Working with slackers

Pretty much everyone has experienced working with coworkers who are not carrying their weight on the team. It creates feelings of unfairness and even helplessness or hostility when the situation drags on. High performing team members must cover for their coworker, usually for little or no reward. They look to the manager to do something about the situation and don’t understand when insufficient attempts are done to correct the performance of the one who is slowing down the whole operation. There is no way around it, low performance does not go away by itself; it has to be addressed proactively. This responsibility falls on the managers and the company.

The reasons for low performance are many and not all are even the fault of the employee. Sometimes the employee just doesn’t have the skills for the job, or the orientation for the new job is ‘sink or swim’. I was at Waffle House a few weeks ago, and the bacon cook was getting the evil eye from the rest of the staff as he was falling behind on the orders. He was doing his darndest to catch up, but it was not looking good for him. The key to high performing teams is a solid selection process. Companies who know what creates high performance go looking for it, using assessments and structured interviews. They don’t settle for warm bodies.

Personal issues can be a significant distraction. Good managers know how to help their employees navigate through tough times, creating flexibility where needed, while expecting solid performance on an on-going basis. The solution should not be just piling it on the team to cover someone else’s last minute emergencies.

Many performance problems originate from insufficient organizational support. It would be wise of the manager to analyze the work process and systems, as well as the tools and resources available before jumping to conclusions about the employee’s work ethics. Obviously, if the whole team is working with the same support and only one is lagging, something else is going on.

Work relationships are their own Pandora’s box. At some highly political workplaces, who-knows-who may determine the results more than the effort put into the projects. One person told me about a work group where the low performer was the business owner’s friend, so all the team could do was to wring their hands and pick up the slack. If two coworkers can’t resolve their inflamed work relationship, the manager must step in. (Career advice: If you need your manager to referee, it is not a good pattern for your career; get coaching help now.)

In addition to work relationships, other work behaviors lead to performance problems. Whether it is communication style, forgetfulness or the lack of eye contact with customers, these behavior issues tend to escalate over time. The proactive manager nips them in the bud by using informal feedback. Informal coaching supports feedback. If all else fails, formal coaching and performance improvement plans are tools to use to make sure that it is the manager who takes care of the performance issues and not the team.

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Why is nothing changing after training?

According to Robert Brinkerhoff research, only about 15% of learning impact is determined by the actual training event. Up to 85% of the learning impact is influenced by external factors: what happens before and after. As so much scrutiny is put on the actual training event, and not much attention is paid to what really matters, it’s no wonder that most training sessions become a nice, although high quality, break from the daily grind but not much more.

Typical pitfalls of training with low impact are:

• Wrong people sent to the training
• Lack of purpose / expectations
• No opportunity to apply new skills and knowledge
• Lack or reinforcement after training
• Work environment makes it difficult to apply new skills and knowledge
• Wrong learning attitude

1. Send the right people to the training

The reason to train a person is to improve or learn a new skill, behavior or knowledge. This can be achieved through many methods. Sometimes just handing a simple job aid or a book could do the trick. If a fundamental behavior change is expected, one-on-one coaching over a long period time is often more appropriate. In some cases, the whole team needs to adopt a new methodology, approach or tool, and training everyone at the same time is the most efficient. If your employee is having a behavior problem, training is not the silver bullet. I have seen whole teams sent to a behavior improvement class so that the manager could avoid having a frank discussion with just a couple of employees. Sit down with your low performers and communicate your expectations. If it truly is a skill gap, you may consider training. In most cases, it is matter of close monitoring and getting back on track. Send your high performers to state-of-the-art workshops and conferences where they really get to expand their expertise.

2. Set the expectation for learning

Whether it’s your whole team or one or two individuals, plan ahead to make the most of the learning experience. If you are not concerned with the ROI of the learning, why bother sending them at all? Be clear why they are going to this particular training and why they were picked. Make the new skill part of their performance plan, and expect them to share the key learning points with you and the team.

3. Ready to apply

Prepare for their return so that learners will immediately be able to apply what they learned. If it is new software, the tool should be installed on their computer, ready to use. If they are going to learn negotiation skills, agree with them in which deal will they be testing the new skills. If there won’t be any chance to apply upon return, delay the training.

4. Reinforce and enforce

Inspect what you expect. Ask for a briefing on the key learning points. Work together to create a simple action plan to ensure that the skills are applied immediately after the training. Monitor progress and celebrate success together. Give feedback and coaching as much as you are familiar with the topic.

