As a business owner, the performance of your employees is a vital element of your company's success.
But it's vital you understand why an employee may be underperforming. For example, they may be suffering from an ongoing medical problem, or struggling to balance their work and personal lives. However, there's a range of things you can do to improve this issue - such as creating a performance improvement plan.
In this guide we'll discuss what poor performance is, the root causes, and what you can do to improve it in your company.
What is poor performance?
Poor work performance is when an employee fails to meet the expectations and responsibilities of their role. One of your employees may be underperforming if they fail to reach certain milestones or goals in any given time period. For example monthly, quarterly, or annually.
But it isn't just in their work, performance issues may stem from how they interact and engage with their role, the company, or their colleagues.
Examples of poor employee performance
As an employer, you should be aware of examples of poor performance - such as ongoing lateness. But there are others you should become familiar with, such as:
- Poor attitude to work and others.
- Failure to accomplish tasks.
- Being unable to take feedback.
- A consistent lack of attention to detail.
- Not listening to instructions.
- Being rude or disrespectful to colleagues or management.
What are the causes of poor work performance?
Before you can manage the performance of an employee, you need to understand why they may not be performing to your expected levels.
There are many causes of poor performance problems at work, so let's discuss some of them in more detail:
Problems in personal life
An employee may be underperforming due to a problem in their personal life. And whilst their personal and professional lives are separate, they can overlap if there are problems in either.
For example, they may be exhausted from looking after a young family, or have an ongoing medical issue. It's important you're empathetic in these circumstances and listen to your employees This can help you to build a better rapport, which makes it easier for them to open up in the future.
Employees suffering from burnout or poor well-being
Another cause of poor performance may be because your employee is feeling burnt out and is unable to maintain a work-life balance.
They may be struggling with deadlines or workloads, and could be worried about what happens if they speak up. Not to mention, feeling burnt out can have a major effect on their capability to achieve targets, further reducing their output.
Workplace conflicts
Most of the time workplace conflicts between two colleagues will be resolved quickly. But if this isn't the case, it can create stress, frustration, and a distraction for the parties involved. Which might negatively affect the performance of your employees.
Which is why it's important to deal with any conflicts between employees before the situation escalates - and their efficiency and engagement decrease.
Gaps in skill
Gaps in skill are when an employee's performance isn't intended - but they lack the desired skills or ability for the role. For example, you might have assigned them a task where they're not qualified, but they’re too afraid to admit their shortcomings.
In the long run, it can even affect their productivity and performance.
Identifying poor performance
Knowing how to identify underperforming employees will help you understand where they can improve. Most of the time you'll be able to recognise it straight away, for example they might not be hitting deadlines.
In times of uncertainty, asking yourself the following questions will help:
- Has a staff member not achieved their goals for a month or even more at a time?
- Is the work they're submitting regularly not up to the expected standard?
- Do they fail to meet deadlines or finish tasks?
- Do they have a consistent pattern of conflicting with their colleagues or manager?
- How do they respond to negative feedback from tasks?
How to manage an employee's poor performance
When it comes to managing poor performance, there are a range of steps you take. Remember, one that works for one person won't necessarily work for another.
Below are ways you can start improving the performance of an employee:
Hold an informal meeting
The first step in managing poor performance is to hold an informal meeting with the employee in question. The aim of this is to find the root cause of the issue and start the improvement process.
During this meeting, don't be too firm with any negative feedback. Doing so could result in your employee feeling defensive, and ultimately, shutting off from the conversation. Make sure you record the key points of the meeting for future reference.
Create a performance improvement plan
Also known as a performance management plan, this is a plan that sets out clear expectations from yourself that will help to improve an employee's poor work performance.
A successful performance improvement plan will hopefully see the employee improve and become a valued member of the team.
It's important to ensure the goals within the plan are achievable and within a reasonable timeframe.
The plan should incl
- A description of the problem: You should be clear and specific with the causes of poor performance.
- Objectives to help solve the problem: You should work with them to set one to three performance goals.
- How you'll monitor progress: Define how their progress will be monitored. For example a follow-up meeting in a month's time.
- Your role in the performance management plan: Form a plan of how you'll assist and in which areas.
Improve motivation
Improving motivation of underperforming employees is also a good way to improve performance. The more motivated someone is, the more likely their performance will be better.
Motivation can be done in many ways, such as offering an early finish on a Friday if certain targets are met. Without motivation, your employees may not be as driven to succeed, or even just bored of their work.
Provide training
Another way you can improve the performance of an employee is to provide training to your senior staff. This will help them to work with their team to review their skills and see if they need further training.
Remember to provide annual refresher training, and training to any new manager that you hire.
Regularly review performance
A final way you can improve poor performance is to ensure you review your employees' progress. When you create their improvement plan with them, ensure you schedule a follow-up with them.
Not regularly having follow-ups can make the event of making a plan redundant and a waste of time. Your employee needs to feel you care about their performance increasing, so they have the motivation to improve.
Can you dismiss an employee for poor performance?
Yes if the performance of an employee doesn't improve then further action may be required - for example dismissal. Under Irish law, dismissing an employee over performance is referred to as their competence and ability to do the job.
However, if you choose to take this route you must act fairly. You must have made the employee in question aware of the standards that are expected of them - which is likely set out in their employment contract.
If they fail to meet this standard, you must clearly explain this to them in a formal procedure. This must be alongside improvements that need to be made within a reasonable timeframe.
But if problems with their competence continue despite your best efforts, you must issue them with a final warning, explaining the likelihood of dismissal.
Get expert advice on poor performance from Peninsula
One of the most important parts of a successful business is the performance and output of its staff. It's crucial all your employees regularly hit their goals.
However, there are many causes as to why an employee may be underperforming, such as an ongoing medical problem.
But, there's a range of things you can do to improve this issue - such as creating a performance improvement plan.
Peninsula offers 24/7 HR advice and improving performance which is available 365 days a year. Want to find out more? Call us on 0818 923 923 or request a callback here.
