Imagine yourself as a major league baseball manager. It is the bottom of the ninth inning of the World Series, Game 7. The bases are loaded, and the game is tied with two outs. You put in your best hitter with an exceptional batting record but he is facing the pitcher with the league-leading strike-out stats. It has come down to this one moment. The tension is thick on and off the field and everyone is watching. Your star batter is hesitant and mentions that he is nervous just before you send him in. How do you overcome this performance obstacle? What do you need to do to inspire your batter to rise above the challenge at hand and squeeze out his best performance?

In business, the pressure may not always be this extreme, but you are at the mercy of getting the best performance from your employees. There are many potential pitfalls when tackling employee performance challenges. Managers are often caught up in the symptoms of the problem versus the actual root causes. Until the cause of the problem is understood, proposing a solution is premature and unlikely to bring long-term resolution.

Managing Employee Performance

Managing employee performance is the process of creating a work environment in which people are enabled to perform to the best of their abilities and provided with the support they require to do so. Managing an employee's performance begins once they assume their role and ends when they leave the company. Performance management is about the importance of measuring and recognizing accomplishments rather than activities. To overcome performance obstacles, you need to develop elements and standards that center on what your employees achieve, not what they complete.

Rather than employee appraisal or review, today's organization is more about maintaining and improving performance while managing expected results and accomplishments. The traditional method of evaluating employee performance is reactive, with evaluative methods conducted after the event takes place. It rewards the activities an employee performs, rather than that employee's ability to do the right things to reach specific objectives.

Improving substandard performance can be a daunting task. A one-size-fits-all solution to resolving poor employee performance does not exist. There are some common issues that result in poor performance, and ways to overcome them. Be sure to consult local labor laws and legal counsel before taking any direct action.

Identifying Poor Performers

Just about every organization has its fair share of poor performers. But even though the employee may be partially responsible for the poor performance, there are other contributing factors. Some issues that directly affect the performance of employees and eventually the organization include:

• Lack of knowledge: Lack of knowledge is a common problem among managers, who commonly believe that employees will figure it out for themselves. All employees deserve to receive the proper knowledge and training to effectively function in their roles. Without the functional and cultural knowledge of the company, an employee cannot be expected to attain any type of performance objective.

• Not clearly defining performance objectives: Employees may understand what is required for them to do their job, but may not have been given any performance expectations. Individuals tend to equate performance as doing as much as possible rather than accomplishing tasks in relation to performance and organizational objectives. It is your responsibility to define the critical elements and set specific performance standards to achieve.

• Lack of support: Most employees state that support from their company and their superiors is essential for them to have confidence in their jobs. However, when asked if they receive the desired support, many answer that they do not. When employees receive support, it builds confidence, gets them more involved and allows them to strive to do their jobs better. Your role is to create a supportive environment for your staff. Discuss with them what they require from you to become better performers.

• Inconsistency from superiors: Another annoyance for employees is management inconsistency. Mixed messages, unclear directives and the lack of defined measures are just some of the issues that are at the root of poor performance. The demands placed on the company and its employees require clarity and consistency. By doing both, you will solve one of the main issues obstructing your performance management objectives.

• Inadequate tools: Think back to a recent time when you had to work on something and did not have the right tool at your disposal. How did you feel? Frustrated? Angry that you could not finish what you had started? Now, think of your staff when they are asked to do something or have to meet a specific performance objective set forth by you or the company. They also will experience frustration without the right tools at their disposal. This frustration will impede the performance levels you expect them to attain. Ask them what they need to do a better job. Provide the right tools, infrastructure and environment so that they can reach their goals.

• Not having a clear direction: Effective performance management begins with a clear strategic direction. From this, employees derive the critical elements, specific performance measures and attainable standards.

Ask the Difficult Questions

Motivating employees to achieve performance objectives requires that the company has focus and direction, and that its leaders are accountable to performance measures. Your performance is dependent on your own actions and behavior, as well as addressing the right issues. The primary issues a performance-based organization addresses include:

• What do we want to achieve one year from today?

• What are the company's long-term objectives (three to five years)?

• Can we clearly see the direction to take?

• What do we need to accomplish to realize the objective?

• When can we expect to arrive at our goal?

