Dealing with the poor performer - On the Management Side - Brief Article

Automotive Design & Production, July, 2002 by Ted Pollock

One of the most difficult, but important, responsibilities a manager faces is dealing fairly and effectively with an employee whose performance is unsatisfactory. In these cases, you have basic obligations to both the employee and your company.

For many managers, it isn't easy to sit face-to-face with an employee and frankly discuss performance shortcomings. And it isn't always obvious what corrective action will put the employee on the path to improved performance. Some managers who want to avoid a confrontation may consider transferring an employee. Others may make a halfhearted effort to counsel the employee, hoping that performance will improve by itself over time.

These courses of action are almost never effective. They waste the company's human resources, risk the company's reputation, and harm the morale of other employees. They are also unfair to the individual involved.

If you see an employee struggling with the requirements of the job, don't wait until appraisal time to sit down and talk about it. Delay only aggravates the problem for all concerned. Identify the deficiency, have a counseling session, and work out a specific plan to improve performance. Your own manager, perhaps more experienced in handling this kind of problem, can provide help. But first, you have to step up to the problem.

When counseling and corrective action fail to produce sufficient improvement, you may have no alternative but to separate an employee from the company. It could be the kindest act for all concerned.