Talking about poor performance.
Updated: Aug 22
Expanding on my post around having 'difficult conversations', here's some more around having one particular type of difficult conversation - tackling 'under-performance'.
Here are some tips on how to approach conversations around poor performance:
1. Be specific:
Provide specific examples of where you feel the employee is falling short. Use concrete data, metrics, and examples to illustrate your points. Be specific about the behaviours or actions that you want to see changed.
2. Avoid personal attacks:
Keep the conversation focused on the employee's performance, and avoid making personal attacks. Stick to objective feedback and avoid subjective judgements.
3. Use a collaborative approach:
Make it clear that you want to work with the employee to improve their performance. Ask them questions to understand their perspective and what might be preventing them from performing at their best. Together, you can come up with solutions to help them improve.
4. Give actionable feedback:
Provide actionable feedback that the employee can use to improve. Give them specific steps they can take to address the under-performance.
5. Follow up:
Schedule a follow-up meeting to discuss how the employee has progressed in their performance. Provide ongoing feedback and support to help the employee improve.
TOP TIP: Remember that the goal of this conversation is to help the employee improve, not to criticise or punish them. By approaching this conversation with empathy and clarity, you can help the employee understand how they can improve and work collaboratively to achieve the desired outcome.
#leadership #difficultconversations #performance #results #workingtogether