I have lost track of the number of senior leaders who are convinced poor performance is endemic in their organisation – a constant nagging worry that people aren’t really delivering as well as they could.

The ‘quick fix’ is usually some version of ‘difficult conversation’ training for managers.  And given that the nagging worries never seem to go away, the quick fix isn’t working very well.

I’ve spent a decade or more looking at managing performance from every angle.  When I look at the poor performance challenge, there are some key factors that need addressing before going anywhere near the actual ‘conversation’ with the poor performer.

What is the problem?

Too often we fail to analyse the nature of the problem effectively.  Is it work ethic?  Capability? Poor relationships with others?    Without a rich understanding of all aspects of the ‘poor performance’ problem, any attempt to find solutions in a ‘difficult conversation’ are doomed.

What’s our role in the problem?

Managers and colleagues can be causes of performance problems, which is a tough thing to admit.  Be brutal – how much of poor performance is actually perception? Structural? Lack of feedback? What is the manager’s role, or even the senior leader’s roles?  If people aren’t set up to succeed, then they may fail.

What are the possible solutions of the problem?

Again, many people head straight into ‘difficult conversations’ on the assumption that a good solution will be found if only they hold the conversation well.  Years of experience shows that this is not the case.   If problems have become so bad that the conversation is now ‘difficult’ – then great answers are unlikely to appear spontaneously.  It’s vital that a manager thinks through all outcomes of the problem, starting with ‘I do nothing and the problem miraculously goes away’ through to ‘I have a terrible conversation which results in blame/anger/unplanned exits, etc.’

Making a choice

Managers need to look at all possible outcomes of a conversation, and think about what the best outcome is in the circumstances.  Then plan a conversation to aim for that.

For more information about our Dealing with Poor Performance Toolkitclick here.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

Competency frameworks should be useful tools to help managers and their teams ensure they have the rights skills and capabilities to do their jobs well.  Sadly, this often results in very long complex documents where even phrases like ‘speaks clearly and positively’ seems to need defining at 7 different levels across multiple job families.

I have spent a lot of time helping organisations take these highly complex documents, and turn them into something that captures the core ideas of competency, without turning it into a Victorian novel.

To have a useful competency framework, you need to decide what you want your people to use it for.

Is it a quick checklist of skills?  For example, does a kitchen worker know how to use all equipment safely and effectively?

Or

Is it a tool to look more broadly across the organisation?  For example, a financial institution is probably going to rate accuracy and attention to detail quite highly.  In many roles, accuracy might be precisely measurable, but not in all.  And what does attention to detail look like in practice?  Do you want managers to talk about ‘slow down to avoid mistakes’ or do you want managers to have conversations around what it means to pay attention to detail in this role or team?

If you have answered ‘all of the above’ – in reality you have not answered anything.  A checklist of skills is not the same as a conversation around working habits.

Our general view is that a competency framework empowers managers and colleagues to put in place the development needed to work in the way the framework suggests.

It is less helpful if it is used as an assessment tool.  As soon as assessment occurs, then employees have an incentive to pretend to be as competent as possible in relation to the framework – including covering up mistakes, claiming credit for work or actions that aren’t theirs, and ‘performing’ in front of managers while hiding the aspects of the work where they feel less confident.

Ideally, a competency framework should be a guide – if I’m struggling with something what skill, experience or capability might I be missing?  The framework should help me identify what to do to improve my confidence and my performance.   But it has to be used in the context of development rather than assessment.

So, if you have a complex framework that isn’t having a positive impact on confidence, empowerment, development or performance – come and talk to us and we can share some examples.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

Following on from my recent post ‘How to Motivate and Engage your People’, you might also like to read this article published in January 2022, which will give you some useful tips on how to keep your people motivated and engaged.

Hacks to Motivate the Unmotivated

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

There’s a lot of snake oil available to ‘solve’ the motivation challenge.   Magic elixirs that will instantly give you a well-motivated and engaged team.  Sadly, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn’t true.   Motivating a workforce, consistently, over time, requires a deliberate, meaningful process.   The main elements of motivation at work are well known:

  • people want to do well
  • they want the opportunity to learn and develop
  • they want some autonomy over their work life, and
  • they want to find some meaning or value in the work they do.

