This may seem very simplistic, but it is not always the most comfortable task. The key is to approach the subject as soon as the expectation isn’t met. If you let it continue, it will be harder to approach and even harder to hold them accountable. Additionally, you might inherit employees who have been enabled and not held accountable for a very long time – this is a very common topic among my clients! Set a realistic expectation with yourself that this might be a long road to attempt a behavior change. You might have to do a cost/benefit analysis here and see if the ROI of investing your time is worth it.
I’d break this down into 5 steps:
(1) Seek to understand. Schedule a 1:1 meeting in a timely fashion. Ask them for their point of view. Reflect on what role you might have played in this. What’s the root cause? Is it possible that they never knew what the expectation was that they unintentionally overlooked? Is it possible they don’t have all of the resources they need? For the purposes of building trust and relationship building, I suggest going into these situations with an assumption of positive intention. I’ve had many clients who assume negative intent with employees – “People just want to take advantage.” or “They are doing this on purpose.” When you assume negative intent, you are projecting and starting from a place of distrust. Great leadership behavior to model is assuming positive intent. Do your best to erase all preconceived notions and start fresh with every single situation.
(2) Communicate clear expectations and help them understand how their behavior impacts others. Ex: “When you don’t communicate status updates, it affects X, Y, & Z members of the team because they can’t move forward with their tasks. When they can’t move forward with their tasks, A & B happen.”
(3) Depending on what the underperformance item or overlooked expectation is, you might need to collaboratively work with the employee to come up with an action plan. This can be engaging for them if they feel they have ownership in their development.
(4) Hold them accountable. This step is where most people get stuck because it’s uncomfortable and often times, people feel as if they are babysitting and they don’t want to feel that way. Consistent, ongoing feedback is crucial. As a leader, this is your responsibility. If holding others accountable makes you uncomfortable, let’s talk about why and how you can gain confidence in this area.
(5) If they are still not meeting this expectation, move toward a formal Performance Improvement Plan with specific consequences.
Leaders: it’s your job to first be a role model of accountability by holding yourself accountable. Lead by example. Always make sure expectations are clearly communicated. If you’re modeling flakey behavior, not meeting deadlines or expectations, you can’t expect others to do the opposite.
Remember that one of the most disengaging and demotivating things you can do as a leader is to keep underperforming (or toxic) employees and not hold them accountable: “Nothing will kill a great employee faster than watching you tolerate a bad one.”
