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HOW TO DEAL WITH UNDERPERFORMING EMPLOYEES

What do you do with someone who’s consistently not doing their job?

There’s never a good time to find out that a person who you employed isn’t actually the right fit for your business. But when an employee proves that they’re not up to the tasks at hand, ultimately they have to be removed.

Should you ever find yourself in this position, here’s how to handle the hiring and firing process constructively:

THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU’RE LOOKING FOR WHEN HIRING A PERSON:

If you’re an employer and you bring a person into your company (whether it be on a salary or a commission basis) you need to make peace with the fact that it was your decision to employ that individual. It’s your responsibility as an employer to give that employee fair time, training and resources in order for them to learn the job at hand. This will give them the best possible start and chance at being successful in their new role.

I see a lot of companies that bring new people into their business and give them very basic training and then tell them to get on with things themselves. This approach saddens me. If you’re going to employ people then I urge you to look at your criteria for hiring them in the first place.

What things are you looking for when you think of the ideal salesperson? Attitude, drive and ambition are a few that come to mind. Unfortunately, there’s no sure way to tell if a candidate possesses these characteristics after interviewing them. During an interview, all that you really have is your intuition. What you need to do at this point is to make sure they have lots of experience that is applicable to your business. For example- should you be looking for someone that’s going to sell financial advice, you would need to know that your candidate has a proven track record when it comes to giving financial advice. You also need to ensure that they’re qualified to do the job and that they’re prepared to give you the details of a few of their clients who would be able to vouch for them and their experience. Never employ anyone who can’t prove what they say they’ve done.

HAVE A STRUCTURED APPROACH TO TRAINING:

As I stated above, if you don’t invest proper time and energy into training your staff then you are setting them up to fail. What is your onboarding process? Once you have equipped your employee with everything that they need, then you can begin a training process. If you’ve hired a qualified salesperson with a proven track record, then combined with some training the sky really should be the limit.

If you don’t have a structured approach in what you do, then your staff turnover rate is going to be horrific. And once your staff turnover starts increasing, you’re going to be left with a negative environment at the office, and low morale of other staff members. If you want to keep your staff performing at their peak, then think of “T-M-M”. You have to TRAIN, MONITOR and MEASURE! Train your employees, monitor their performance and then measure their results.

HAVE SOME EMPATHY:

Every person has their own issues or problems that they’re dealing with that could potentially affect their mental well-being, confidence and performance at the office. Make sure that as an employer, you have empathy for your employees and let them know that they can be open with you should they be struggling with anything that could potentially affect their performance. That being said, it’s also important to make sure that the environment at the office is uplifting and motivating. Give your staff a reason for wanting to come to work in the mornings.

IF YOU’RE EMPLOYEE ISN’T PERFORMING, WHAT CAN YOU DO TO HELP THEM:

Every person learns in a different way. It’s important to know what each of your employee’s method of learning is so that you can give them what they need. If after training, they still aren’t performing then find out if they believe in the product or service that your company offers. If they don’t then you need to find out why they don’t. If a person doesn’t believe in a product or service that they’re selling, then they shouldn’t be selling it.

NEVER SET TARGETS FOR PEOPLE:

Never set targets for people that you want them to achieve. Targets and goals should sit with your employees. When you take people on in sales, they’re invariably going to be working on commission. So it’s important to understand what they want to achieve. What motivates them? If you know what this is then you can help them achieve what they want and your company will benefit as a result too.

HAVE AN HONEST CONVERSATION:

Should your employee continue to underperform despite you doing all of the above, then have an honest conversation with them. Should you believe that they’re not the right person for the job, chances are they’ll have some doubts about the job themselves. If they’re not happy then there’s no sense in prolonging the inevitable. Sit them down and ask them how you can help them find a job that would be better suited to their wants, needs or skillset. By making a few introductions or lining up a few interviews, you’ll part ways on a more positive note.