People want to do a good job. They want to contribute.
It’s part of what makes going to work every day worthwhile – in some ways, a more important part than the paycheck (always assuming said paycheck is in line with roles and responsibilities).
So what happens? Why do we have people under-performing or completely missing the mark?
There are – of course – multiple reasons. I’ll start with the two simplest first.
They don’t know how
In understanding why people don’t meet performance expectations, one of the things that jumps out is that there’s a knowledge or skills gap.
Simply put, they don’t know how to do it, or at least, they’re uncertain.
Before you get upset, discipline someone, or put them on a performance plan, make sure they know how to do what you’re asking for. And don’t fall into the trap of believing they “should” know how. Validate.
They don’t have the resources
Many years ago, one of my project-manager peers told me that his boss, a Director in the company, had flat-out told my colleague that he was just going to keep on assigning tasks until my colleague said “stop!”
I imagine you can see how fraught with problems this is.
If you keep loading tasks onto your employee, they’re going to do their best to Do It All.
And they’ll fail, burn out, and – quite possibly – quit.
If someone isn’t performing to your expectations, make sure they have the resources they need. It could be time – they’ve got too much on their plate and they need help prioritizing – but it could also be input from other people, supplies, budget – any number of things. Again – validate.
Or is it your managers, leadership, culture?
This is harder to fix, not least because it’s harder to diagnose. Entrenched problems with management, leadership, and culture are, well, entrenched. They’re so much a part of “how things are around here” that they can be difficult to spot.
If your managers are micro-managing, if your first-line and mid-level leaders aren’t actually leading, if your organizational culture is mistake-averse, doesn’t delegate authority along with responsibility, or hesitates to trust employees – just to name a few of the problems I’ve helped clients solve – you’re going to have performance problems.
Why? Because employees won’t see value in taking initiative, in doing more than exactly what was assigned, or in sticking their neck out in any way that might get their head chopped off.
Culture starts with senior leadership and their definitions of vision, mission, values, and strategy, and the extent to which they walk the talk and hold others accountable.
But it ends – for better or worse – with your first-line and mid-level managers. If they’re merely managers and not leaders, or if they don’t understand the context in which they’re working (i.e., vision, mission, values, strategy!), then you may be enabling mediocrity instead of excellence.
People don’t much like being managed. But they do like being led.
Culture is an ongoing process, not a one-and-done. Like a plant, a pet, a relationship, it requires understanding, nurturing, and care. Want to know more? Drop me a note.