• Can we create an environment to leverage employee performance?

This overall vision is a starting point to develop performance objectives leading to a proper performance management process. With the vision defined, you can easily determine what is required to communicate the end results to your employees.

The gap between your team's current performance and potential performance may still arise if you are unable to create an environment conducive to performance-based behavior. It is important to think strategically about how to provide the resources to overcome any type of performance challenge. Your people need to know how to build and implement processes that will facilitate and execute realistic performance results. The only guide employees have is their manager. If they do not receive direction, communication or feedback about their performance objectives, then expect them to become increasingly dissatisfied, frustrated and disillusioned. There are simple ways to help overcome some of the challenges in creating a performance-based environment:

• Communicate your vision: For employees to see how performance measures relate to their jobs, they need to understand where the company is going. Communicating the company's and the department's vision is a challenging task for a leader. Too often, leaders have a vision and know where they are headed, but do not communicate it to others. Reflect for a moment on how often you communicate explicitly with your staff. When was the last time you spoke to them about your performance objectives? Have you explained how their actions relate to the bigger picture?

• Focus on employee behavior: It is human nature to stick with the status quo. People often would rather not change things for fear of the unknown. We tend to follow the mantra, If it's not broken, why fix it? Also, employees tend to get mired in the daily routine of the company. They begin feeling that they are a commodity rather than a valued asset. Complacency affects many companies in America and, if allowed to spread, creates an indifferent workforce and an exponential rise in poor performance. In order to avoid complacency and performance monotony, push your employees out of their comfort zone. Lead by example and encourage them to do new and different things that will lead to improved performance.

• Encourage accountability: An integral part of performance improvement is ownership and accountability. When your employees come to you with a problem, they are not just seeking solutions they are seeking guidance. Good employees want to take ownership of the problem. If you solve the problem, you are negatively affecting their confidence and performance. They become overly dependent on you to solve issues. This does not contribute to a performance-based environment. Allow them to arrive at their own conclusions. Stimulate this process by asking the right questions that will provide them with a direction to achieve their performance objectives. The performance of your team is a reflection of your management style and behavior. It is your responsibility to shape and influence performance behaviors.

Handling Poor Performers

You've communicated the strategic direction of the company, broken down the tasks required for your team to accomplish, set out the critical elements for each person and set the standards they need to attain. You even put into place a rewards and recognition incentive to motivate them. But for unexplained reasons, some team members are still unmotivated. What do you do to overcome the biggest obstacle - unmotivated employees?

• Attend to the situation immediately: Don't wait too long to address an individual's poor performance. You may lose an excellent opportunity to resolve the situation and help the employee become a better performer. Set sufficient time aside to show the employee that you recognize that there is an issue and that you will address it in short order.

• Recognize the issue: Be certain that you understand the issue affecting performance. Prepare yourself with examples of poor performance behaviors prior to meeting with the individual. Be able to describe how this behavior affects other areas of the department and its impact on the company. Document all of your thoughts and arguments so the employee knows you are serious about resolving the issue.

• Set up a meeting with the individual: Provide a safe, secure and neutral environment where the employee will feel comfortable speaking with you. Use the notes you prepared in the previous step to address the situation and provide ample opportunity for the individual to state their concerns and perceptions. If possible, include another management-level person in the meeting.

• Get employee buy-in: People want to control their environment. This applies to employees in their respective roles in improving performance. Since they know their job best, let them share ideas and provide suggestions on how to improve the situation.

• Reinforce positive outcomes: If possible, reinforce what the employee has done well and how he or she has met some performance expectations. Then outline the results that are required to meet the standards initially set forth. Make your expectations clear and ensure that they are specific, attainable and realistic. Complete your discussion by reviewing what is expected and agreed upon and show how it will help make work tasks more focused and efficient.

• Set goals and time frames: Together, break up performance expectations into manageable chunks. Obtain the employee's commitment to a deadline when you can expect the objectives to be accomplished. Set a time to assess progress.

• Provide a written summary: After the meeting, summarize the issues and objectives concluded from your meeting together. Provide a copy to the employee to review and confirm that these were the points agreed upon. Give the employee a copy of the summary and keep a copy for future reference.

