As a manager, it’s your job to develop staff, set them up for success, and manage performance. So what do you do when you think someone is underperforming—not meeting expectations, hitting goals, or demonstrating core competencies? How much should you invest in their growth? When is it time to let someone go? And, how the #@$% do you decide?
Whatever the cause of an employee performance problem is, you need to own the solution. Ground in a conspire-and-align approach; instead of treating them as the problem, address the problem with them. Assess whether it’s a performance or management issue, share constructive feedback, seek their perspective, and make a plan to move forward.
What is underperformance at work?
Underperformance means an employee does not meet the expectations, goals, or standards you agreed on for their role. This can look like:
- Missed deadlines (e.g., you manage a communications coordinator who sent out 3 of the last 5 newsletters late)
- Low-quality work (e.g., you supervise a campaigns manager who ran a door-knocking training, but most attendees left feeling unprepared or disengaged)
- Failure to complete tasks (e.g., your finance associate forgets to pay out a couple invoices every month)
- Behaviors that negatively impact others (e.g., your direct report’s work is high-quality and on-time, but they frequently dismiss other teammates’ input)
Underperformance can happen for several reasons, including skill gaps, unclear expectations, role mismatch, inadequate support, lack of values alignment, burnout, or other personal challenges. Chaos and uncertainty—whether in the world, at your organization, or in their personal life—can also make it difficult to perform well.
When should I address a performance problem?
Remember that you are responsible for dealing with performance problems, regardless of the root cause. This includes when:
- You haven’t been a perfect manager
- The problem is a result of a hiring mistake
- The problem started before you got there
- It seems like a personality clash between two team members
- You think the staff member might leave on their own
- You really don’t have the time
Dig into our step-by-step guide for addressing performance problems below.
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Guide to Managing Employee Performance Problems
Whether you’re a leader in social change, education, or governance, the following guidance will help you navigate performance problems on your team. Keep your organization’s policies and employee agreements in mind, and consult your lawyer as necessary.
Step 1: Reflect on the problem
A. Identify the performance issue and its impact
Start by reflecting on two questions:
- What is the impact of the problem (on people, relationships, culture, or results)?
- How much of it is a management issue vs. a performance issue?
The first question helps you understand whether the problem is:
- A true performance problem (they aren’t meeting must-have expectations, skills, or approaches), or
- A conflict of preference or tradition (they’re not doing things the way you would, your biases lead you to judge them unfairly, etc.)?
If there’s a significant impact on results and/or people, chances are it’s a genuine performance problem.
The second question helps you identify what’s in your respective spheres of control. Rather than assigning blame, clarify where you and your staff person each have power and responsibility to resolve the issue.
B. Take accountability as a manager
Reflect on your management practices and own what’s in your control. Have you provided clarity about expectations, roles, and goals? Build a strong relationship with your staff person? Checked your biases? Held regular check-ins where you provided support and coaching? Use the choice points below to self-assess how your management practices might influence the performance issue.
Performance management choice points
- Roles, goals, and delegation
- Did you routinely align on what success looks like? For instance, if making a deadline means getting it to you three days early to review and approve, do they know that?
- Were you clear about role expectations, including the what and the how?
- Relationship-building
- Have you incorporated the four elements of relationship-building (space for authenticity, building trust, navigating difference and power, and shared purpose) in your interactions with this staff member?
- Check-ins and feedback
- How regular are your check-ins?
- Have you shared direct feedback on this issue? Did you connect, ask questions, and seek understanding?
- Investing in people and equity
- What have you done to develop your staff person’s competencies related to this issue?
- Thinking about your entire team, are there disparities in who gets your time, feedback, guidance, or investment?
- Is the problem getting in the way of required must-haves for the role, or is it just a difference in preference or tradition?
- Have you sought others’ perspectives in assessing the quality of their work?
C. Identify your staff person’s sphere of control
In most cases, you and your direct report are both responsible for resolving the problem. After figuring out what you can do better as a manager, be specific about what they’re accountable for.
