HBR Guides to Performance Management Collection (4 Books) (HBR Guide Series)

Chapter 14

How to Help an Underperformer

by Amy Gallo

As a manager, you can’t accept underperformance. It’s frustrating, it’s time-consuming, and it can demoralize the other people on your team. But what do you do about an employee whose performance isn’t up to snuff? How do you provide them with the feedback they need and help turn around the problematic behavior? And how long do you let it go on before you cut your losses? By facing the issue head-on and creating a correction plan with your employee, you can set your underperformer on the path for improvement.

What the Experts Say

Your company may have a prescribed way of handling an underperformer, but most of those recommended processes aren’t that useful, says Jean-François Manzoni, INSEAD ...