• Assess employee progress: Many of your employees have good intentions and may only require one meeting and a follow-up to ensure they are on track. But in some cases you may have to conduct a regular review and performance evaluation.

• Dismiss or reassign employee: If your efforts fail, you may want to consider reassigning the person to another responsibility if you believe they have potential, or simply let them go from the company. Don't be too quick to judge and consult with the appropriate people regarding the dismissal process.

Business changes quickly and the demands are constant. Often, they bring obstacles that stand in the way of improving employee performance. Your responsibility is not only to help your employees grow and to facilitate tasks—it is to help them attain higher levels of performance and manage it to the expectations of the company. Real performance is about what you and your team accomplish, not just the activities completed. Remember, performance obstacles may simply be an employee's call for help—so make sure you answer it.

Control Employee Performance Before It Controls You

The perception of how employees are evaluated in the workplace has evolved significantly in the past few years. The concept of evaluating employees based on performance is a departure from the traditional “tell them what to do and get it done” approach of the past. The performance management process leans toward a collaborative and facilitated approach to getting tasks completed.

Performance management ensures that the organization and the structure within it are working together in an optimum fashion to achieve desired results. Employee recognition is an indispensable ingredient to attain the strategic direction and contribute to improved performance. It is a cascading effect in which employee objectives are derived from the division's needs and the company's vision.

The performance management process offers an opportunity for both employees and managers to put forward performance goals and development plans to reach specific objectives while maintaining the performance expectations of the company. Each performance development plan must align with the strategic direction of the company and contribute the employee's professional and personal objectives and aspirations. There are eight steps to creating an effective employee performance plan:

1. Focus on the big picture: Rather than starting at the employee level of improving performance, focus on the ultimate objective: Where is your company going? What are the primary objectives in the strategic plan? What are your specific performance goals to attain the strategic vision? What are some of the successful performance measures already in place?

2. Determine specific accomplishments to reach your goals: Identify the components of the work involved and how it leads to tangible accomplishments. Understanding the workflow process allows you to maintain focus on the bigger picture and leads to performance measures based on workflow objectives rather than on activities.

3. Identify individual accomplishments within the workflow: The performance elements measured in the employee performance plan should include both individual and group tasks and responsibilities. The way the workflow processes and associated accomplishments are broken down will help you to set goals for the employee. Other performance elements to measure in the workflow process include group dynamics, decision-making and problem-solving processes. The performance elements should either be quantifiable or verifiable and clearly identified as accomplishments.

4. Determine critical and non-critical performance measures: In a performance development plan, each employee is measured against elements in the workflow process and expected performance levels. Clearly identify the critical elements from the non-critical elements, and set specific and attainable performance measures within the workflow process.

5. Specify individual measures for performance: For each critical issue identified, specify a measure that adequately demonstrates if the employee is meeting performance objectives. Measures can either be quantitative (cost savings, reduction in complaints, increased sales, etc.) or qualitative (production efficiencies, identification of product defects, improved workflow process, etc.).

6. Develop standards: Once critical issues are identified and measures are in place, set the standards the employee should strive to attain. Performance standards should be set at two levels. The first level is the minimum performance standard acceptable. Any lower, and corrective measures are warranted. The second level is the performance expectation that the employee is rewarded for reaching or exceeding. This is the desired level of performance.

7. Monitor performance: The performance measures should be fair, objective and developed with the employee. How, what, when and who is monitored (and who does the monitoring) are as important as the desired results. Determine the data to acquire for each performance element, which source the data should come from and whether to use a sample or collect all the data. Create feedback mechanisms where appropriate or necessary to clearly communicate the results and give employees feedback automatically.

8. Build in a control process: It is important to put control mechanisms into place to ensure the right performance issues are measured in a fair, quantifiable and flexible manner. The performance elements you initially set must be attainable and in line with operational and strategic needs. Make sure that the performance plan developed for your employees adapts to the changing conditions of the company and meets the employee needs. If you are off-track, you will not only miss your performance objective, but also confuse and frustrate your employees.

Ajay Pangarkar and Teresa Kirkwood are the US partners of Intoweb Training working at CentralKnowledge.com, helping organizations leverage the power of intellectual capital through effective learning solutions and evaluation strategies.