I was talking with first-line supervisors in a utility company about how to deal with poor performing employees.
"You've gotta put the screws to him!" suggested one supervisor to his colleague who was having trouble managing one particular poor performer.
"I've put so many screws to him he's dead weight!" the supervisor replied.
We all knew what "putting the screws to him" meant -- using rewards and punishments to force change in behavior.
The trouble is, rewards and punishments are the least effective ways of dealing with poor performers. That's because poor performers are usually smart, motivated, and tenacious -- when it comes to poor performing.
To change the behavior of poor performers, avoid the outside-in approach of rewards and punishments and cultivate an inside-out approach.
Aesop understood that. There is the Aesop's fable of the wind and sun competing to see who can remove a coat from a man. The wind tries to blow the coat off, but the man clutches it tightly to his body. Then the sun grows hotter, and the man, perspiring heavily and getting hotter and hotter, gladly rips the coat off.
The leadership lesson is clear: You can bluster and blow to get somebody to accomplish a task, but that's not as effective as setting up a situation in which the person gladly does it.
Here is a way to deal with poor performers using Aesop's lesson: the 90-Day Improvement Plan. A business leader tells me that he uses such plans as tools for change. Each plan is comprised of two pages: the first page pointing out that the individual must improve and the second page detailing the precise ways that improvement must take place.
"Be specific about improvement," he says. "For instance, one leader I gave an Improvement Plan to was very bright but was not getting results. He tended to deal with future, strategic issues; whereas our business wants results now, preferably yesterday. We identified specific ways he could improve his performance in getting results, such as precise calls to make and exact, quick-closing targets to pursue."
The objective of 90-Day Improvement Plans should not be to get rid of people. "Their objective is to improve performance," he says. "Though I do write on the first page, 'If the objectives are not met, further actions, including dismissal, can be taken.'"
He sometimes combines Improvement Plans with the force-ranking of all his leaders into a 20/60/20 continuum. The bottom 20 percent get the Plan. He says, "My objective is to have the bottom 20 percent be indispensable leaders."
Mind you, in developing a 90-day Improvement Plan, keep Aesop's fable in mind and seek not compliance but commitment. The Improvement Plan must not be imposed from without but agreed upon. Here is a four-step process to do that.
First, all parties must agree to develop a 90-Day Improvement Plan. If people are forced to do it, it won't work as it should.
Second, ask the poor performers to describe what should be in it. Remember, you can veto any suggestions. However, it is best if its key components come from the other people. Only after they have run out of suggestions do you incorporate yours.
Third, develop the Plan together, and agree on its action steps.
Fourth, implement it. Have weekly or bi-weekly meetings to insure the Plan is being carried out.
If the Plan is forced upon someone, it becomes just another screw, another imposed reward/ punishment. However, if it is put together with mutual consent, indeed with mutual enthusiasm, it becomes the screw driver by which poor performers may very well gladly put the screws into themselves.
2005 © The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
PERMISSION TO REPUBLISH: This article may be republished in newsletters and on web sites provided attribution is provided to the author, and it appears with the included copyright, resource box and live web site link. Email notice of intent to publish is appreciated but not required: mail to: brent@actionleadership.com
The author of 23 books, Brent Filson's recent books are, THE LEADERSHIP TALK: THE GREATEST LEADERSHIP TOOL and 101 WAYS TO GIVE GREAT LEADERSHIP TALKS. He is founder and president of The Filson Leadership Group, Inc. ? and for more than 20 years has been helping leaders of top companies worldwide get audacious results. Sign up for his free leadership e-zine and get a free white paper: "49 Ways To Turn Action Into Results," at http://www.actionleadership.com
Workplace violence has become a tragic reality today. From minor... Read More
As a result of consolidation of operations and significantly increased... Read More
People management and leadership has become a major topic of... Read More
People are empowered when they are given the authority and... Read More
Direct reports-people who need direction and leadership-rely on their leaders... Read More
Recently, I attended a webinar with nearly 400 other Chief... Read More
You have been named a new leader in your organization,... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
One of the things that most impacts people's productivity is... Read More
Pssst, want a stock tip that will make you rich?... Read More
Question: What's the easiest, cheapest and quickest way to have... Read More
Starting your own business is a great undertaking but running... Read More
A trainer dryly discussing how to motivate people in an... Read More
In the Wizard of Oz, it was "Lions and tigers... Read More
You open your computer, the flashing button says, "We have... Read More
Employees are the often-neglected stakeholders in the success or failure... Read More
Imagine that you're a sports coach and you need a... Read More
Have you ever asked yourself the question? "Is this a... Read More
The problem with communication is the illusion that it has... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
It's that time again! Perhaps the most dreaded management practice... Read More
Communicate! Don't leave you key stakeholders guessing.We are generally not... Read More
Most business owners I work with want to grow their... Read More
Budgets! There I've said it. For some the most hated... Read More
I've seen several articles that begin with lines like "the... Read More
Lack of Operations Manuals stunting your growth?CONTENTS:1. Do you lack... Read More
Last week I was confused and frustrated about a few... Read More
Based on a wild guess by a close associate of... Read More
Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week,... Read More
Cold Water Comments - What They Are and How to... Read More
Tis' the season for business and corporate gift-giving! If you... Read More
Here are 10 subjects that academia should be teaching their... Read More
International business is more complex than ever before. Success in... Read More
Ah, the wretched pain of delegation. It comes easy to... Read More
Email, when used properly, can generate additional direct sales and... Read More
Take the pain out of gain and decrease the upheaval... Read More
This article relates to the Senior /Top Level Management competency,... Read More
Boisterous, Omnipotent, Self- indulgent Sociopath. Avoid the B.O.S.S. syndrome with... Read More
Do this simple excercise, and transform your life.First, Make a... Read More
Eventually, your business is going to need to have some... Read More
In any organisation, progress is frequently impaired by the time... Read More
1. What is an Issue?An issue is an incident, circumstance,... Read More
A critical task in the succession planning process of any... Read More
Everyone wants to succeed in life. And no one starts... Read More
I believe that whether corporations expense their stock options is... Read More
Each day millions of workers spend 8 hours or more... Read More
Somewhere in the world is a person who wants to... Read More
Over the past couple of days I've been setting up... Read More
This is a bottom-line environment.Decreasing the downtime of revenue producing... Read More
A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the... Read More
1. No vision. Successful businesses have a clear vision or... Read More
Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More
'Goodwill' is regarded as an intangible asset in a business.... Read More
These factors where determined by interviews with and books from... Read More
Industrial/clinical psychology and applied psychiatry have made tremendous strides in... Read More
Do you remember being told to use the "sandwich" technique... Read More
In any event, getting the process right is a vital... Read More
If you have company delivery vehicles at your small or... Read More
When the stock market crashed in 1929, there were a... Read More
Every business has problems. That is why the average life... Read More
If you search on Google for "virtual assistant", you'll find... Read More
Q: How much do I have to worry about what... Read More
In Part One, I described the Leadership Talk and how... Read More
Re-organizing, re-engineering, re-training, down-sizing, outsourcing, changing-changing-changing. Organizations today think they... Read More
JUGGLING DEMANDS: All leaders constantly juggle a multifarious array of... Read More
You can possibly teach a turkey to climb a tree... Read More
Business Management |