Ignite! Newsletter—January 2009 Article.

DEALING WITH DECLINING PERFORMANCE IN CRITICAL TIMES.

But what should managers do when faced with a decline in performance?

Just as improvements in performance prompt forward shifts in leadership style, decreases in performance require a shift backward in leadership style. If a highly committed and competent employee starts to decline in performance, you first want to find out why. This means moving from a delegating style to a more supporting style OF leadership, where you listen and gather data.

If you both agree that the direct report is still on top of the situation and can get performance back on track, you can return to a delegating leadership style. However, if you both agree that this performance situation needs more attention from you as the leader, you now can go to a coaching style, where you can provide closer supervision. Seldom, if ever, do you have to go all the way back to a directing style.

The Emotional Component

Share the realities of the current economic situation with your employees. What does the situation look like from your point of view? Be honest. Now is not the time for sugar-coating. The stakes are too high. You want your people to know that they can trust you and that begins by sharing information. Even if you do not have the complete answers that you would like to have, it is important to share what you do know. Now is not the time to take a wait and see approach to communicating strategy or to provide information on an as needed basis.

Experienced managers will tell you that dealing with declining performance is often a difficult and highly emotionally charged undertaking. If the situation has been going on for some time, there is probably a high level of emotional tension in the relationship between the leader and the direct report. The leader may have been observing the performance and/or behaviour and has gotten angrier and more frustrated.

The direct report may have been stewing about something that caused his or her lack of performance or inappropriate behaviour and has gotten angrier and more frustrated. The leader blames the direct report, and the direct report blames the leader and/or the organization.

It requires a sophisticated set of interpersonal skills and the ability not to let your ego get in the way to effectively address the problem. Weve found that a four-step framework of preparation, discussion, reaching agreement, and Partnering for Performance can help defuse the emotional component of addressing declining performance. Lets explore how this works.

Step One: Preparation

The first step to addressing declining performance is preparation. Preparation should involve selecting a specific performance or behaviour that you want to focus on. Do not attempt to address everything at once.

Once you have pinpointed the performance or behaviour that you want to address, start gathering facts that support the existence of the performance or behaviour. If it is a performance issue, quantify the decline in performance. If it is a behaviour issue, limit your observations to what you have seen.

Next, identify anything you or the organization might have done to contribute to the loss of commitment. Be honest. Owning up is the most important part of moving toward resolution. Ask yourself questions to determine your role in the situation.

• Were performance expectations clear?
• Have you ever talked to the person about his or her performance or behaviour?
• Does the person know what a good job looks like?
• Is anything getting in the way of performance?

Step Two: Discussion

Once you have done a thorough job of preparing, youre ready to schedule a meeting to discuss the situation. It is important to begin the meeting by stating the meetings purpose and setting ground rules. This will ensure that both parties will be heard in a way that doesnt arouse defensiveness. People who have lost commitment and have serious performance or behaviour issues are very likely to be argumentative and defensive when confronted.

To defuse an emotionally charged situation, you might open the meeting with something like this:

"Jim, I want to talk about what I see as a serious issue with your responsiveness to information inquiries. I would like to set some ground rules about how this discussion proceeds so that we can both fully share our perspectives on the issue. I want us to work together to identify and agree on the issue and its causes so that we can set a goal and develop an action plan to resolve it.

First, I would like to share my perceptions of the issue and what I think may have caused it. I want you to listen, but not respond to what I say, except to ask questions for clarification.

Then, I want you to restate what I said, so I can be sure you understand my perspective. When I am finished, I would like to hear your side of the story with the same ground rules. I will restate what you said until you know I understand your point of view. Does this seem like a reasonable way to get started?"

Using the ground rules you have set, you should begin to understand each others point of view on the performance issue at hand. Making sure that both of you have been heard is a wonderful way to reduce defensiveness and move toward resolution.

Step Three: Reaching Agreement

With your ground rules set, the next step is to identify where there is agreement and disagreement on both the issue and its causes. Your job is to see if enough of a mutual understanding can be reached so that mutual problem solving can go forward. In most conflict situations, it is unlikely that both parties will agree on everything. Discover if there is sufficient common ground to work toward a resolution. If not, revisit those things that are getting in the way, and restate your positions to see if understanding and agreement can be reached.

Remember, if you or the organization has contributed to the cause of the problem, you need to take steps to correct what has been done. Anything you have done to cause or add to the problem needs to be addressed and resolved. Sometimes, you have no control over what the organization has done, but just acknowledging the organizations impact often releases the negative energy and regains the other partys commitment.

When you think it is possible to go forward, ask, "Are you willing to work with me to get this resolved?"

Step Four: Partnering for Performance

The answer you get in step three will help you determine the appropriate leadership style to use in step four: Partnering for Performance.

If you get a commitment to work together to resolve the issue, you and the direct report need to have a Partnering for Performance discussion where you jointly decide the leadership style you will use to provide work direction or coaching. You should set a goal, establish an action plan, and schedule a progress-check meeting.

If you cannot get a commitment to go forward, you need to use a directing leadership style. Set clear performance expectations and a time frame for achieving them; set clear, specific performance standards and a schedule for tracking performance progress; and state consequences for nonperformance. Understand that this is a last-resort strategy that may resolve the performance issue but not the commitment issue.

Challenging but Worth It

Dealing with declining performance is one of the biggest challenges facing managers. For the most part, leaders avoid dealing with it largely because it is such an emotionally charged issue and they dont know how. At The Ken Blanchard Companies, we believe that managers can deal with declining performance successfully if they catch it early, identify the causes, and use the appropriate leadership style to get things back on track.

Resolving performance issues requires sophisticated interpersonal and performance management skills. The first try at one of these conversations is not likely to be as comfortable or productive as you would like. However, if you conduct the performance conversation in honest good faith and continue to follow the four steps, you will reduce the impact of less-than-perfect interpersonal skills and set the foundation for productive relationships built on commitment and trust.

Would you like to learn more about improving individual performance in your organization?