But what specifically do the people in your team want?

Don’t guess – find out.  However, asking someone ‘what do I need to do to motivate you?’ without any context setting, will probably elicit a flippant answer like ‘pay rise’.

Instead, start a conversation about what is going well for them at the moment, what aspects of their role do people most enjoy, what feels particularly satisfying.  Use these answers to develop a richer understanding for both you and each of your team about what creates days for them when they go home thinking ‘I did some of my best work today’, or ‘that was a day well spent’ etc.

Best Work’ is a useful concept – it’s not about me ‘doing my best’ as in trying harder, it’s about understanding the factors that enable me to do my best work.  This will vary for each of us – some prefer to work alone, other value teams, some like to work with words, others communicate more effectively in person.

The more days we have when we feel we have done some of our best work, the more motivated and engaged we are.   So, when you understand what helps each of your team to do their best work, you will have understood what motivates them – what enables them to do well, gives them the autonomy they need, and feels meaningful to them.

Your job as manager is then to consistently, over time, help put in place the conditions that drive their best work, as much as possible in the context of your organisation.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

Managers can find talking about career opportunities with their direct report colleagues remarkably challenging.

Three concerns come up repeatedly.

1. I don’t want to lose this person from my team

It can be very hard to see a great team member move on.  However much you know it is the right thing for them, it often leaves you with a problem – you are a person down, and the average performance of the team overall has probably dropped.     If your colleague has an opportunity to move on within the organisation, you may also feel ‘left behind’ in some way.  You still have to manage the same old problems, while they move into some new opportunities and challenges.    If this situation resonates for you, try focusing on the success you have had in developing your team member.

Make sure you manager knows that your colleague could move on because they are growing and developing, and you have had a hand in that.   Successfully growing team members is a skill that you will need throughout a management career, and the higher you climb the more successful you will need your team to be.   Reframe your perspectives so that you don’t see the move as a ‘loss’ for you, but as a mark of your management capability.  Other good people will want to come and work for you if they see that you will help them grow and develop.

2.  How can I advise someone that the only career option at this point is to move to another organisation?

Unless you are working in huge teams, or in an organisation with tens of thousands of employees, there will come a point where the only way for a person to move up is to move organisations.  This is especially true for people working in smaller functions, with flat hierarchies.   It can feel very disloyal to encourage a colleague to apply for roles elsewhere, but if you think that is the right solution for them, then you should support them.

In my book, The Performance Management Playbook, I share a story of a café manager whose staff were all looking for better roles with more career prospects.  Initially the manager found this difficult to cope with.  After a few months she changed her approach, and encouraged her staff to talk about the roles they were applying for and the careers they wanted to develop.  She was supportive when anyone got a job interview, and celebrated when a new career took off.  The result was a very happy work culture, with cheerful staff who felt valued, and didn’t have to hide their individual ambitions at work.  The café became one of the most popular to work for, in a town with numerous cafes, so she found it easier than most to recruit.    The moral of the tale is, act with integrity.  If you are genuinely unable to offer more development or opportunities to grow within your organisation, do not feel bad about encouraging a colleague to look for the next step elsewhere.

3. ‘I’m worried about demotivating this person because I don’t think they are ready to move on yet’

Some people arrive one day, want your job the next, and Chief Exec role the day after.   The best way to support this person is to make clear what skills and experience are required for the role they desire next, and help them reflect on the gap between what is needed and where they are.  If you keep the conversation focused on specifics, rather than de-motivating them, you can engage and enthuse them with a plan to help them move on (even if it will take several years).

