Quick Tips for Problem Solving Performance Issues with Employees

When performance problems arise with employees, work collaboratively with the employee to solve the problem. This creates a partnership between you and the employee and makes the problem a learning situation.

Begin with stating the problem in terms that are understandable for the employees: impact on the team, impact on credibility of the employee, impact on the employee meeting goals, etc. And come to agreement on the problem – do you both see it the same way?
Highlight the successes of the employee before tackling the problem. In this way, the employee knows that you know what is going well; it is not all going poorly.

Ask the employee, “How can we solve this problem together? What support do you need from me?”

Rather than telling the employee he/she needs to solve the problem, make it a partnership – you are working with the employee to solve the problem and get him/her back on track. What the employee sees is a manager committed to his/her success. The focus is also on the problem and not on the employee.
Let the employee know your expectations for him/her in the role as it relates to the problem you are trying to solve. Collaboratively set an action plan to resolve the problem and ask the employee how he/she would like to evaluate progress against that plan. This gives the employee some control over the situation and gets them committed to how they will show results toward resolving the problem.

Set a “check in” meeting(s) with the employee. At these meetings, highlight the progress being made and ensure progress toward full resolution of the problem.
When we approach performance problems collaboratively, we defuse emotions and show the employee that we are committed to their success in their role and want to work with them to resolve the problem.