I had a great time with the last session of my leadership series: Motivation 2020! I love this topic because it is fun to see the light bulbs, “ah ha’s,” and goofy grins as we talk about motivation and the multiple approaches that can be used to get that engaged, “I love my job” workforce. Yesterday was no exception. Such fun.
A great question about dealing with mediocre and low performers was asked, “How do we bring their performance level up?” Good question, and not one with a black or white answer. However, my usual first response is, “Do they truly know what is expected of them?” It’s my go to start point to get at the true cause of poor performance. What I have found over the years is that the majority of the time, there is something going on at the personal level that is distracting and, in some cases, consuming their ability to focus and do well. Most of the time, I can help here. The other times? I have to shed the teddy bear and take on the shark.
We talked yesterday about the balance of relationship and task within all roles of an organization. This balance is especially important in leadership positions, but all roles have a balancing act. We have tasks, expectations, goals, objectives, high-level performance that need to take place. It’s how we meet customer requirements, stay in business, and when done well, grow to great heights. The relationship piece is just as important in the success and growth of the organization (see here, here, and here). You are working with humans, and humans are complex, incredible, emotional beings. They don’t shut off their emotions when they walk through the door. They bring their entire being, their personality with them. This is the most fascinating part of leadership for me.
When mediocre and low performance is allowed to persist, even after finding out what is going on, we do a huge disservice to the entire team and organization. We will eventually extinguish high performance in others. Why should they work just as hard for the same rewards as others for doing less? Of course, there is a perception issue here, BUT when we do not hold our team to expectations, we set for them, we betray the trust of others. We begin creating an environment of toxicity and “I’m gonna get mine, screw everyone else” mentality. Being a shark means you address the hard issues, you confront poor performance and work to raise the bar. If that bar can’t be raised, functional turnover can be important to the overall health of the organization. It’s a must to be successful and grow.
The participants in our organizational exit research talked about this phenomenon often. The standards they were held to were higher than others, but the rewards were less and punishments harsher for their performance. It didn’t make sense to them, even when they tried to address the situation. As I mentioned before, a momentum of betrayals led to the final straw. They left, and their organizations lost a great individual and task master.
Compassion is a must when addressing performance issues. Compassion is not about letting things slide because there is hardship. It is about holding our teams (and ourselves) accountable to meeting expectations, exhibiting respectful behavior, and coming together to create that great organization. Sharks have compassion, and really good sharks know how to balance that task master approach with an understanding of the human being in front of them.
The participants in the session were happy with that answer to their question. Whew!
How do you address low performance in your organization? Have you had to let someone go who just couldn’t bring that performance up? Do share with me, I’d love to hear your story.