Are you managing someone promoted beyond their competence?

6 step process for managing someone who is struggling to deliver

At Jaluch we do not believe that anyone can do any job. People might like to think they can, but even with development and support, some jobs are outside the capabilities of many of us. Another thing we have to recognise is that most people do not understand or even seek to understand/accept the limits of their potential.

The process we’ve set out below is unlikely of course to be used with someone new to the organisation and subject to a probationary period and associated shortened disciplinary procedures.

Just as a word of caution: before you even begin this process of gathering evidence, be aware that suggesting someone does not have the potential for the job they are doing can be life-changing for some. This is a conversation that needs to be handled carefully and with caution. Many are not ready or able to hear that they are not as bright or as capable as they think they are. It’s easier of course if you are talking about providing training, guidance or support to enable them to increase their current potential but for some, no training or support will ever give them what is needed to deliver satisfactorily in the role. That is a sad, but harsh, reality. Proceed with caution.

So, here’s our 6 step process for managing someone who’s struggling to deliver …

Step 1 – What are you really dealing with?

Is this performance or is this misconduct? If it’s out of their control (not deliberate, careless, lazy or couldn’t care less) it’s likely to be performance, if it’s something the individual can control it is likely to be misconduct. You can read more about misconduct here but today we focus on performance – something that tends not to be in the employee’s control.

Step 2 – Do an initial assessment

Now you know it’s performance you’re dealing with, do an initial assessment based on the information/evidence/experience you have of the cause of this:

Could it be:

• Lack of support/instruction/guidance
• Intellect
• Experience in life/work
• Experience on the job
• Skills – hard (e.g. using a spreadsheet, fixing an electrical problem,
• Skills – soft (e.g. assertiveness, communication, delegation, conflict resolution)
• Personal confidence/low self-esteem
• Arrogance/overconfidence
• Health and wellbeing (none of us function when our brains give us nothing but brain fog – but this isn’t really a performance issue despite it impacting performance, so should be treated as a health issue.)
• Neurodiversity – that makes it hard to deliver on certain aspects of the role

Step 3 – Consider the evidence/gather evidence

Collect what evidence you have, remaining impartial and clear of judgment. You might find that you need to clarify certain points from other people/managers or available data.

You then need to speak to your employee. Ensure a formal set-up to the meeting in line with your policy/processes. Be careful not to information ‘dump’ at the meeting as that can be damaging, just share sufficient information as is appropriate for you to open up the discussion you need to have.

Avoid generalisations, woolly statements and not owning the discussion ie use ‘I’ not ‘we’. Use language that is adult, professional, and respectful. Avoid words that escalate emotion.

Give the employee some time to consider your concerns and the evidence you have presented.

Step 4 – Be firm but fair

Your discussion is likely to go one of three ways:

1. A positive, open discussion about ways forward, including the role, responsibilities, training, support etc enabling you to begin to put a plan in action – positive action.
2. Outright denial and refusal to hear what is being said – head in the sand.
3. Jumping into blame – it’s everyone else’s fault – and even threats – ‘I will say you are bullying me’ – open conflict.

A manager is responsible for having the conversation and ensuring a way forward is identified.

A manager is not responsible for an employee who is not able or willing to play their part in this process. This kind of response to a performance discussion would be an act of misconduct (see above for how we described misconduct as things in the employee’s control which a deliberate refusal to follow a reasonable instruction or participate in a reasonable meeting would be) and can be managed as such – if appropriate and after proper consideration as to whether this is sensible and fair.

We recommend managers…

• Expect emotions, and acknowledge emotions when they are shown (e.g. I can see you are finding this difficult) BUT stay clear and focussed on the necessary message and discussion.
• Allow time for the employee to reflect and absorb – this may need several meetings and/or days ie adjourning to another time.
• Prepare in writing the key points they wish to raise so what is said can be shared in writing afterwards to ensure clarity and consistency of the message.
• Stick to the facts and avoid diversions – stay alert to those who habitually divert attention away from themselves onto other people or things as a means of avoidance.
• Consider in advance potential ideas relating to what both parties might need to do, to deliver on any agreed plan – ideally, this is a mutual discussion with responsibilities for both parties.
• Keep timescales short – avoid ‘let’s review in 6 months’ by which time life will have moved on resulting in this discussion never getting resolved or advanced. One-week or 4 week mini goals with targets and clarity every step of the way

And remember: it is both your right and responsibility to manage under or weak performance.

Step 5 – Options

After giving thought to the current situation you have a few options – proceed with caution and check in with HR every step of the way – there is a legal process to follow here:

• Actions and support that will enable the employee to develop the skills/experience they need to in due course be able to perform adequately the skills/experience they need to in due course be able to perform adequately.
• A temporary (or permanent) adjustment to duties and responsibilities so they can achieve/perform.
• A temporary (or permanent) step back/down into duties/responsibilities that they will be able to succeed in.
• An exit from the business if there are no alternative options to either improve performance or find alternative roles.

Step 6 – return and repeat

Step 6 is only for those who don’t resolve this issue in step 5.

If …

• life moves on
• reorganisations result in a loss of understanding and focus of the issue
  you lose confidence to manage the issue
• The employee goes off on long-term sick to avoid the issue
• The employee brings a complaint of bullying to avoid the issue
• You are not supported as you need to be to have the tough conversations

Then I advise you to return to step 1.

It’s okay to not succeed with what needs to be addressed the first time. We are all human after all and life sure chucks some curve balls at us from time to time. But please do return to this issue when you can as underperformance results in great performers resigning as underperformers drag them down, other employees losing confidence in management to address performance issues, quality reducing, productivity reducing and there may be an impact on the wider workplace culture as people who underperform after a period of struggling can become disengaged, disenfranchised and negative. That can be a hard person to work alongside – or for – each day.

Food for thought and time for an audit?

Have your managers got the tools for the task? Do they know how to conduct a performance appraisal, how to set objectives, and how to deliver feedback? Are they confident about how to turn around someone’s performance or hold their team to account? Is your performance policy and procedure fit for purpose? Does it give you a strong framework to improve performance, or is it below par? Perhaps it’s time you carried out a short audit to determine where your focus should be?

Otherwise, why not speak to us at Jaluch about training for your managers or first line HR staff; or ask us to review your employment policies so that they work for you.

Between us at Jaluch we have well over 100 years’ of HR experience, we deliver bespoke HR advice to over 300 clients in the UK and are proud to have won a plethora of awards. We would be delighted to support you, so please do get in touch