Issue link: http://lawandordermag.epubxp.com/i/189636
UP-CLOSE Police Management I The Challenged Performer may be talented in other areas but their skills don't transfer to a given task. That leaves employees ill-equipped to handle unforeseen obstacles. Third, the person is capable but doesn't perform on a consistent basis. This is the problem that drives leaders crazy. The person can do it, has done it, but doesn't do it all the time. It may be something as simple as turning in expense reports on schedule, or it may be a chronic performance issue that others have found workarounds to get around. You may assume this type of underperformance is intentional. Before you know it, you've decided the person is a slacker who just doesn't care, or worse, is out to undermine you. That may be the case, but unless you follow up, it is equally possible that employees think either that their performance is OK, or that underperformance in this particular area is acceptable. It may sound strange, but if you set a priority and don't check in on it, your people begin to wonder if it really is a priority after all. Fourth, the person is unable to do what's required to hit the target. There are cases where people aren't capable of doing a job at an acceptable level. There are two primary reasons for this: frst, the person never should have been hired to begin with—that is, their strengths don't match the requirements of the job. Second, the job requirements may change. Not everyone has the capacity to adapt in the direction of that change. Someone hired as a police offcer suddenly needs the skills to be a comforter. Or, he/she learns that he/she will be evaluated on the number of tickets and arrests that he/she makes. Or, an offcer learns early in his/her career that he/ she spends more duty time on service calls than crime suppression. The skills that made a person successful in one job don't necessarily defne success in other performance areas. Sometimes new skills can be developed, other times they cannot. Other issues—including personal issues—can get in the way of acceptable performance. Problems at home or within the dynamics of a given work team can contribute to an employee's underperformance. If your goal is to get performance back on track, you may 68 LAW and ORDER I October 2013 1. N/NS Does the person know what's expected? AGREEMENTS Y 2. Has the person performed to the standard in the past? 3. Y Have you addressed the performance issue more then once before? N/NS PROBLEM RESOLUTION N/NS 3b. Three times or more? RECOMMITMENT N/NS Y CONFRONTATION 5. 4. Does the person have the Y/NS capability to consisently perform to standard? Y/NS Is the person coachable? N COACHING N JOB FIT DISCIPLINARY ACTION need to explore these further. However, an employee's personal problems are a matter of personal privacy and normally outside the leader's purview or control. However, when an employee's personal problems affect his/her workplace performance, then it does become an issue that involves the organization. Remember that you're not a psychologist. Steer the employee toward professional help. Five Questions to Improve Performance The good news is that you don't need to live with the problem performance that has plagued you in the past. The following series of fve yes-or-no questions—derived from the sources of underperformance reviewed above—can help you manage future performance in a new way. Your answers will steer you toward a turnaround conversation appropriate to the situation and the underperformer. Once you become familiar with the questions, you'll be able to assess which conversation is needed in a matter of minutes. You'll be on your way to managing underperformance instead of living with its effects. Ask yourself these questions. Does the person know what's expected? Has the person performed to standard in the past? Have you already addressed the performance problem more than once? Does the person have the capability of performing to standard? Is the person coachable? Assuming you have the information you need to make an unbiased judgment, the way you answer these questions can help you determine how best to approach your turnaround process. The accompanying chart depicts how that process flows. As the model illustrates, the questions help you select the appropriate approach for turning around problem performance. For each question, there are three possible responses: yes, no, or not sure (the Y's, N's, and NS's on the chart). If you're truly not sure—meaning you can't defnitively answer yes or—err on the employee's side (the NS's on the chart track that path). If you treat employees with dignity