Guidelines for Discussing Underperformance with an Employee

✳️Managing Difficult Employees: A Practical Guide for Leaders Managing people is tough, but managing someone whose attitude and performance drag down the team? That’s next-level difficult. Negativity doesn’t just affect the individual—it ripples through the team, damaging morale, productivity, and culture. ✳️Here’s a step-by-step guide to tackle these situations effectively while balancing empathy, clarity, and accountability: 1➡️Prepare Before the Conversation ▪️Document specific examples: Focus on patterns (e.g., missed deadlines, negativity) and their impact on the team. Stick to facts, not opinions. ▪️Plan your talking points: Outline key observations, desired outcomes, and next steps to stay calm and focused. ▪️Consult HR (if available): Larger organizations may have policies to align with. 2➡️Start with Curiosity and Empathy Frame the conversation as a dialogue, not a confrontation. Ask thoughtful questions: ▪️“How do you feel things are going?” ▪️“What’s been challenging for you in this role?” ▪️“Do you feel aligned with the company’s goals and culture?” Curiosity uncovers root causes, like burnout, misalignment, or personal challenges. 3➡️ Be Honest, Clear, and Solutions-Focused After listening, share your observations with compassion and directness: ▪️“Here’s what I’ve noticed: [specific examples]. This is impacting [team morale, deadlines, outcomes].” ▪️“I want to support you, but here’s what needs to change moving forward.” Focus on behaviors and outcomes, not personality traits. 4➡️Set Expectations and Follow Up Make sure expectations are clear and actionable: ▪️Define what success looks like (e.g., improved teamwork, meeting deadlines). ▪️Set a timeline for improvement (e.g., 2–4 weeks). ▪️Schedule a follow-up conversation to review progress and next steps. Startups may need quicker action, while larger organizations might leverage formal improvement plans (PIPs). 5➡️Be Ready for Next Steps if Needed If improvement doesn’t happen, it may be time to part ways: ▪️Frame it around alignment: “It seems this role isn’t the best fit for where you’re at. Let’s discuss a transition plan that supports your goals.” ▪️Redistribute work and document key processes to prepare for a smooth transition. 6 ➡️Protect the Team and Culture Negativity is contagious. Address issues quickly to protect morale and prevent disengagement. ▪️Be discreet but reassure the team that steps are being taken to maintain a positive culture. Leadership isn’t about avoiding tough conversations—it’s about navigating them with empathy, clarity, and preparation. ✳️ What strategies do you use to manage tough conversations effectively? 👋 I turn talent into revenue-generating assets and build high-performing teams. With 10+ years of experience coaching and managing talent globally, I solve people challenges and help organizations scale success. Let’s connect—I’d love to help your team thrive.

You might not want performance conversations to be personal, but trust me, they are very personal to your employees. Their livelihood is at stake. Their capability is in question. The consequences are incredibly high. My job is to stay calm and bring structure to it. Otherwise, it can become a tangled mess. Ideally, I’ve set clear expectations upfront. And they’ve been getting feedback from me at a regular clip. But sometimes, we must step back and ask, “Where are we?” Here's how I structure those conversations: 📌 My first question: "Do they see it?" Do they appreciate what’s needed to meet or beat expectations? Do they understand how and why they’re coming up short? If "No," you need to get them there. How? Asking them to self-assess can give me useful intel. You can also finesse this by getting others to provide feedback. Different words can often break through. If they do see it... 📌 "Do they want to fix it?" If the answer is "No," the path becomes painfully obvious. You can’t have people in the role that don’t want to meet it. And people willingly leaving their role is easiest. How? Finesse it by previewing the severance or exit package. Identify roles they might thrive in. Chances are they're frustrated, too. Or if they’re a great fit in the wrong role, you can discuss a trial elsewhere in the org. Finally, if they see it and want to fix it... 📌 “Do they know how?” If not, this is a great place to coach. Use questions to guide them in the direction you need. If they write the map, they tend to follow it. If they know how and are not improving, there are two possibilities: -> They’re not making the change. -> They’re making it, and it’s not helping. In either case, the fair choice for your team and for them is likely an exit. These conversations are always challenging. But they're nearly impossible when we don't have a plan. You can have conversations, or you can lead them. In moments of high emotion, clear is kind. If you found this post helpful: - Please repost ♻️ to help other leaders - Follow Dave Kline 🔔 for more posts like it - Subscribe to my MGMT Playbook 📕 (in bio) Join 30K leaders and get access to 75 practical playbooks + working templates for every challenging management moment.