5. Create a supportive work environment

Cynical coworkers can certainly kill any budding new skill. Set rules of engagement for the whole team to expect support. If the whole team is learning new methods, share war stories, wins and best practices as they emerge. Remove obstacles such as bureaucratic processes or old systems that can be counterproductive to the excitement of gaining new skills.

6. Select people with a positive learning attitude

To create an innovative organization, you need people who are curious, open to change and who want to continuously improve and learn new things. Make this a performance evaluation and promotion criteria and, more importantly, a  selection criteria for new hires. Nothing stops progress more than an employee who thinks he or she knows everything there is to know and poisons the learning environment for everyone else on the team.

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Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
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How to get a raise

2009 was a year we want to forget. Adjusted for inflation, total compensation in the USA fell by almost 1.3 percent. 2010 looks a bit better, but not much: a salary increase forecast conducted by The Conference Board projects modest budgets of 2.8%, barely enough to match the inflation rate. In this environment, what can you do to get that coveted raise? There are no silver bullets, but the answer lies in knowing the process, studying the criteria and applying self awareness.

There are different approaches to compensation strategies in organizations, such as flat inflation adjustments, seniority systems, competency based increases, but performance based pay is the king. It makes sense; the best performers get the best compensation. In this year’s case, the performance based companies will take their 2.8% increase budget and try to divide it so that low performers will get nothing, solid performers will get a little bit, so that there is some extra money accumulated to give a more handsome reward for the star performers. It sounds straightforward, but many complain that they are not being evaluated fairly. Herein lies the challenge: 90% of employees feel that their performance is above average. So, how do you know if you REALLY are above average and deserve the key to the treasure chest?

If your company is in a mature stage, it has clearly defined standards for different performance levels. These would describe how a top performer behaves versus a solid performer, and what constitutes performance below expectations. Sometimes, you can dig in further and find the listed company leadership values. If you can’t find any published criteria, here are some generic tips how to distinguish whether you are a true top performer vs. a solid performer:

• Top performers are part of a solution. It’s not that they don’t see problems or are yes-men. When they see a problem, instead of just identifying the issue, they think of possible solutions and volunteer to be involved in implementing them.
• Top performers are proactive. Instead of just doing a good job at fulfilling requests and completing goals, top performers clearly see the overall strategy and purpose of the company, and jump at opportunities to do things beyond their current tasks, as long as they are aligned with the current priorities.
• Top performers are change agents. In new initiatives, top performers not only go to training and follow the new rules, they embrace the change vision and evangelize the cause. If there are issues, they find workarounds instead of just pointing them out.
• Top performers are continuous learners. They ask for feedback and act on it. When they go to training, they are engaged. When they get back to work, they share what they learned with the team and apply the new skills on the job.

Just as a word of caution, here’s a tell-tale sign how to recognize if you might be a low performer: you consume a lot of your supervisor’s or HR’s time. Unless your time with your manager is proposing ideas that you are volunteering to implement, you are taking time away from productivity. The only other exception may be if you are reporting illegal or unethical activities; that is your right.

Get savvy about your company’s performance management and compensation processes. Know the criteria for decisions. Find out about the schedule and decision points. For example, once the merit increases have been approved by senior management, your chances of changing your manager’s decision are slim. Your manager and HR are your best sources of information. Use the processes to your advantage and don’t be afraid of them. Document your performance throughout the year and make sure that your manager, the next level management and HR are aware of your accomplishments. Network internally so that the decision makers can connect a name to a face.

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If you are a manager, don’t let the rewards planning time to go to waste. With the little budget that you have, make it count:

• Make sure there are no surprises. Your performers should know where they stand based on the informal feedback you give throughout the year.
• Be as transparent as you can be about the guidelines and how the compensation decisions are made. Clear expectations upfront set the stage for frank discussions.
• Make sure to celebrate the successes with your top performers and show how much you value them. The reward dialogue with them is a great opportunity to do so.
• Don’t forget to share how much you value your solid performers. Show them what it takes to be a top performer.
• Don’t cop out with your low performers. They should not be surprised with what’s in store for them.
• Don’t forget that compensation can only be a dissatisfier. Leading with purpose, giving feedback and developing your employees ultimately drive their engagement.

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Copyright 2010 Liisa Pursiheimo-Marcks, all rights reserved.
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