagnose and address the underlying causes of poor performance.

Consider the three Cs of dealing with C players—converse, coach, and can—coined by John Baldoni, chair of leadership development at the global leadership advisory firm N2Growth.

Converse: Identify What’s Causing the Issue

To solve the problem, you must first find the root cause. Four issues commonly underlie poor performance:

• Lack of clarity. Does your employee know what you expect of them?
• Poor effort. Is your employee investing enough time and energy into the work?
• No sense of strategy. Do they approach their work with an organized plan?
• Underwhelming talent. Do they have the skills, knowledge, and capabilities to do the job well?

To determine the cause of underperformance, collect the right information. Establish the details of the unsatisfactory work: What is the person doing or not doing? Gather your facts and observations before discussing the problem with the underperformer. Much like you would do in preparation for a feedback conversation, find out what their peers, supervisors, and direct reports have to say—but do so in confidence. Think, too, about the competencies required for the job. Does the employee have the necessary skills to perform the job effectively?

Ask yourself whether you’re contributing to the problem. Were you unclear in your expectations? Did you provide your direct report the resources and freedom to complete their job? It’s also worth delving into your own assumptions about the employee, which may be unduly negative. Perhaps there are certain types of tasks they do well, or maybe they contributed satisfactorily to particular projects, but you didn’t see these instances because you were only focused on their flaws. What skills or qualities allowed them to perform well in these cases? If you can identify your direct report’s strengths in these situations, it may be possible to replicate the conditions that made them successful in other areas of work. Even if good performance is the exception rather than the rule, the person may be worth keeping around.

Personal issues—for example, health or family problems, or even a disruptive move to a new house—can also temporarily throw someone off their game and keep them from devoting their normal level of attention to work. If you notice underperformance from someone with a history of good work, check to see if personal problems may be the cause. Such employees are worth saving, so try to find a way to work around the issue.

Consider the example of Philippe, Allie’s employee who struggled to turn in complete, timely, and correct budgets. Allie had brought up the issue a few times before, but the problems persisted. To get the full picture, Allie referred to her notes about the problem from previous feedback conversations and touched base with a few of her colleagues to see if they’d had similar issues.

But Allie didn’t stop there. She thought hard about her own role. She felt she had set up the right expectations for Philippe, but he still struggled to submit the budgets in a timely manner. Philippe was a team player and showed strength in other aspects of his role, but completing these regular budgets was an integral part of his job. Allie concluded that Philippe was worth taking the time to develop and change.

Once you’ve seen the problem from a number of angles, present the employee with the facts of what you observe, providing frank and honest feedback, and—if the person demonstrates willingness—creating a plan for improvement and development.

Coach: Work Toward Improvement

Before sitting down with your direct report, give them advance notice that you’d like to discuss their performance and development. When you meet, describe the problematic behavior and the impact it’s having on the rest of the team. Review the specific details of the issue—don’t just describe the problem in general terms. For example, Allie might say to Philippe, “You’ve been late submitting your last few budgets, and I’ve found some troubling errors when I reviewed them. There are some basic errors that look like a matter of attention to detail, but it takes a lot of my time to review and make sense of them. And when you don’t submit them on time, it requires that my assistant figure out whose budget is missing and then track you down to find out the status. This interferes with the other work she needs to complete.”

Just as you would when delivering feedback, refer to the context of the problem, if applicable. “This is not the first time we’ve had to talk about this. According to my records, we discussed this problem last quarter and last year. Yet the problem continues.” Be explicit about how they should improve: “These budgets must be corrected and submitted by deadline for you to remain a member of this team and organization.”

While this straightforward approach may be hard for your direct report to hear, assure them that you want to help. Consider these sample phrases:

• “I’m seeing issues with your performance, and I believe that you can do better. So how do we improve?”
• “What adjustments might we try that would help you achieve your goals?”
• “What can I do to help you be more effective?”

Showing your support will help your employee sidestep feelings of defensiveness and be more willing to correct course.

Assess their willingness to change

No matter how hard you try, you can’t force-feed something that is ultimately the employee’s responsibility. Before devoting resources to develop low performers, assess whether they’re committed to their own improvement.

Once you’ve explained the problem at hand, listen actively to the employee’s response to determine whether or not they’re open to engaging on the issue. Do they get defensive, make excuses, or claim that their performance is in fact adequate? Or do they provide useful information about the causes behind the issues you’ve raised? Perhaps their poor work is due to inadequate resources, whether it’s staff, budget, time, or managerial support, or maybe they are struggling to understand expectations or build the skills necessary for the job. Maybe they’re being affected by someone else’s poor performance—for example, being delayed by one of their direct reports who isn’t delivering their complete and correct budget statements on time.

