How to have an effective performance conversation

You’ve got an employee who isn’t contributing their fair share. You know you need to address it. The rest of the team can tell this employee is a poor performer.  If you don’t do something, your credibility will suffer.

The purpose of conversations like this isn’t to punish the employee. It’s to change their performance. That’s why you don’t want to delay the conversation. The longer you wait; the harder the conversation. Because the employee will think their behaviour is acceptable since no one addressed it.

But what do you say and how do you start?

 Here’s an outline you can use as you think about the conversation you want to have with the employee.

1. Let the employee know your concern. When we’re nervous we tend to talk about trivial things like the weather or what we’ve watched on television. Don’t. This is an important matter and should be treated that way.
2. Share what you have observed. Offer specifics about actual behaviours you’ve witnessed. If someone else witnessed the behaviours, try to have that person there. Employees don’t like the line “someone told me you did this…” If you’re trying to correct behaviour, be able to specifically discuss behaviour.
3. Explain how their behaviour impacts the team. Employees might not realize how their behaviour negatively impacts the organization or the team. It’s important to draw a connection between their behaviour and impact to the company. If negative impact can’t be explained, then an employee will question why they need to change their behaviour.
4. Tell them the expected behaviour. It’s possible an employee will not know what they should be doing. Come to the discussion prepared to explain what the acceptable standard is and how an employee can achieve the standard.
5. Solicit solutions from the employee on how to fix the situation. This is so important! Let the employee tell you what they’re going to do to fix the situation. It creates buy-in. If you tell an employee what to do, they haven’t bought into it. Give the employee time to think about possible solutions.
6. Convey the consequences. Let the employee know what will happen if the situation is not resolved. You’ll notice I haven’t written one word about disciplinary action. Sometimes a consequence doesn’t have to be a disciplinary meeting you need to help your employee understand what happens if the matter isn’t resolved.
7. Agree upon a follow-up date. No news is good news is not a management philosophy. After the employee agrees to work toward improving their performance, set a follow-up date to discuss progress.
8. Express your confidence. Since the goal of this conversation is to improve performance, don’t be afraid to tell an employee you’re confident they can correct the situation.

None of us likes to have a negative performance conversation. I always try to remember the purpose – it’s to help an employee change their behaviour. If the conversation stays focused on helping the employee be successful then hopefully it never escalates to disciplinary action.

Performance conversations can be a bit scary – both for the person giving them and the person receiving the feedback. Take time to plan out your thoughts. Think of the different responses that could arise and how you would answer them. Preparation will make the conversation easier.

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