HANDLING AN EMPLOYEE WHO IS NOT MEETING EXPECTATIONS

By Nels Lindberg, DVM, Production Animal Consultation

The last few years have been the most difficult time I have ever seen in most industries in regard to having enough team members to get the work done. Every single business I work with is looking for employees. Many leaders have had conversations with me on “accepting mediocre performance” in an effort to not lose the employees they do have. Managing and leading people in the workplace is as challenging as I have ever seen in the last 20 years. There are more open jobs in the United States than ever, with over 10 million job openings currently, yet there are still more than 6 million Americans unemployed that are actively looking for work.

Given the difficulties of having enough team members, as managers or team leaders, we may have a person or more than one person on our team that we are letting get away with a bad attitude, being late to work, or being a poor team player. Many leaders “let it slide” or ignore it because they just flat need the help. However, in the long term, that simply is not doing those team members any favors if we truly care about them.

As leaders, we must take the opportunity to address challenging areas for our team members, going against our natural inclination to ignore the conversation. Our brain is subconsciously telling us to avoid these situations. It is an automatic function that occurs regardless of our ability and the number of times we have addressed such issues. We must remain committed to facing the challenge and addressing it intentionally. The following are six keys to having a successful difficult conversation about employee performance.

1. Create clarity around your responsibility as the leader. As leaders, we must ensure that we have been very clear on our expectations, and it is always good to reflect inward and ask ourselves if we have done so. Have we created clarity in our expectations of performance? Have we done our part in not just verbally setting expectations but also in training employees in all specific duties, communication needs, and how to do what we expect them to do? Thoroughly evaluate these questions so you as a leader can improve before placing blame on someone else when actually the blame is on you for not meeting expectations as the team leader.

2. Ask questions rather than point fingers in areas of poor performance. Often times, an underperforming team member knows where they are not meeting expectations. Good honest team members can tell you where they are not meeting expectations. Asking them to assess themselves will generally yield the best long-term results. Self-assessment allows people to recognize the key areas you have identified without you needing to point them out; then you can clarify the needs going forward. If we point out the shortcomings, some of our people may not truly “hear us” and learn from the opportunity we have presented to them. Questions often allow a person to reflect and come to the same conclusions on their own. There are many self-evaluation forms available online you can utilize if needed. We like to use a self-evaluation form which allows them to read the questions and write down answers for you to review specifically.

3. Set the tone. Recognize that the conversation might provoke an emotional outburst and set the tone at the start that everyone must remain calm, cool, and collected, there will be no yelling or cussing, and no one leaves. If the challenge is severe and we know the conversation may elicit anger from a team member, we must work to set the tone. In doing so, this opens their heart to the conversation they are about to have. If we do not set the tone, the conversation may turn aggressive fairly swiftly, their heart may close off, and they may not hear a word we say.

4. Ask if there is something going on outside of work that is bothering them. If you have a team member that is not meeting your expectations or has a sudden decline in performance, there might be something going on at home or in their personal life that is hindering them. We have all been there. When my wife lost her job about 15 years ago, it affected my daily intensity and thought process periodically each day before we moved on. When my son was accidentally shot and paralyzed, I was distracted for a bit. I routinely tell leaders in feedyards that if they have a team member that has lost a loved one or is going through a divorce, that valued team member will “be off” for six months. Those are more extreme examples, but everyone has relationship hiccups, family illness, financial strains, or some poor decision making at times that creates friction in their lives. As leaders, we look to have some empathy and grace when needed. I often will simply ask people, “You seem to be distracted a bit. Is everything okay?” or “Is there anything going on at home you would like to talk about or I can help with?” Asking and relating to them is often all it takes to help team members out and better understand their situation. You will discover if they need a little time off, some financial help, or some words of wisdom from you as their leader to help them out personally.

5. Be clear. When addressing performance concerns, give explicit examples of the problem(s) and outline exactly what meeting expectations looks like. For example, “On Monday, you were late for work again. You were late last Friday, and I am worried you being late is telling the team it is okay to be late for work. And we all know, everyone cannot be late for work. If I let you be late, then it sends a message that it is okay for everyone to be late to work. We care about you and your success here with this team. The expectation is that every cowboy needs to have their horse saddled and be out of the barn by 7:15am every day.” Each day you check in with them, talking specifically to them about your expectations. They will learn and understand the importance and seriousness of your discussion with them and that it means just that much to you that they get there on time every single day. If the problem recurs, you then begin to have conversations outlining the negative consequences of their performance. For example, “Hey, you know the expectations of getting to work on time and the negative effect you are having on the team, don’t you? We have talked on this expectation previously, and will continue to, but you need to understand that while you are not losing your job TODAY, we expect you to be to work on time every single day. If not, your team cannot have you on their team.” Another specific example is, “We have a plan each morning, and when we left the barn yesterday, you were told to ride the south half of the yard first with the crew. Instead, you rode the north half. If you disagree with the plan, I need you to speak up so we can hash things out. Or I need you to execute the plan with the team each day.” Then confirm that they understand the problem and the need to fix it. Ask them, “Will you be able to do this?” or “Can you let me know if and when you disagree with the plan?” Then let them know you will be checking in with them tomorrow and routinely afterwards.

6. Take responsibility to help them and reward them. It is the team member’s responsibility to fix the problem at hand, but it is your job as a leader to walk alongside them in their journey, giving them the support and care they need. You can ask them, “What else can I do for you to be successful here?” We must make sure we do everything we are responsible for in terms of providing training, information, or knowledge they may need to meet our expectations. We also need to do daily checkins, so the employee can ask questions after they have processed our conversation. As time goes along, we must be intentional about noticing and rewarding improvements in performance. Often times a simple “Thank you for getting to work on time each day!” or “Great job telling us you disagreed!” goes a long way. Or if you like, throw them a little financial “pat on the back” and give them a $20 bill or a $100 bill. Rewarding good behavior incentivizes more good behavior. Our number one challenge as Gen Xers and Boomers is we were not rewarded much for our performance or work throughout our lives, so rewarding excellent work is not something we are good at doing. We must make this a priority and be intentional about rewarding the work we want done and the behaviors we want to see.

No one ever taught us how to have crucial conversations or work with our team members on how to get better at what they do every day. Your lifetime level of success will often be dictated by your ability to address performance issues with team members. It is unkind to be unclear with our teams of great people. When we choose not to address areas of opportunity and improvement with our team members, our team members who are executing at high levels are watching and taking note. If this goes on for any length of time, those highperforming team members may choose to leave us. We must take the time to have these crucial conversations, address areas of needed improvement, and not sanction incompetence. It is our responsibility to them, to ourselves, and to our operation. It is not drama, chaos, or politics; it is because we care about our team members and their personal success.