Confronting an underperforming employee is never easy. Here’s my guide to make sure it doesn’t go off the rails. Schedule a one-on-one meeting with the employee. Send the invite at least one day in advance via email, using a generic title like “Discussion”. Write detailed notes on what you plan to cover in the meeting. Meeting tone: Once the meeting starts, avoid small talk and get down to the matter at hand immediately. Maintain a positive and constructive attitude.  Focus on the facts, the impact, and the solutions. Do not focus on the personalities, the emotions, or point fingers. The beats of the meeting: Open by stating that this is going to be a difficult conversation about their performance issues. Make it clear that the goal of this meeting is to find a way for them to improve. This sets the tone. Next, describe the circumstances that have made this discussion necessary. Be specific about actions, dates and times, and tell them what the impact of their underperformance has been on the business and other co-workers. If applicable, tell them exactly where they’ve violated your policies. Get the employee’s perspective: Do they feel they have the necessary time, support, and resources to perform their job? Has anything changed in the business that has an impact on the employee’s performance? Has anything changed outside of the business, like a personal issue or health problem? Be clear about your expectations: Be specific, e.g. “Your job starts at 8 a.m. from Monday through Friday. You should be at your desk and available to answer client calls by that time every business day.” Together with the employee, make a detailed action plan you both understand and agree on. Set specific steps, deadlines, and targets. Include what you will do to support them. You should both sign and date the document. Schedule several followup meetings to check in on their progress. Once you’re done, update your meeting notes to include everything you discussed. Follow up: Send a recap of the meeting and your agreed upon action plan to the employee immediately after the meeting. If you have any to-do items on your side, get through them ASAP. You want them feeling the urgency of the situation. From there, things will go in one of two directions: Hopefully, the situation will improve. If it does, give that employee recognition. Refer specifically to what they’ve accomplished. Sometimes, things don’t get better. At that point, it’s time to move towards parting ways. — I hope this helps. Thoughts on this process? Comment below!

⭐ Honored that my latest Harvard Business Review article is today's Management Tip of the Day! ⭐ In my article "When an Employee Isn’t Meeting Expectations," I explain how providing feedback to an employee is high-stakes for both sides. However, these challenging moments can also offer opportunities to strengthen the manager-employee relationship. Here’s how to make it a constructive conversation: 🔹 Set the stage for collaboration. Start by defining what success looks like and ensure it’s a shared goal. 🔹 Reflect on the past. Encourage reflection by asking: “How do you feel you’ve met your goals? What’s working well and what isn’t? What would you like to improve on or do differently?” 🔹 Provide constructive feedback. Be clear and specific with examples. Approach with empathy, avoid judgment, and create space for them to share their perspective. 🔹 Offer positive reinforcement. Emphasize growth and development over criticism. 🔹 Set an actionable path forward and reset expectations. Ask forward-looking questions like, “How would you handle a situation if…?” to foster a mindset geared toward future improvement. Read the full article here: https://lnkd.in/edwTCM4d #leadership #management #engagement #feedback #motivation #coaching #futureofwork #mg100 #thinkers50 #bestadvice #jennyfernandez

At DISQO, to of core values are, “Be Relentlessly All In” and “Win as One Team.” Both sound simple on paper or on the wall, and they are the secret sauce in our recipe for success. In short, they mean nothing should get in the way of us helping DISQO and our customers win, even at the expense of personal preference or advantage. Because it means creating a future where we all win together, we need to keep a high bar for how we share feedback. That includes when we are getting it right and especially when we are getting it wrong. Sharing feedback protects our culture and our advantage only if we are willing to have the hard conversations. Avoiding hard conversations doesn’t protect your culture. It erodes it. When someone receives three straight performance reviews, clear expectations, and multiple chances to change and still refuses, it is no longer a performance problem. It is an accountability problem. Leaders do not get to look away. Standards do not uphold themselves. If you want a culture of ownership, you have to protect it in moments like these. So what does that look like? Here are 5 steps to lead through the hard conversation with clarity, not cruelty: 🔥 1. Anchor in evidence 📊 Start with the facts: "Here is what we have discussed. Here is what has not changed." You are not giving an opinion. You are reporting the pattern. 🔍 2. Say the thing 🎯 Do not water it down: "At this point, it is no longer just about performance. It is about your response to feedback." If it is hard to say, it probably needs to be said. 🔄 3. Shift the burden 🧭 Make the next move theirs: "It is your choice whether or not to take action. But we cannot continue as we are." Ownership is the signal. Enable it, do not carry it. 🎯 4. Set a specific next step 🗓️ Be clear: “By Friday, I expect a written plan with measurable steps and early action already in motion.” Accountability lives in clarity, not ambiguity. 🤝 5. Stay human, not soft 💬 You can be clear and respectful: “I want to see you succeed. But that will not happen unless something changes now.” Respect is not silence. It is truth with empathy. Creating the future means leading in the hardest times.. Where it is uncomfortable. Where most people hesitate. And where real culture is made or lost. Say what needs to be said. That is how you protect the work, the team, and the standard. #CreateTheFuture #LeadershipInAction #CultureMatters #RadicalCandor #LeadWithClarity #DISQO