Even if your personal opinion is that they will never be able to move up in the way they want, that isn’t relevant to the conversation, and you don’t need to share that opinion.  After all, it probably won’t be you interviewing them for whatever role they apply for next.  So, focus on specific development requirements for them.  You can also indicate that though at some point they may be skilled enough to move up, there is always competition for roles, so you cannot guarantee anything.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

Dealing with poor performance is often a challenge for managers.  It is generally good advice to ‘focus on the performance not the person’, to avoid getting too emotionally involved in the situation.  However, if you want performance to improve, you are probably going to have to coach the individual in some way.  At this point, it’s all about the person – what style of coaching will they most readily respond to, what methods can you adopt?

A good starting place is to use the 3A model.  Think about the individual’s:

  • Awareness of the problem,
  • their Attitude to the problem, and
  • their Ability to address the problem.

Try to get a deeper understanding of where the problem lies, then you can frame your coaching accordingly.  Remember to dig below your first thoughts.  For example, ABILITY isn’t just a technical skill, it might be about an ability to get a team to work together, or an ability to anticipate problems, or an ability to manage time.

Finally, before you start the coaching process, think about your own intentions.  On a previous blog, I talked about identifying the possible outcomes from a poor performance situation – from miraculous improvement to disastrous unplanned exit.

Reflect on what you really want from the individual, what change are you seeking – be specific.  Then tailor your coaching to that end.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

You may have noticed that the story of Spain winning the Women’s World Cup was quickly overtaken by a story about how the Spanish female players feel they are treated, triggered by a specific event on the pitch.  In Spain, the story has grown into a major cultural turning point.

Let’s be honest, none of us behave perfectly all the time.   We are only human; we do not control our emotions and remain calm in all situations all day every day.  Occasional lapses of behaviour can be handled with a light touch where the team mostly work well together.    The challenge is when the ‘occasional lapse’ deteriorates to unhelpful (or worse) behaviour most of the time.  Knowing when to intervene is important.  And the answer is ‘earlier than you think’.   If behaviour is inappropriate, the sooner it is dealt with – which means the person exhibiting the unhelpful behaviour recognising the problem – the better.   The more you can prevent bigger behavioural issues developing, the easier your life will be.

The first challenge is to be honest with yourself:  are you part of the problem OR are you actually causing the problem?

Ask yourself:  have you given feedback on this matter before?  Have you ignored the problem hoping it will go away?

If you have ignored the problem, why?  Are you scared of the person?  Are you worried that saying something will make everything worse?  Delaying for these reasons will usually make the situation worse.  Planning your approach before having a conversation will almost certainly lead to you being in a better place, even if the world is not instantly perfect.

Think through all the possible outcomes of the situation, such as:

  • You do nothing and the behaviour improves – no more problems
  • You do nothing and things get a lot worse – perhaps some of your best team members start leaving
  • You have a conversation about behaviour and things improve
  • You have a conversation about behaviour and your colleague gets upset, leaving you feeling bad, and the behaviour is still not dealt with
  • You have a conversation about behaviour and your colleague tries to blame everyone else, refusing to acknowledge the negative impact they are having

There are many possible outcomes.  Try to develop at least six, including the outcome you most want, the outcome you most fear, and the outcome that seems the most likely.  Remember, a managed exit from a role can be a positive outcome for everyone, not a failure.

Choose the outcome you are going to aim for, given the context.  It’s important to plan the conversation, as behavioural matters can become emotional and you may touch on your colleague’s pride, ambition or fear, even if you don’t intend to.  Think about what you are going to say and run your plan past a trusted colleague or an HR professional.

Remember, doing nothing rarely solves the problem, and usually makes things worse for you, for the colleague and for the rest of the team.   Just look at what is happening in the world of Spanish Football now.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

At the Festival of Work last month, I had the privilege of hearing Lucy D’Orsi, Chief Constable of British Transport Police, talk about changing the culture within the police force.  She began with admirable honesty, acknowledging that some groups of people felt very let down by the police – including women.  She referenced the two recent convictions of serving police officers, and acknowledged that she had led units that included each of these officers, and has to face that she did not see the danger signs.     Perhaps this is the most important start to any programme to improve organisation behaviour – begin by acknowledging our own part in past failings.

