Could It Be Me?
When an employee’s performance falters, the natural reaction is to blame the employee first. Employees are responsible for at least meeting expectations and when they don’t they are surely doing something wrong, aren’t working hard enough or just can’t do the job. Right? Well probably, but is the manager doing his or her job effectively to help that employee be successful? An employee’s performance is often tied directly to the quality of management oversight and assistance. The role of a manager is complex. The following list offers an idea as to what the manager should generally be doing with respect to supervising employees:
- Hiring people well suited to the job.
- Establishing rapport and trust with employees.
- Setting clear, demanding and reasonable expectations for employees.
- Communicating effectively on a regular basis.
- Training and development of employees.
- Planning and defining projects and work.
- Enforcing accountability.
- Creating an environment where high performance can occur
- Providing ongoing informal and formal feedback about performance to employees.
- Coaching and counseling of employees.
- Employee discipline when necessary.
When an employee is struggling, managers should first ask this question; “Am I doing my job to the best of my ability?”. There are many cases where an ineffective manager has a profound negative impact on one or more employees. When a manager is ineffective, even an employee who has a history of good performance can be affected in a negative manner.
Looking at the list above, how many of the tasks do your managers do consistently well? Managing people requires constant attention to your own performance. The trickle down effect of marginal management on employee performance can’t be overstated. But, as we know, it can be difficult for some managers to admit that they are contributing to an employee’s performance problems.
Employees who might ordinarily struggle under a less effective manager sometimes flourish under a manager who consistently does his or her job well. But why? A good manager understands their employees’ weaknesses and works with them to strengthen those weaknesses. The challenge in managing people is that is takes hard work and a lot of time to do it well. Most managers are unwilling or unable to put in the time and effort required to help employees be as successful as possible.
Effective managers tend to be willing to spend the time necessary to help their employees do their jobs well. They don’t immediately dismiss the employee as the problem. Rather they work with them to develop their skills and create an environment where the employees don’t feel threatened if they do make a mistake.
Obviously, there are employees who will never be able to do the job they are currently attempting to do. How the manager deals with these employees is critical to the performance of the work unit as well. Too many managers ignore problem employees. Left unchecked, problem employees not only underperform, but they can cause those around them to do so as well.
When every attempt has been made to coach and assist an employee to higher levels of performance, but it becomes obvious that the employee just cannot do the job, it’s time to deal with that employee either by finding a job they can do well or by following the prescribed discipline and termination process.
When an employee is struggling to meet expectations, ask why? Look first at yourself. Are you really managing effectively? Use the list above and continually critique yourself in terms of how well you are doing each of the things on that list. Ask yourself if an employee’s performance problems could be associated with your ineffectiveness and, if so, in what manner. Ask your employees to give you feedback about your performance. Let them do so in a nonthreatening way. Ask your peers to do the same.