We’ve all been there. An employee is underperforming; as a supervisor what do you do? Some instincts scream, “fire them now and move on we don’t have time for this!” Others simply ignore the problem, because we don’t have time for this.
Yet, others work diligently and around the clock to talk, and talk, and talk to the person.
Which avenue does your company take? Which is best for the company, the employee, you as the supervisor, and overall morale? And, are there other options out there?
Each action comes with pros and cons. Firing the person may solve the immediate dilemma, but it leaves a hole in your staffing and triggers the hiring process which can take time. Once you hire a replacement, you then need to onboard and train the new person and it will take additional time until they are up and running. Plus, what about the time investment already made in the current employee? Do you just flush that down the drain?
Ignoring the problem may allow you to avoid the emotion and time in dealing with it, and you may avoid any potential litigation risks (from that employee). Ignoring the problem does not address the problem and allows it to grow. It may already be impacting other employees who need to step up and cover for the deficiencies, or employees may start to slack off – after all if they can still get paid for not performing like their colleague, why not?
Talking to the employee may get you heard, may encourage the employee to become engaged, may just be a time sink where you talk and repeat yourself with no impact or change.
Is there a better way, or how to know when to rely on any of these above?
As a manager, the solution starts with you. How well do you know your staff? You might first consider the specific situation. Is this a new employee or have they been with the company for a while?
If new, how was their onboarding experience? Do they need more training on internal equipment, programs, or processes? Do they fit in well with the team or are they insulated from other employees? While they may need to work independently, most new employees learn the culture or internal shortcuts from their more experienced colleagues. Without those relationships, even with having been trained on technical aspects, new employees may not assimilate well or have the same opportunities as tenured employees, which can impact morale and their work performance.
Even without the pandemic where onboarding employees electronically has challenged most employers, getting a new employee up and running is a team effort. It does not end with the basic HR briefing or the supervisor showing them around the workspace. Additionally, some people learn better by reading instructions, some by hearing the instructions. It might be worth investing extra time to help integrate a new vetted employee you selected after the full hiring process.
If the employee has a history with the company, what is that history? If they have been a star or solid employee until recently, the next step is figuring out why the change. Understand you may not be entitled to the full answer – such as underlying medical information, but if something has changed that is causing the employee to be stressed, non-focused, listless and uncaring at work can you help fix it? Has the work load changed? Have the tools used changed, new IT, computer programs, processes? Does the employee need training or extra education to come up to speed on any changes? Has something else changed? Other new employees they do not get along with or feel threatened by (maybe not physically but as if the new person is gunning for their job)? It could be anything. Before writing the employee off, don’t just talk to the employee but invest extra time in listening to them, observing the team interactions, or helping them access other support. Their answer may help you unlock what is needed to steer them back on track. Are they, are you, familiar with the company’s Employee Assistance Program?
Is the employee worth the investment? Obviously, this will be case dependent. Weighing the cost to the company (being understaffed for a bit while expending the cost to go through the hiring and onboarding process) against the status quo (morale, current business deficiencies) can be difficult. We can help with that.