Are you comfortable giving feedback to your employees?   My experience has been that managers are not skilled at giving effective feedback to their staff. 

I’ve been in the same situation…not sure how to share my evaluation in a way that keeps them motivated…and still set the stage for change.   It’s easy when the employee is a star performer, but what about the “average” or “under performing” employee.  How do you provide feedback that offers solutions to their growth as well as meet the department’s requirements.

The year is ending and most companies are evaluating the year’s results and ramping up for the new year…new business plans and new budgets.  The new year is also a time when many companies start organizing their yearly performance review process.  

As a HR professional, I’ve heard the groans whenever I mention “performance reviews” and I do understand.  The yearly, or in some companies twice a year, performance reviews take a lot of time.   Since most companies have some form of performance review process, you have to ask what is gained by their yearly ritual.

Managing the Performance

The previous blog entry (Part 1) evolved around questions to ask when facing a performance problem with an employee. The questions are there so you can better understand the context for the performance issue.

Communication between you and your team is critical to your success and your employee’s success. Most employees are eager to perform at a higher level and your early intervention will guide them to being more productive.

A major daily function for you as a manager is to handle employee performance. This is a challenging aspect of your role, especially since you have business deliverables demanding your attention.

I’ve broken down how to handle poor performance with your employees into three sections and each one will be handled in separate blog entries:

-Part 1: Organizing the Discussion
-Part 2: Managing the Performance
-Part 3: Final Decision

If your job as manager is to coach and motivate your team for high performance levels, how do you deal with the poor performer? Performance revolves around two distinct issues: