What happens when one or more of your employees fail to live up to your expectations? Low performance can impact the entire company, especially if top workers feel they aren’t receiving the recognition they deserve for their contributions. The process of building team members up in the hopes they’ll catch up to others is a balancing act between encouraging them while not discouraging those putting forth real effort. 

How to Identify Bottom Performers

Knowing who your bottom performers are can be tricky, but just one bad employee can cost your company tens of thousands of dollars over time. In addition to vetting people before hiring them, you can also look for telltale signs they might be lackadaisical in their work style.

• When they fail to meet deadlines repeatedly over several months. Anyone can have an off week, family concerns or burnout. However, when a staff member fails to produce material for weeks on end, it becomes a concern for management and the team members who must pick up the slack.
• If they always pick the easiest work. Those who feel ill-equipped might only take on simple tasks. Other staff members may start complaining about having to pick up the slack or their workload being much harder.
• They miss a lot of work. If you have an employee constantly calling in sick at the last minute or finding other excuses not to show up, it can impact the morale of the entire team and make it difficult to reach project milestones.
• They submit poor-quality work. If the work fails to meet any average standards for accuracy, formatting or professionalism, you have a serious problem. While you can teach proper format and even quality, if the person refuses to fix these issues, it may be time to part ways.
• They get angry at constructive criticism. Leadership has to offer ideas for consistently improving so employees can grow. If someone gets angry at feedback that is anything other than a glowing report, it may be time to consider if they are one of your bottom performers.

Be careful about letting personalities get in the way. Some people are more charismatic and likable than others. However, the quality of work should speak for itself without consideration for how much you like a person.

What Is the Difference Between Managing Them up or Out?

If the employee begins to improve, you’ve guided them to embrace new skills and adopt techniques that help overall company performance. They are being managed up to either being better in their current role or a higher position.

On the other hand, if they are not receptive to the change or can’t grasp anything you throw at them even after repeated efforts, it may be time to help them find skills to move on to something else. This could either be another position in your company or a different job working for someone else. 

Ideally, you will always manage your employees, keeping them loyal to your brand. It costs more to hire a new worker than to keep the one you have, after all. However, real life shows that some people prefer not to change and may resist your efforts. The few with that attitude should move on to something else for the sake of your entire team and themselves. 

How to Manage an Underperforming Employee

Before you give up on someone, you should try everything in your power to help them rise to the top. Various factors cause underperformance. Human resources (HR) leaders understand the sudden shift in technology is creating skills gaps for some workers. Around 73% of employers are considering layoffs in 2024 for performance and financial reasons. 

Before you let someone loyal to your company and already trained in your procedures go, try to manage them into the worker you need. Here are some things to try:

• Invest in additional training to bring them up to speed with advances in artificial intelligence or new software the company is using.
• Assign a mentor to get them up to speed on processes that make them more productive.
• Look at quality versus quantity and discuss how to balance the two with the employee.
• Meet one-on-one with the worker and discuss your concerns. Give concrete examples of how you’d like them to improve and the tools to accomplish the task.
• Celebrate small wins. If they keep failing, shift the focus to something smaller that they can accomplish.
  Focusing only on the negatives is extremely discouraging for any worker, so try to point out the positive attributes they bring to the team. They may quit if they feel they aren’t valued, which only further deteriorates the employee/boss relationship. 

When Should You Part Ways With a Bottom Performer?

However, sometimes managing a bottom performer up is no longer effective, and parting ways is the best option for both the employee and the company. Here are some signs that it may be time to consider letting go of a bottom performer:

• Consistent underperformance: Despite repeated efforts, training and support, the employee fails to show any significant improvement in their performance.
• Consistent negative impact on team morale: If a bottom performer displays a consistently poor attitude, their words and actions can negatively impact team morale, causing resentment and frustration among other team members.
• Unwillingness to change: A bottom performer who may need to be managed out of the company may be resistant to feedback and unwilling to adapt to new processes or technologies. They may be stuck in their ways and unwilling to learn and grow.
• Breach of company policies: If the employee engages in behavior that violates the law or company policies, such as misconduct, harassment or theft, termination may be necessary to maintain a safe and ethical work environment.

Deciding to part ways with an employee is never easy, but it may be necessary to ensure the overall success and well-being of the team and the company as a whole.

Deciding Who to Manage up and Who to Manage Out

As you can see, the decision on which employee is actually the bottom performer isn’t always clear. Management must sometimes look at various factors, such as how complex tasks are completed and whether the person just talks a good game or actually produces excellent results. 

The decision to reduce your workforce is difficult. Leadership often worries they’re making the wrong choice. Before letting a dedicated person go, take the time to assess where they are and if a few new skills will make a difference in their performance. You may find that you part ways with the person you least expected to and have a new appreciation for the other. At a minimum, you’ll have assessed what your company needs most and come to the best conclusion for everyone involved.