Why performance management fills me with dread, and what I do instead

Hi {{first_name|there}},

Last week we started to look at dealing with under-performance. We take it further this week and look at what you can do about it.

The whole idea of performance management fills me with a kind of existential dread.

You might think that odd coming from somebody who writes and coaches to help leaders improve their own performance and the performance of their teams.

But it comes down to perspective.

I am simplifying massively, but performance management is what organisations do. It is essentially an exercise aimed at distributing money efficiently: low performers (however that is defined by the company) should receive less or none at all (i.e. be managed out), higher performers should receive more so they are incentivised to stay and improve the performance of the company. The bigger the business (and the more money at stake), the more convoluted and prescriptive the performance management processes tend to become.

What I do, and what most of us instinctively want to do as leaders, is treat performance as a human-centred activity, not an economic one. In this model, what we are aiming to do is help people develop so that they gain the skills and capabilities to do their job better and therefore feel more motivated, engaged and satisfied in their work.

Of course, most of us work in organisations, so we have to work within the organisational systems, but that doesn't need to prevent us from dealing with performance, including poor performance, from a human rather than an economic perspective.

My own view is that dealing with under-performance should be positive and supportive, and that it works best when it is based on coaching. So, today we'll look at what the research tells us about why that approach works, and how you can put it into practice.

Previously we looked at how you can avoid assumptions about somebody whose performance is not up to scratch and how you can determine whether there is something you can do about it.

Once you have worked out that a team member's performance problem is one that can potentially be fixed, it is tempting to go into a conversation with them with everything worked out in advance. You explain what needs to change, you set some targets and you let them know that you will be keeping a close eye on things. It feels firm and fair; you're giving them the benefit of the doubt and a clear path they need to follow.

This may work, at least for a while. But what you are more likely to get is somebody who does just enough to keep you off their back, and effort that tends to fade over time.

Bu, there is a better way and it starts with you rather than with them, and is all about creating the conditions in which your team member wants to improve. The research on this is pretty strong.

Peter Heslin and his colleagues looked at how managers' beliefs about people affect the way they manage them. Some managers believe that people's abilities are more or less fixed. Others believe that abilities can be developed. The researchers found that:

This connects directly with last week's newsletter. If you have already decided that somebody is not up to it, there is a real risk that you will not notice improvement, even when it comes.

Self-determination theory (SDT) tells us that we all have three essential psychological needs: the need for autonomy (a sense of choice and ownership over what we do), the need for competence (feeling capable and able to grow) and the need for relatedness (feeling connected to and supported by the people around us). If these needs are thwarted, we fail to thrive.

In two large meta-analyses (studies of studies), Gavin Slemp and his colleagues brought together the research on what happens when leaders support the 3 essential needs. They found that:

So, while imposing pressure may get you compliance (probably temporarily), support is much more likely to get you somebody who is motivated to want to improve.

SDT distinguishes between two types of motivation:

Intrinsic motivation: this comes from within and is driven by genuine interest, enjoyment, or personal satisfaction. When you're intrinsically motivated, you engage in an activity for its own sake, rather than for external rewards or pressures.

Extrinsic motivation: this is driven by external factors such as rewards, punishments, or social pressure. You do something because you feel you have to.

The 'magic' of SDT theory for leaders is that if you support an individual's needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness, you create the conditions for intrinsic motivation, and intrinsic motivation leads to sustained effort over time and is a good predictor of performance whether incentives are present or not (Cerasoli et al., 2014).

Even better, if you are a leader who has a human-centred rather than economic view of performance, the work you do in supporting the improvement and development of others will help you too by feeding into the satisfaction of your own needs for autonomy, competence and relatedness.

So, with the context set, what can we do in practice to help a team member improve their performance? Here is a 5-step framework you can follow.

1. Check your own beliefs first

Before you have a conversation about performance with your team member, there are two things you need to check in with yourself about.

First, as we covered in detail previously, ask yourself the 3 questions that will help you determine if your initial thoughts about the person concerned are grounded in reality:

Second, be honest with yourself about whether you believe this person can improve. If you don't, it will probably come through in how you deal with them, however carefully you choose your words.

The exercise Heslin used to shift managers' beliefs was fairly simple. It involved managers thinking through why people's abilities can be developed, and recalling times when they had seen it happen, including in themselves. You could do something similar: think of a time when you struggled with something at work and got better at it, and what helped you.

If you think about it from that point of view, it is hard to imagine a situation where a reasonably motivated person cannot improve and develop.

2. Start with their view of what is going on

Open the conversation by asking questions. You could say something like: "I've noticed that the last few reports have needed quite a lot of rework, and I wanted to talk to you about it. How do you think things are going?" Then listen properly to the answer.

You may find that they are already well aware of the problem, and that they have their own ideas about what is getting in the way. Keep asking questions until you have a shared understanding of what is going on (there is some guidance on how to ask the right questions here). Then you can agree what good looks like and how to begin to bring about a change.

This helps with relatedness and is where the coaching approach comes in. There is a lot of really good evidence that when leaders coach their team members, genuine improvements in performance, skills and capability can follow. The detail of that research is all here.

3. Build their competence in small steps

Rather than setting one big target, agree one or two small, specific things to work on first, and make sure they have the support and resources they need to do them. That might be some training, or some time working alongside somebody who does this well, or even a specific skills development session with you.

Short, regular check-ins help here, as long as they are about helping rather than checking up. Each small success builds their confidence, and that makes the next step easier.

4. Let them own the plan, and notice the improvement

You can support the person's need for autonomy by asking them what they think they need to do, and what they need from you. You may need to add to their plan, but the more of it that comes from them, the more likely they are to stick to it.

Then make a point of noticing their progress. Remember Heslin's finding that we can stay anchored to our first impression of somebody. When things improve, tell them specifically what you have seen and what difference it has made. There is more on giving feedback that people can use here.

5. Make sure the plan drives incremental improvement

Once the person begins to make progress, make sure that the progress can continue incrementally. Give them more responsibility, more trust and increasingly difficult work so that they can get a genuine sense of achievement. For all of us, the feeling of making progress on meaningful work is one of the most powerful ways that we build motivation, engagement and work commitment (Amabile & Kramer, 2011).

I'm not a complete idealist. I know this approach will not work with everybody. Some people will not respond however well you support them, and sometimes the job is just not right for them. We'll look at what to do in that situation in due course.

I also realise that dealing with under-performance this way takes longer than setting somebody some targets and then walking away (essentially, you are setting them up to fail).

And it takes more patience.

But the person on the receiving end of the approach outlined above is much more likely to come out of it with increased capabilities and greater commitment to their work.

What is more, the rest of your team will see how you treat somebody when they are struggling, and that will influence how they feel about working for you.

And you will come out of it as a better leader.

If there is a performance issue you would like me to cover, hit reply and let me know.

All of my posts for new leaders are here.

Coaching. If you have somebody in your team who is struggling and you want to help them improve before things reach the formal stage, I can help. Working out how to approach that first conversation is exactly the kind of thing that is helpful to talk through with somebody beforehand. There are more details here.