Look at their role and goals. What expectations about must-have skills or approaches have you already communicated? What other expectations—such as team culture, values, and norms—are relevant here? Where are they not delivering, despite clear expectations and agreements?
Learn more about using sphere of control in the workplace.
D. Consider the context.
Context is the backdrop of your work together—the stuff that’s largely out of both of your control. It’s never the sole reason behind a performance problem, and it doesn’t absolve either of you of responsibility, but it could significantly impact their performance or your perception of it. Consider:
- Extenuating circumstances, like a recent disaster or the death of a loved one
- Organizational shifts creating bottlenecks, miscommunication, or sustainability challenges
- Dynamics around margins and mainstreams, power, or identity
Step 2: Check in with the staff person
Check in with your direct report to share feedback and seek their perspective. (If this is an issue you’ve already discussed multiple times, skip to Step 3.)
Use the CSAW Framework (Connect & Consent, Share, Ask, Wrap up) and Informal Performance Warning Sample Script to prepare for the conversation.
Keep in mind:
- Spheres of control: Be explicit about what’s in your respective spheres of control. Own your role as a manager. Emphasize that they’re responsible for how they show up and what they accomplish.
- Seek their perspective: Ask your staff person questions to understand their experience. For example, “How is that landing for you? What’s your take? What am I missing?”
- Don’t jump to decisions: If you’re checking in about this for the first time, your goal is to sound an alarm and start the conversation—not resolve the issue right away. While you should still identify next steps, don’t make decisions about performance improvement plans (PIPs) on the spot.
- Corrective vs. developmental feedback: While both types of feedback can help someone grow, they communicate different consequences. Always be explicit about the type of feedback you’re offering. Otherwise, your staff person might interpret corrective feedback as developmental feedback, misunderstand the stakes, and be surprised by a formal warning down the line.
- Corrective feedback helps someone get from off-track to on-track. If nothing changes (or changes enough), you will take further action to resolve the issue—and may even let them go.
- Developmental feedback helps people take their skills from good to great, or from meeting to exceeding expectations. If nothing changes, the person likely won’t suffer negative consequences.
Tip: If you believe the problem will escalate or can’t be resolved with some feedback—or even if you’re simply not sure—use the manager reflection worksheet in our Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) Toolkit.
Step 3: Assess
1. Go back to Step 1 and see what’s changed.
With the new information you gained from your check-in, revisit the impact of the problem and any extenuating circumstances. Incorporate your staff person’s perspective. Discreetly seek perspective from others, such as your manager or peers. And, remember to check your biases.
2. Ask yourself: Could this situation improve with the resources and time available?
Consider your staff person’s self-awareness, skill, and will to own their part of the solution. Also, take into account your capacity, skill, and will to support them (e.g., coaching and training them, leveling up your management, etc.).
3. Then, ask yourself: If the situation improves, how likely is it that they will sustain the level of performance our team needs?
Consider their overall track record of success in the role, including past course corrections and development.
Step 4: Consider your options and decide
Before deciding on next steps, always check your organizational policies and consult your HR or legal advisors. Your organization might have an employee manual or collective bargaining agreement that commits you to following specific progressive discipline steps. As with any employment issue where legal issues may come into play, consider speaking with a lawyer.
As a manager, you typically have three options for moving forward: invest, coach out, or let go. These options are not mutually exclusive; they are steps on a path. In some cases, you might invest first, and progress to coaching out or letting go if necessary. For others, you might go directly to coaching out or letting go.
A. Invest.
Apply more resources to support your staff person in meeting performance expectations.
You can:
- Offer ongoing, specific feedback.
- Provide coaching and training opportunities.
- Do work side-by-side.
- Put them on a performance improvement plan (PIP). Outline expectations for success, a timeline for improvement, and the support you’ll provide. Use our formal or informal performance warning scripts to start.
You might choose this route because:
- The problem is coachable and the staff person is willing to learn.
