💡 𝗗𝗼 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗴𝗶𝘃𝗲 𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗻 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗶𝗹𝘆

Working with people who are perceived or rated as underperformers is something I have a personal interest in. Throughout my career, I have observed many turn-around situations of individuals who were deemed as underperforming. In my own leadership journey, I worked with such individuals and saw their transitions.

I do not have a secret formula, but I do have some pointers to share.

𝗔𝗹𝘄𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘂𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲

This is especially important if your role is to support or facilitate improvement/development measures.

I have met leaders who didn't want to spend time working with underperformers and conveniently pass such staff members to HR/talent team. I have also worked with leaders who have a genuine interest to support an individual's growth.

Do your own fact-finding and constantly remind yourself of the need to be unbiased and neutral. I have seen performance issues that are closely related to personal issues. Make an effort to find out and support where possible.

When we take an interest and believe that everyone wants to be the best version of themselves, interventions or development becomes easier.

𝗣𝗿𝗼𝘃𝗶𝗱𝗲 𝗮 𝗳𝗮𝗶𝗿 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲 𝗳𝗿𝗮𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗲𝗮𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗰𝘀.

When we support people who are perceived/rated as underperforming, we need to provide a fair platform, time frame and reasonable measurements. During this time, make an effort in working closely with the leader and staff involved, track progress and have regular conversations. Always seek to understand and support.

If we intend development, then what we do to support should reflect this intention.

𝗜𝗻𝘀𝗽𝗶𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗲𝗼𝗽𝗹𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗱𝗶𝘀𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗿𝗮𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗿𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗲𝘀𝘀.

Take every opportunity to recognise development/improvement. As leaders/talent practitioners, what we say and do carries a lot of weight.

I have seen leaders who stay hands-off once they put an individual on an improvement path, and avoid having conversations with them. If we avoid speaking to people whom we perceive as underperformers, there's no way we can learn first-hand if development has been achieved. I hope more leaders realise that leadership is about working with all people ~ those who are performing and those who are not performing (and many of that can be turned around).

Ideally, we would have wished that every team member has the right attitude, possess the right skills and is able to execute their roles well. In reality, this is far from the truth. The fact that each individual has a different aptitude, attitude, abilities and learning pace makes each work performance different and unique.

Every individual deserves opportunities to develop when performance gaps emerge. With motivation and appropriate interventions, improvement is very possible.

Have faith, and believe.

𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲/𝗳𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗯𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝘀

If development is evident, recognise it with specific details.

Saying "𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥" is not enough (it is incomplete).

Say something like, "𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴, 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘷𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘥."

If the gap is evident, share timely feedback so that improvement can be worked on, and of course, feedback with specific details.

Saying "I didn't see any improvement" is not enough (it is incomplete).

Say something like, "𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦 𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘤𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘢 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘳𝘴."

𝗦𝗲𝘁 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗮 𝗽𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗼𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗰𝗵𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗲𝗻𝗴𝗲 𝘁𝗼 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝗶𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗶𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗰𝘁

I always take it as a personal challenge when I have to facilitate or support developmental interventions, especially in the case of an underperforming team member.

My goal is always "being able to support a person to improve, one step at a time". (Give me a sincere attitude, and a tiny improvement, I will be there with you)

Personally, I have a few things that I consider:

• This individual is a daughter/son/husband/wife/father/mother ~ if I can support to turn things around, I would have impacted their family in a positive manner. Never underestimate the kind of stress an individual has to shoulder under this circumstance.
• If my children grow up and face similar challenges, I would wish that someone at work extends not just professionalism, but the kindness of a human being. If I were the person involved, I would want to be given a fair opportunity to prove myself and my willingness to contribute. In Chinese, there's a phrase, "将心比心” (put ourselves into another person's shoes) that depicts it very well.