Image by Danny Williams

As an HR pro, it’s pretty much a given that you will eventually have to deal with performance issues. Before you go write that Performance Improvement Plan, have you asked yourself why your employee sucks at his job?

Chances are, it’s not his fault. It’s yours.

The problem with progressive discipline

A manager comes to you and says she has an employee who’s not meeting performance expectations. After a conversation about what the employee isn’t doing right, what’s the first thing most HR pros do? That’s right – start the progressive discipline process.

Laurie over at Punk Rock HR wrote a predictably boat-rocking post on eliminating the progressive discipline process. Lance at Your HR Guy wrote a great rebuttal, in which he noted:

The problem with firing them Johnny on the spot is that you never get to see how your whole process is working. Many times, going through a progressive discipline process means HR gets more visibility into the training and coaching process. And many times, we are horrified to find out that the employee did initially fit but the supervisor either smothered them with their micromanaging or gave them so little feedback that they didn’t ever know they were screwing up.

Lance is spot-on. The problem with progressive discipline is that HR peeps don’t always use it the way Lance describes. Often, they put it all on the employee, write a PIP, and then push them out there door a few months later when performance doesn’t improve.

You’re an HR Renegade. You’re way effin’ better than that!

So what?

If you’re truly an HR Renegade, you’ve already conducted a strategic analysis of your business. You know what your employees need to do to support your business strategy, and you have an HR plan to drive those behaviors.

What’s the first thing you do when a manager comes to you with a performance issue? Ask her (or at least yourself), “So what?”

The truth is, not all issues are really issues that need to be dealt with. My favorite example is coming in late. If a manager has issues with an employee who comes in a half-hour (or three) late every day, ask yourself, “So what?” Let’s say the employee is a creative designer who develops promotional materials for the organization. If he’s creating great stuff, and meeting or beating all his deadlines, do you really care that his workday starts at 9:30?

Maybe he’s coming up with his best ideas in the shower, or works best from ten to six. Point is, it doesn’t matter. Your business needs, from an employee performance standpoint, are being met.

If the employee was a retail sales person, then yea, you’ve got a problem. Always ask, “So what?”

So, why DOES your employee suck at his job?

You’ve asked yourself, “So what?” and decided that there really is an issue. Now what? Don’t assume it’s the employee’s fault. The first thing you need to do is identify the cause:

• Lack of knowledge, skills or abilities (This is what HR pros usually assume the cause is. Just think, you could be pushing great people out the door because you didn’t consider other causes!)
• Incorrect role expectations (I didn’t know I was supposed to do that!)
• Lack of motivation
• Lack of resources
• Lack of energy

Once you’ve identified the correct cause, you can actually do something to fix it.

Lack of KSAs

This one is pretty obvious. You can either train the person, or fire them and replace them with someone who has the right knowledge, skills and abilities for the job. You should also look at your recruiting process though. Maybe you’re not identifying the right KSAs during the job assessment phase, or maybe you just have a shitty selection process.

Incorrect role expectations

This one is so straightforward it’s painful: Sometimes, your employee just doesn’t know he’s supposed to be doing something. What’s the solution? Tell him!

Then look into your onboarding process to make sure role expectations are being clearly communicated. Talk to your manager about how they integrate new people into their group or into new roles. A lot of managers are great at the technical aspects of their job but not so hot at this sort of thing.

Lack of motivation

There are a lot of possible causes for lack of motivation. Lance touched on this when he noted that maybe the manager just sucks and killed all of the employee’s enthusiasm. Maybe the employee’s not in the right job and would thrive doing something he’s more passionate about.

You have a few options: Figure out what motivates him. Fire him and find someone who is motivated. Overhaul recruiting to do a better job matching people to job-fit. Teach your manager how to more effectively engage her employees.

When an employee isn’t motivated, don’t just fire them and bring in someone else. If the cause is actually poor management, the problem is bound to happen again.

Lack of resources

I’d bet this happens more than we’d like to admit. Sometimes, managers expect employees to do things that they’re just not able to do. Not because they lack the ability, but because they just don’t have the resources to do it – not enough time, not the right equipment, no contact list of who to reach out to get stuff they need.

Find out what resource they need and give it to them, or redefine performance expectations if you can’t.

Lack of energy

A lot of people instinctively think this belongs under motivation. I disagree. Others say it belongs under resources. I think they’re right, but I also think it’s important enough to stand on its own.

Your employee could be very motivated to do something, but just be too damn tired to get it done. Employers don’t like this. It feels too out of their control. It’s not.

This really requires a completely separate post, but here’s the nutshell version: The workplace is not designed for optimal performance. It was when we did factory work, but for a knowledge-based workforce, it sucks. John Medina talks about this in his book, Brain Rules. The modern workplace is not designed for optimal thinking.

Some people work better in the mornings. Some work better at night. Most people really do need a nap at some point in the day. And no one works best in a cubicle. Want your employee to have more energy? Let them choose how, when and where they work. Just make sure they’re giving you rock star results.

Renegade performance management

To summarize, here’s how HR Renegades handle performance issues:

1. Ask, “So what?”
2. Identify the cause.
3. Fix it.

Pretty straight forward, right? To learn more, check out my slidecast on HR development.