- The problem is mostly a management issue, which means that the solution is in your sphere of control. You need to improve your management practices and provide more clarity, support, or structure.
- There are truly extenuating circumstances beyond their control that have impacted their otherwise solid performance.
- The problem is due to growing pains (e.g., role changes, organizational shifts), and both of you need time and support to get settled in.
Note: In an ideal world, you should always be in some kind of “invest” mode, even if there aren’t underperformance issues. If you’re only investing in staff when there’s a problem, you’re setting yourself up for trouble.
Wish someone had taught you this when you first started managing? It’s not too late! Enroll in our Investing in People and Performance training. Gain the confidence and strategies you need to distinguish performance problems from growth areas, develop your team’s skills, and mitigate unconscious bias. Grab your spot today!
B. Coach out.
If you decide that it’s best for this person to leave their role, consider initiating a coaching out conversation. Share your assessment, offer possible paths forward (e.g., PIP, transition out plan, etc.), express your recommendation (that the staff person leaves), and let them decide.
This could sound like saying, “You have a few options for moving forward. You could stay in this role and commit to meeting expectations and improving. If so, we’ll make a plan and check in after X weeks. Another option is for you to decide that this role isn’t a great fit, and we’ll make a transition plan. Given what I’ve seen, I’d recommend the second option, but if you want to stay, I’m committed to supporting you.”
The key to coaching out is offering real options so that your staff person can exercise their agency. When the options aren’t real, coaching out conversations are just “letting go” conversations in disguise. When done well, coaching out is a win-win solution for your organization and staff member.
You might choose this route because:
- You’ve already tried to invest through an informal performance improvement process. While there is some improvement, they’re still not meeting expectations (or meets them inconsistently).
- The work is generally meeting expectations, but the role still isn’t a great fit.
- The staff person’s capacity or circumstances have changed in a way that might impact their ability to meet expectations.
- The organization is changing, and the staff person is unwilling or uninterested in adapting alongside it.
- The staff person is bored, disengaged, or stagnant in their work.
- Performance is not meeting expectations, but there’s still hope for improvement.
Use our Coaching Out Sample Script to prepare for your conversation.
C. Let go.
Your final option is to let go or “fire” your direct report—terminating their employment due to underperformance.
Before you let someone go, check your biases (again). Make sure you’ve reflected, sought perspective from your manager or a colleague, and done everything reasonably in your control to support your staff to improve.
For many of our clients, letting go is a last resort. And for good reasons, too—it’s irreversible and life-altering. For those of us committed to social justice, it can feel counter to our values. We want people to feel respected and valued, we worry about impacts on their livelihood (which is one reason to offer severance packages), and we want our movements to bring people in—not let them go.
But when someone isn’t a good fit, you’re not helping anyone by avoiding the problem. Nobody likes being stuck in a position where they can’t thrive. Performance issues usually have ripple effects that lower staff morale. And most importantly, you have a duty to manage toward strong, equitable results.
In addition to some of the “coach out” reasons above, you might choose this route because:
- The staff member is unwilling to grow or take feedback.
- You’ve already tried to invest in an informal or formal performance improvement process. There is little to no improvement or consistency.
- The problem creates a significant burden or harm to others that can’t be reasonably mitigated with the time and resources available.
Final Thoughts: Underperformance Requires Action
Did you notice that none of the options we laid out include “do nothing,” “get your boss to deal with it,” or “wait for the person to quit?” That’s because whatever you do, you need to decide.
The longer you delay, the more the problem will grow—impacting others and your results. Test your thinking with your manager or a trusted colleague to check for biases. Then, communicate promptly with your staff person. Schedule a time to talk to them, prepare a script, and even practice with someone if necessary.
To see these four steps in action, check out our addressing performance problems case study.
Was this helpful? Chapter 9 of our book, Management in a Changing World, is all about addressing performance problems. Get your copy today.
The Management Center is a 501c3 organization that helps leaders working for social change build equitable, sustainable, and results-driven organizations via trainings coaching, and online resources and tools.