How To Talk About Poor Performance With An Employee

As a leader, the time will come when you will have to speak with an employee about his or her poor performance. Here are six steps that will guide you through that process:

Tell him what performance is in need of change and be specific.
Tell him how his actions negatively affect the team.
Let the discussion sink in.
Set expectations of performance improvement and timeframe, and get his agreement on the desired outcome.
Remind him that he is a valuable part of the team and that you have confidence his performance will improve.
Don't rehash the discussion later. You made your point. Give him to make his improvement.

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AnonymousOctober 4, 2011 at 6:43 PM
Though a good general list, I would like to see more probing for why this level of performance exists. Sometimes we are not giving clear instructions, sometimes there is a skill gap, sometimes the job is a bad fit etc.
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