Any employee that is underperforming is potentially costing your business valuable dollars. Failing to meet objectives set, providing a low standard of work or being slack when it comes to productivity will impact on your bottom line as well as team morale. It’s an important issue in the workplace, but it’s often one that goes unnoticed until it’s out of control. In this article, we identify three early warning signs so that you can nip in the bud any underperformance problems in your team.

1. Are key performance indicators being achieved?

Is the employee consistently failing to meet the KPIs set for the role? Or perhaps they are persistently falling below your expectations? It may be that the employee’s output when compared with previous months or other team members has noticeably dipped over a period of time. If any of these scenarios apply, then alarm bells should be ringing. Failure to achieve goals is one of the earliest warning signs. Talk to the employee and find out what’s happening. There will, of course, be occasions where outside influences or changing circumstances have impacted on the individual’s performance. What you’re looking for here is a pattern of performance failure and a record of excuses for non-achievement.

2. Is the employee causing conflict with others through poor interpersonal skills?

Often an early warning sign is when peers and colleagues start to complain or share that knowing look when colleague x’s name is mentioned in relation to a project. The truth is that the team can be a source of information in terms of what’s going on when your back is turned. And while it’s never a good idea to engage in gossip about individuals, when you repeatedly hear from a number of sources comments like ‘they’re not doing their fair share of the work’, then you can’t afford to ignore them.

3. Is the staff member regularly late or takes a lot of time off sick?

Underperformance is often accompanied by persistent lateness and numerous days off sick. It’s important though to sit down with the employee and find out what the root cause is.  Some individuals may be grappling with health issues whether it’s their own or a family member’s, or there may be problems at home that are impacting on their time management. A conversation with the employee should see you sorting those staff members with genuine issues and problems from those that are simply underperforming.

As a business owner or manager, it’s important to address the issue of underperformance before it festers into something much bigger. Not only is it affecting your bottom line, underperformance also impacts on the rest of the team. There may well be resentment from colleagues who have to pick up the shortfall and it can be stressful for all concerned. Use these early warning signs to help you manage staff underperformance.

And if your business is struggling with underperformance issues and you need some help and advice, then get in touch with us here at Generate Accounting. As well as providing general accounting services, we also support companies through the whole range of everyday issues with our business coaching services. Helping you achieve your goals is our aim so contact us today for expert help and advice.