Five Steps to Upgrading Workforce Performance
If you elect to use forced ranking - whether a scorched-cubicle variety or a kinder, gentler approach - there are ethical and legal guidelines to follow, as with any employment-related matter. The following steps will help you diagnose which type of underperformer you're facing, decide whether he merits training or dismissal, and help protect you and your company from any lawsuits filed by disgruntled employees.
- Use a performance appraisal system. Defined as the art of determining how well employees do their jobs, performance appraisal is distinct from forced ranking. Think of a rigorous and uniform system of performance appraisal as a solid foundation for making all decisions on promotions, employee development and terminations. You must first formulate a set of organisational or departmental goals for worker performance and then implement a fair and consistent method for judging how well workers meet those goals. Only then will you have a defensible basis on which to make personnel decisions.
Various performance appraisal systems have been developed over the years. (This is the province of the HR representatives, so consult them before proceeding.) Primedia's Paper developed a method to evaluate her IT staff when she joined the company in October 2002. First, she helped formulate a document that defined the IT organisation's values and culture. Each employee was evaluated on his cultural fit. Next, she looked at past performance appraisals and met personally with everyone in the IT department. Based on those evaluations and conversations and her 20 years in IT management, she got a good sense of people's values and skill sets.
She then composed a graph separated into quadrants. The X-axis indicated employees' values; the Y-axis indicated their technology skills. She plotted each staff member on the graph according to his technical skills and cultural fit. Paper finds that plotting all of her people on a chart helps her determine who are the stars, who needs training, who is in the wrong job and who needs to exit the organisation.
- Keep HR in the loop. When facing a potential problem with an employee's performance, immediately bring it to the attention of the human resources group. By alerting HR staffers that someone is having problems, you get them in the loop before the situation gets out of hand, and you cover your bases in the event that the person eventually is fired. Be prepared to be specific about your complaint - for instance, delays in a software implementation are due to the worker's lack of skills or poor attitude.
If your relationship with HR is strained or distant, now is the time to turn that around. "It's important to engage our professionals in HR to make sure we're following all corporate and HR policies appropriately, we're being fair to the employee and that we're looking at all sides of the problem," says Wachovia's Davis. HR can bring its expertise to bear on performance issues and provide you or your managers with coaching, if needed.
- Confront the employee. There may be a good reason for the individual's poor performance. Then again, there might not be. But it's your responsibility to find out what's going on. Begin by discussing the person's work with his supervisor, peers and the users he supports so that you get specific examples of shortcomings. Once you have that information, sit down face-to-face for an honest and direct discussion about your expectations, where the failings are, and what impact that performance is having on the IT organisation or the company at large. Also ask him why he thinks he's falling short. Davis believes managers owe employees the opportunity to explain themselves. If there's an obstacle impeding their success or performance, this is the way a CIO will find out, he says.
- Shift the onus for improvement to the employee. If the employee shows interest in doing better work, ask her to come up with an action plan. Offer your help if she needs it. You might suggest books to read, courses to take or people to talk to. But ultimately, her performance and her improvement are up to her. "I think a company has a responsibility to make sure you're in the right spot, that you're trained correctly, that you have the right tools to do your job. After that, your job and your performance are what you make of it," Smith says.
If the employee denies that there's a problem, is offended by your evidence of poor performance or says something like "That's not what I was hired for", then tell her to take the rest of the day off to figure out what's best for her. "This is effectively a one-day suspension from work," says Grote, the performance appraisal guru. This dramatic gesture brings home to the employee that her poor performance is serious business, Grote says, and gives her a decision to make: Return to the office the next day ready to change behaviour, or look for a new opportunity elsewhere.
If the employee comes back promising to improve but doesn't live up to her word, "then you're about as bullet-proof as can be" when you pull the trigger, says Grote. If, however, the worker seems sincere about doing better, then you have something to work with.
Sheleen Quish, global CIO and vice president of corporate marketing for US Can, says that when it comes to determining whether an underperformer merits some sort of training or second chance, she bases her decision on the attitude and effort displayed. "No one's going to flip a switch and become somebody different the next day. It's a process. But if they exhibit the right attitude and energy and they're willing to start the process, I'll support them for a long time," she adds.
- Follow up frequently. "When you're trying to get someone to perform at a higher level, you have to measure and monitor them a lot more often," says Quish. "There's a lot of following up and a lot of breaking projects down into bite-sized pieces." She advises that an employee on an improvement plan should be given weekly tasks and goals, to be tracked by the person's direct manager. Whether the employee is able to keep up with the weekly plan will quickly give you a sense of whether he can improve, Quish says. "If they're not making it in weekly buckets, how are you ever going to give them a major project?" she asks.
It's important to document all performance-related conversations you have with employees. When you hold them, note what you discuss and what the two of you agree on. That way, if you have to fire an employee, you have important evidence on your side in the event that he contests the termination.
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