The Manager's Handbook

5Coaching Underperformance

Words are sacred. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.

—Tom Stoppard

I once had a member of my team who was struggling with his harsh treatment of people, one that was inconsistent with our culture. I could have written him off as a poor cultural fit and let him go, but I knew if I could fix the issues, it would be better for the company. He was a strong performer otherwise, and the position would be hard to fill in a competitive hiring marketplace. But I needed a framework for determining whether his issues were coachable, and if so, how to maximize the chances of success.

Despite the clear evidence that many underperformers can be coached to success, few managers and companies know how to do so. An incredible 40% of companies reported that they would not rehire most or all of their coworkers, and yet at the same time they are unwilling to address the areas of underperformance!¹

In the case of the manager I just described, using the processes outlined in this chapter I accepted that the issues he struggled with were serious and not going away on their own, but also that he was coachable. This chapter is not about those occasional mistakes or course corrections that you address with instant performance feedback (IPF). This chapter is about how best to coach those team members who are underperforming in a way that is unsustainable and, if not addressed, calls to question whether they ...