Allie took note of Philippe’s tone and body language as he spoke. He didn’t seem surprised by her comments, though he did seem hesitant to give her the full story. Allie pressed to get more information, and he explained that he felt uncertain about the budgets, and even if his team members submitted their information on time, the budgets were often late because he was worried he was submitting them incorrectly, based on their previous discussions. He was unable to spot the problems, but just knowing they were there made him nervous and led to his delay in sending them.

Your preparatory work and active listening will help you distinguish between responses that are true explanations and those that are defensive excuses for bad performance. Honest responses indicate that a person is open to change. When an underperformer demonstrates concern about the problem and a willingness to make an effort toward improvement, work with them to develop a specific plan. If your employee does not show an interest in change, you may need to consider other alternatives to development.

Create a plan for improvement

With a willing employee, state your firm expectations for improvement clearly, and, together, craft a concrete plan for change. Be explicit: What will each of you do differently? What measurable actions will mark progress along the way? In many cases, performance issues arise from a mismatch between a manager’s expectations and those of an employee. Write a list of the employee’s three most-important responsibilities, and ask them to do the same. Then compare your results. You may find that, with some alignment of expectations and continuing discussion through your ongoing check-in conversations, your direct report can soon be on the right track.

While in many aspects of performance management it’s helpful for an employee to draft an initial plan for improvement in order to increase their sense of ownership, for an underperformer you should be more directive. Provide a specific request with clear timelines, and then check for understanding. For example, Allie told Philippe, “What I’d suggest is that you set a quarterly reminder a few weeks before your budget is due to ask your team members to finish the components they’re responsible for, and block out a window to compile the data and go over any questions with them. Then you’ll be able to submit complete and clear budgets on time, and we won’t have to have another of these conversations.”

This discussion provides an opportunity for you to consider the various development options available to your employee. Philippe might do well with some online training or a refresher course—on budgeting, perhaps, or in Excel. If he has a colleague who consistently delivers polished, error-free budgets, Allie might connect them to discuss best practices for preparation. Perhaps the problem is less about the budget than about Philippe’s management of his own direct reports, and if so, leadership training or mentorship might be more helpful to him. Whatever you decide, keep a record of your discussions and what plan you’ve agreed to.

Follow up

Schedule regular meetings to talk about progress—or ask the person to check in with you periodically. (If they don’t follow up on this, they may not truly be willing to work to improve.)

For example, Allie sent Philippe to a half-day course on budgeting so he could better identify errors in his budgets and those of his direct reports. She scheduled a meeting a few weeks before the next budget was due to review the information he had at that point and explain any problems with what he’d put together. They met a few times over the course of the next weeks before he was able to submit a final, error-free budget. Allie also offered Philippe some feedback and guidance about how he might address one of his employees who consistently submitted incomplete information.

It was a time-intensive intervention, but the regular meetings paid off: Philippe’s next budget was complete, correct, and turned in on time. He showed clear improvement as well as motivation to continue to improve next time. “I think I have a better handle on the process now,” he said, “but just in case, can we plan to review a draft of my budget in advance of next quarter’s deadline?”

In addition to these follow-up meetings, provide your employee with real-time feedback. Praise positive change, and pay attention to development and improvement. Make it clear that you notice and appreciate the results of their hard work.

Cut: Know When to Let Go

It can take a while for people to change their behavior and improve their performance, so don’t expect an overnight transformation. For coaching and development efforts to work, your employee must also have the capacity to get to the necessary skill level. If your employee is enthusiastic but not showing even incremental progress toward targets, find out more about why this is happening. Let them know that they’re not meeting your expectations, and ask questions to get their perspective. You could say, for example, “The needle hasn’t moved on these skills we’ve identified as important. Were the expectations we set earlier too high or unrealistic? Is there a different way that you can learn this?” You could consider bringing in a third party, perhaps even another team member, to coach in your place.

If the employee continues to underperform, you’ll need to decide if they are the right person for this role, task, or responsibility. If they demonstrate willingness, you might redirect them to work that calls on the skills they do have, whether by shifting their role or changing particular assignments.

Alternatively, if they are unwilling to improve or are just meeting the base needs of the position, you’ll need to take decisive action. Address issues as they arise to communicate urgency. Shift your focus from eliciting improvement through coaching and development to explaining the consequences of unchanging underperformance. Make your communication clear and straightforward. “This is the third time this has happened, and since your behavior hasn’t changed, I need to explain the consequences.” If you still don’t see improvement after genuine efforts to boost your employee’s performance, you may have to conclude that the person may not be the right fit for the organization.

Firing an employee is a painful process, but it may be the best choice for the organization and the rest of your team, which will only grow disheartened by working with an underperformer. Be sure to document progress (or lack thereof) along the way to guard against potential legal action, and consult with your legal and HR departments about how to best move forward with a dismissal.