An organization operates with the support of a vast assortment of employees, but not all of them can work to full capacity 24/7. Identifying and managing underperformers is a non-negotiable aspect of running a business, particularly in a competitive industry. In most cases, employee performance only falters temporarily due to external factors that may be alterable, but in some cases, there are self-aware underperformers who know they can get away with cutting corners and doing the bare minimum.
Whether you’re angling to manage an employee that’s intentionally underperforming or want to provide support systems to boost the underperformers who just need a little motivation, there are many ways to step in and set the record straight. By tracking performance and making adjustments to incentivize the generation of high-quality work, your organization can start operating at the top of its game.
Detecting and managing underperformers at work is about more than just pointing to the lowest-ranking employees on the list. (Image: Pexels)
Managing Underperformers Is Not Easy, but It Is Essential
An underperformer is not an employee who makes the occasional mistake in their work or overlooks a key detail once in a while. An underperformer is an employee who consistently demonstrates a lack of ability to perform their job effectively or consistently operates below expectations, even if the shortfall is only marginally lower.
Some employees who are consistently at the top of their game can briefly become underperformers, either due to personal struggles that interfere with their work or a disconnect with the organization’s changing goals or projects.
Some employees are very capable of disguising this underperformance by relying on their colleagues to cover for them or compensating in other areas, so a true estimate of their performance is hard to find. These self-aware underperformers are often more harmful to the organization compared to an employee who is just struggling to keep up.
To identify underperformers, an organization first needs to ensure its evaluation criteria for each role are realistic, as an outlandish bar will only leave every employee walking below it for the most part. Before you can get to helping or eliminating underperformers, it’s important for HR to do a good job of rounding them up fairly, without any hint of bias.
Signs of Underperformers at Work: A Performance Assessment Is a Limited Metric
You might think that your organization has no underperformers because you conduct quarterly reviews and everyone and their managers appear to be working without a hitch. While it’s true that regular testing and performance assessments can be a great way to understand employee performance, it’s also important to widen your horizon and take more factors into account while determining an employee’s contribution to the organization.
Some Signs of Underperformers Can Include:
- Bare minimum performance where the goals are usually met, but there are no moments where the employee can describe their active contribution
- Increasing absenteeism and frequent disconnection from the work environment
- Low motivation and engagement levels in tasks, both old and new
- No motivation for career growth or desire to take on new opportunities
- A sudden drop in productivity that isn’t revived over an extended period
- The quality of work is poor, even if the tasks are completed on time
- Ready excuses for every scenario with no accountability across situations
- Constant delegation of work to others or the need for supervision even on basic tasks
Should Underperforming Employees Be Fired at Once?
No! In most scenarios, underperformers aren’t waiting around to cause trouble at work. Some are aware of their shortcomings and don’t know how to ask for help without risking exposing themselves, and so they continue to hide behind their colleagues in hopes that they won’t be found out. Others are unaware of the issues in their performance, content to keep operating in the only way they know how.
Don’t jump to conclusions at the first sign that an employee might be underperforming. An employee may not be volunteering for additional roles because they are satisfied with their career progress and want to maintain the status quo for a while. Another employee may be disconnected from their work environment due to harassment and poor work ethics among colleagues. The signs are merely meant to guide further enquiry into the employee experience.
Detecting Low Performers Can Allow You to Approach Them with Solutions
The first step is always to talk to the employee and their managers to understand their role and their experience on the job in greater detail. Making employees more aware of their limitations and providing them with support to address them is considerably easier than firing and rehiring for that position, where you bring in a new employee with their own set of strengths and limitations that you need to understand.
In cases where employees are intentionally underperforming, the attention can be enough to bring their performance levels back up. It can also help kickstart a conversation about the intentional rebelling and the issues that are fueling it.
Of course, some underperformers may not be able to keep up with the organization despite interventions. Severing ties with them gracefully may be best for both them and the organization.
Mastering How to Manage Underperformers at Work
Once you know to look out for signs of underperformers at work, it can be easy to pick out the warning indicators and address them. Employees lose their motivation to excel at their tasks for a multitude of reasons, whether due to harsh RTO policies or the lack of recognition at work. Not all dips in performance are a result of flaws in the individual’s abilities. Identifying these core issues and coming up with solutions is the only way to truly manage low performers.
The threats of punishment and harsh consequences may be helpful in the short term, but they can be wholly unsuccessful in truly motivating workers to perform at their best.
Helping Underperforming Employees Can Mean:
- Gathering feedback on company policies like RTO, cellphone restrictions, PTO standards, etc.
- Having an honest conversation about performance and the limitations that have been identified
- Creating performance improvement plans to help the employee set achievable goals
- Assigning mentors or reverse mentors to help the employee seek advice at work
- Charting a career plan with the employee and looking at their long-term prospects at the organization
- Exploring employee engagement strategies to get employees more involved at work
- Organizing collaborative opportunities to help the employee build better connections with workers
- Time tracking for performance, so employees are driven to push themselves a little further with the deadlines in mind
- Conducting training programs and investing in other upskilling or reskilling opportunities to help workers perform
- Directing employees away from self-deprecating perspectives and career dysmorphia for more realistic assessments of their skills
- Checking in with employees with greater regularity, not just on project results, but their personal growth through the experience
Managing Underperformers Is More Effective than Firing Them
Job hopping is fun for no one, especially with the current job market that has spooked most workers away from its steps. Employees are often willing to make the changes needed to keep their jobs, and this willingness is a trait worth appreciating. Each employee is hired due to certain strengths displayed during the interviews, and it’s up to HR to ensure these skills are showcased and supported.
If underperforming employees need help in getting back on track, supporting them in the journey is a more worthwhile endeavor than the task of replacing them entirely from the payroll. If you do come across the occasional employee who’s too self-aware to quit on their own or too arrogant to accept feedback, then there is the more arduous task of cutting ties with them on reasonable grounds. However, this is not a common experience for most HR professionals. Support underperforming employees, and they will showcase their full potential in time.
Do you have some experience with managing underperforming employees? Share your thoughts with us. Subscribe to The HR Digest for more insights on workplace trends, layoffs, and what to expect with the advent of AI.