Getting to the Bottom of Poor Performance

Solving for low performance is an ongoing challenge every leader faces. 

Team members with weak performance often prevent the team from reaching its desired goals and achieving what it is capable of. Good leaders keep a sharp eye on performance metrics, team conversations, and third-party feedback to ascertain if a problem exists. 

Getting ahead of subpar performance and addressing it before it spirals into a consistent negative pattern is a critical slice of effective leadership. The best leaders craft a plan to address poor performance as soon as it rears its head. They guard against allowing poor performance to gain any foothold that might undermine long-term success. 

In many organizations, once a team member has performed poorly over time, leaders quickly cobble together what is known as a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP). These plans identify the issues and then chart a set of goals and milestones that reflect whether progress has been made against those issues. 

While Performance Improvement Plans certainly make sense in many situations, they make a common presumption about poor performance that demands testing. They presume that weak performance is within the perceived control of a given team member. That all they need to do is focus on the right actions and skill development — to commit fully to performing more effectively to right the ship. In too many cases, this is a false assumption.  

There are so many reasons a team member might be underperforming. The possibilities can make a leader’s head spin. Consider this short list: 

• The team member believes faulty or limited resources inhibit performance 

• The team member has a lack of confidence to apply their skills

• Manager expectations and standards are unclear, inconsistent, or ambiguous 

• They are asked to do so many competing tasks 

• Their limited capacity does not allow them to perform 

• They get conflicting feedback, instruction, and evaluation from multiple parties 

• Their performance is sabotaged by others 

• They are psychologically distracted by health, family, or conflict issues

• They lack the relationships necessary for success 

• The team member is reluctant to act counter to the interests of a powerful third party 

• They actually perceive their performance as fine but believe the metrics do not accurately reflect what they are achieving

• They have been punished for their mistakes and feel performing is futile 

There are dozens of other reasons for poor performance that are not easily addressed in a Performance Improvement Plan, no matter how well-intentioned. 

Simply setting short-term goals and milestones to confirm improvement without understanding the root issues underlying poor performance doesn’t get the job done. Good leaders spend the time to get to the bottom of performance issues and then decide the correct course of action to address them. 

Perhaps a Performance Improvement Plan is the best course of action. Then again, it might miss the boat entirely.