Performance Issue - Continuation/repetition of performance failure:
Solution - Corrective coaching
In the context of helping resolve employee performance problems, corrective coaching is appropriate when:
Corrective coaching does not involve formal discipline. The aim is to improve the employee’s performance. It gives the employee one last chance to correct a situation before you have to take disciplinary action.
On-Going Performance Concerns
When you have ongoing performance issues with an employee you must take action. Failure to do so will affect the performance of the whole team.
The employee must clearly understand that their performance must immediately meet the required standards, or there will be consequences.
Importance of effective follow-up
With corrective coaching you are:
“Your performance is still not meeting the required standards. Unless there is an immediate improvement I will commence disciplinary action. What steps do you think you will take to get back on track?”
Discuss the consequences
Before you discuss consequences, consider what disciplinary action you will take if the employee’s performance does not immediately return to an acceptable level.
Your response must be relevant to the circumstances. There is no point in making a threat that you can’t carry out, or attempting to impose an action that is out of all proportion to what the employee has done or not done. Decide this before conducting the corrective coaching discussion with the employee.
Introducing consequences isn’t easy because the employee is likely to feel under pressure and react negatively. However, the upside is that the employee has the choice of improving their performance and avoiding the need for disciplinary action.
Be supportive
Make clear to the employee what the consequences will be if they fail to address the problem. You also need to encourage the employee to take the necessary action. Express your confidence in the employee. Remind them that they are capable of taking the required action because acceptable performance has been demonstrated in the past. Your clear preference is to see performance improve, rather than having to take disciplinary action.
This approach should encourage the employee and help you work together to develop an effective improvement plan.
Prepare for corrective coaching
As you recognise the need for corrective coaching, keep these points in mind:
Critical Steps
Follow these steps to effective corrective coaching.
Open by giving an overview of the previous discussions about the problem and the agreed actions. If this is the first discussion with the employee about this problem, take the time to provide all the details of the matter: time, date, place, what happened etc. Be clear that the matter is serious. Focus on the problem not the person and emphasise the key points. "At our last meeting on 20 June, we agreed that 35 outbound calls per day was reasonable, but you're well short of that".
Describe in detail the gap between the current level of performance and the expected level. "This is a problem we have actually been working on since April. At that time we did identify an issue with equipment downtime, but that’s now been fixed. Despite the action plans we agreed you are still not meeting the agreed performance targets. Your call rate has dropped to an average of 24, compared with the target we agreed of 35". Ask the employee why the performance has not improved to the required level. Use open ended questions (“how”, “what”, “who” and “when”) because that will encourage the employee to give a considered response. Listen to what the employee has to say. Avoid being judgmental because there may be good reasons for the lack of improvement. Perhaps the circumstances have changed. Endeavour to reach agreement on the facts.
Ask the employee for their ideas on how to solve the problem. When people have the opportunity to contribute to a solution they will be more committed to ensuring its success. Identify as many possible solutions as you can, but don’t agree on an action plan at this point. Discuss any ideas of your own. Summarise what has been identified. This approach will indicate to the employee that the performance can be turned around.
This is usually the most difficult part of corrective coaching. While the employee must understand the consequences of failing to improve performance, remember the objective to is get the employee to improve their performance. Describe what the consequences will be without threatening the employee. "Unless you can consistently demonstrate the required standard by the end of July, I will commence disciplinary action". Emphasise that you want the employee to be successful and will do what you can to assist. If you stick to the point and keep the discussion focused the employee is less likely to react negatively.
Success will depend on gaining the employee’s commitment and your support for the plan. The employee will be more committed to the plan if they have input to it, so strive hard to elicit ideas from the employee. Develop the best plan using the employee’s ideas as far as possible. Set a review date and stick to it to show you are serious about managing the employee’s performance.
You need to end the discussion on a positive note so the employee is encouraged to resolve the problem. Expressing confidence will encourage the employee to make the solution work.
Corrective coaching is a valuable tool. It provides one last chance to turn the situation around before it is necessary to take disciplinary action. A key benefit of corrective coaching is that the employee is left in no doubt that there will be consequences for ongoing performance failure. As you recognise the need for corrective coaching, keep these points in mind:
Continued poor performance should result in Disciplinary Action.