Do under-performing staff ever improve?

I’ve given and received a fair few performance appraisals during my career. Hopefully some that I’ve given have been useful, but I have to admit to plenty of doubts here. I’m not convinced there is anything we can do to help under-performing staff to improve. I’d suggest that it is pretty much all down to the individual in question.

In my experience, people who want to up their game don’t wait for a performance appraisal to do that. They seek every opportunity to look, listen and learn, day in, day out. I still do it today. If I see or hear someone I consider to be outstanding, I’m not afraid to try and mimic the skills that impressed me so much. I’d suggest that the employee who waits for a performance appraisal to consider their performance is, frankly, under-performing.

So is there indeed anything  we can do to help under-performing staff to improve? I do think it’s vital to try and establish a sense of trust with the direct report in question. It’s almost impossible to have no holds barred conversations if there’s little or no trust. Then it’s about defining the reality gap. Your definition of acceptable performance compared with their understanding of how they are performing. Once there is real acceptance from the person being appraised that the gap exists, you can progress. If there is no acceptance, it is virtually impossible to move on.

I’ve never found it helps to be brutal in these situations. Speak openly and honestly, but take care to preserve your colleague’s dignity. If they suspect they are under personal attack they will become more defensive, and it becomes harder still to achieve your objectives.

If and when the reality gap has been acknowledged, understood and agreed, there are a number of areas to probe:

• Are there personal issues affecting performance? Some people love to (dare I say it?) over share their personal challenges. Others fiercely resist, when perhaps it might be helpful if they did let you in.
• Is there a confusion of expectation? Is the individual unclear what you expect of them?
• Is there clarity over what good likes? Do you and your colleague simply have a different set of standards?
• Is the individual a square peg in a round hole? Do they have the talent, but their face simply doesn’t fit in your team?
• Is the individual bored, and simply needs some new challenges, either within your organisation, or elsewhere?

My theory is that on average within most organisations, public and private, around 10% of staff are underperforming for one reason or another. Stage one is to identify who they are. Stage two is to try and do something about them.

For more on this, have a read of the excellent Leadership Freak

Leadership in adversity: from the Ashes to Tesco

The last few weeks have been pretty unrelentingly dismal if, like me, you’re a fan of English cricket. The Ashes, that little urn contested by England and Australia, have been relinquished after a 5-0 whitewash at the hands of the men in green baggy caps. So what now for England’s leadership team of head coach Andy Flower and captain Alistair Cook?

Leadership in adversity is where great leaders are made. It’s relatively easy to captain a winning team. Less so when the team is in a downward spiral and requires renewal.

The challenge is to gain balanced external perspective. It’s easy to just listen to friendly voices and block the negative ones; to adopt an ‘us against the rest of the world’ siege mentality. But the most effective leaders welcome criticism. They don’t have to agree with it all, after all, if every dissenting voice was heard we’d be left with no players at all bar Ben Stokes. But good leaders have the strength to listen to and consider harsh criticism before drawing up an action plan.

When Flower and Cook return from Australia in February I suggest they will need a couple of weeks off, away from it all. Then they need to chat with a variety of people they respect. Not necessarily allies or people they like, but people they respect.

Within the corporate world winners and losers are emerging from the Christmas period. Companies like Debenhams and Tesco might need to go through the same process as Cook and Flower. Of course these organisations have non-executive directors who should be performing that role of critical friend. It depends, though, on whether those appointments have been made to simply reinforce the executives, or, as should be the case, to provide both support and robust challenge.

Perhaps the England and Wales Cricket Board should consider  a small team of non-execs to work with Flower and Cook, their role being to provide critical challenge rather than simply agreeing the party line. Experts like Atherton, Brearley and Collingwood come to mind. There are others, too, but those three have the kind of calmness, experience and maturity which would allow them to play a helpful background role.