If you have an employee on your team who is not performing at the level you know they can perform at, it is important that you diagnose the real issue behind their performance problem. If you do not diagnose the REAL issue behind the employee’s performance, it will not matter how much feedback you give them, they are likely never going to improve.
I am going to share with you the simple process for how you can begin to diagnose performance issues with your employees so you can help your employees reach more success.
What are they telling you about why they have yet to complete the work or did not complete it to the standard you had requested?
Skill versus Will
The first step when attempting to diagnose a performance issue with an employee is to ask yourself if the performance issue appears to be the result of a lack of skill or a lack of will. Lack of skill, as you would guess, means the employee genuinely does not know how to do something. Lack of will on the other hand means the employee is experiencing a lack of confidence or motivation, or maybe even a low work ethic. As a Manager, you need to figure out which one of these issues is at the heart of the performance problem with this employee so you can prepare the appropriate method for helping them overcome this obstacle. To find out if the performance issue is related to SKILL or WILL, you are going to have a conversation with the employee and ask them for an update related to the performance issue or something else they are working on and you are going to listen to their response. What are they telling you about why they have yet to complete the work or did not complete it to the standard you had requested?
For instance, if the employee is preparing a presentation, and you ask for an update and they say, “Well, it’s not ready because I’m trying to embed this video and I don’t know how to do that.”; Then you know it is a skill issue and you can get them some training. On the other hand, if you ask an employee for an update on a task and they respond with excuses, you might be dealing with a WILL issue. At this point, you must ask the employee more questions to uncover the real issue behind the lack of WILL. You can ask questions like, “Are you experiencing a lack of motivation? Is this task not meaningful enough for you?”
In the previous example of an employee preparing a presentation, maybe you will discover that the employee is lacking confidence which is killing their motivation to do the work. In this case, you can get the employee training (SKILL) on how to do presentations effectively but also mentor or coach them to build their confidence (WILL).
A Story – Strategy versus Execution
A few months ago, I was coaching a manager who was great at developing a strategy for her team, but she could never execute on the strategy and she did not know why. It became obvious to me that she was good at the technical aspect of developing a plan, but then lost the motivation when it came time to execute. Strategy and execution are two different skill sets and there is a lot of motivation required to execute on a plan. So, I coached her to bring in other team members who could help her execute on the strategy. Sometimes, we need other people to help us in areas where we are not strong.
A final thing I want you to remember about dealing with an underperforming employee is to avoid giving the employee a deadline to improve. Do not go to the employee and say, “You’ve got four weeks to turn this around.” Giving someone a deadline can be harmful to their performance if they are not motivated by the pressure of a deadline. Instead, develop a plan for coaching, training, or mentoring to get them the help they need to improve their performance.
If you can be the manager who helps an employee turn their performance around, it will make you look even more effective in your role!
Understanding Skill versus Will is just the first step in understanding why an employee might not be doing what you expect. In my 6-month management training program for new managers, managers learn a thorough process for accurately diagnosing performance issues with an employee. Click here to explore if this program is right for you and the managers in your organization.