At the BTP she has had the opportunity to lead a cultural change programme. Part of that programme has involved developing new values with her workforce.  So much so normal.  What’s unusual is the follow on – she is deliberately setting out to create a ‘hostile environment’ (her exact words) for those who don’t buy into the new values and expected behaviours.    This is not language that most HR professionals would use, but Lucy is not at HR professional, and her mission is to rid the police force of unwanted behaviours.  So much so, that when people are disciplined or leave as a result of inappropriate behaviour, she will say specifically to the rest of the workforce, what the behaviour was, and why it was wrong.  She has sought to speed up removing those who are not working in line with the values, and changed recruitment processes to weed out those whose values are not commensurate with the force going forward.

This is tough love, but if you were a colleague on the receiving end of misogyny, racism, bullying, or harassment, wouldn’t you be relieved.    Of course, the BTP will make mistakes along the way, and Lucy acknowledges she is a long way from making the new behaviours so culturally strong that they are independent of her leadership.    But as a structure – acknowledge what has happened and your role in it; work with all colleagues to set a new course based on meaningful values; remove those who don’t want to work in line with new values – it has much to commend it.

As Lucy said, the vast majority of police men and women want to do a good job, and have been appalled by the behaviour of a few.  But the culture allowed those few to do immeasurable harm.  The whole organisation has to stand up to wreckers, and create an environment where ‘the wrong type of behaviour’ has no chance of surviving.    Food for thought.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

Why software matters

When colleagues say ‘I hate appraisals’, it often turns out they hate bureaucratic, unhelpful software they have to use.  There are many software platforms available, and no single platform could suit every organisation.  Sadly, too many HR teams are forced to use the performance management module that ‘comes with’ whatever enterprise software is used elsewhere, rather than find a solution that fits the organisation’s aims and objectives for managing performance.  If you are in this situation – do not despair!  Most of the more modern performance management tools can be integrated with existing company software using APIs.  I’m not a techie – but suffice to say, it’s all a lot easier than it was even a decade ago.

When selecting a platform, focus on simplicity.  Identify the absolute minimum requirement, and a couple of ‘nice to haves’.  For example, you might look for a platform that:

  1. Is employee led – meaning each employee writes their review while managers comment
  2. Combines a few core questions with a flexible feedback option
  3. Offers a personal development planning tool

Or you might want to look for a solution that:

  1. Records progress against specific targets
  2. Has options to ‘flag’ both high performing talent and poor performers
  3. Enables a structured career discussion

Do you find yourself immediately wanting all 6 of these?  If so, you might easily end up sourcing a tool that has multiple features that you perceive as useful, at the expense of offering the simplest solution that supports managers to have effective conversations.

Of course, more features can create more data for the HR team to analyse, but better to have high quality data based on an effective process than vast amounts of ‘tick box’ data that may not yield meaningful information.

At 3C we have developed a very simple tool – The Frequent Feedback Platform – that is focused on empowering all colleagues to have meaningful performance conversations.  We are happy to share it with you.  Most of our clients of course already have platforms, and much of our work is about using the tools they have, to drive the best possible outcome for their organisations.  Either way – feel free to drop us a line.

Hedda

01491 411 544

info@3cperform.co.uk

At 3C, we spend time with organisations who take performance seriously, who don’t want time wasted on pointless appraisals that everyone hates, but DO want to see:

  • employees taking ownership of their performance
  • managers actually managing performance
  • an increase in productivity, impact and effectiveness

So, here’s how we deliver:

Many clients come to us with a challenge from the pink or orange sections – help with goal setting, dealing with poor performance, developing a feedback culture.   We ask you questions about what difference you want to make.  For example, what problem are you hoping to solve by improving goal setting?    Clients tell us that these conversations are extraordinarily valuable, and shed light on how they can make a real impact in their organisations in multiple, often quite simple ways.

If you would like to have a conversation with me about any aspect of what we do – then contact me now and let’s set up twenty minutes for an initial exploration of what you are dealing with.

Hedda

PS  Huge thanks to Helen Kirkby of HK Graphics for creating this design for us.