You can make managing performance less stressful
Managing poor performance can be one of the most stressful parts of managing a team. The problem is of course; good managers know that the vast majority of employees want to come to work to do a good job. When an employee is not performing, more often than not it is either because:
a) They are in the wrong job
b) They have problems outside of work
c) They simply need more knowledge or information or understanding.
It takes a skilled and experienced manager to be expert and slick when it comes to raising poor performance. Often teams become less than enchanted with their manager when the manager fails to address poor performance, even when the impact isn’t extreme. One of the most frustrating experiences for a team is when they feel they are carrying a member who is not pulling their weight, frustration can turn to stress when the manager simply does nothing about it
Poor performance can appear at any stage in the employment life-cycle. Managers need to be extra vigilant in any trial period. I have seen managers give new employees the benefit of the doubt and live to rue the day they confirmed a permanent appointment, when they had experienced niggling doubts during that time and failed to listen to their intuition.
What follows are some simple ways to help both prevent problems and when they do occur, what to do about them.
Don’t
* Miss the telling signs in the trial period. Follow up on any issues which arise during that time. * Wait until the next performance review. Deal with any emerging problems as soon as they become apparent. * Develop an attitude or fixed view of the employee, there may be many reasons for under-performance * Ignore what other people are saying about someone’s under-performance; subtly check it out, if you don’t at first agree * Wait until a major