Handling the Poor Performer

So, for the new year you've decided to finally take some action on the poor performer you've been dealing with.

First, here are some statistics you need to know about.

• 93% of employees say that working with a low performer has decreased their productivity. •87% of employees say that working with a low performer has made them want to change jobs.
--Leadership IQ, June 2006

33% of management and 43% of non-management employees think their companies are not doing enough to deal with poor performers.
--Sirota Survey Intelligence, July 2006
Below is a 10-point list of how to handle poor performing employees. For more detailed information, sign up for one of the upcoming "Beyond The Basics" workshops listed below.

1. Determine if performance is poor
a. Do not use hearsay or a “gut feeling”
b. Be specific, stick to the facts
• Measurable
• Observable
• Quantifiable
c. Have specific examples ready
• Compare to average or history
• Have an example of poor performance situation
d. Measurement methods
• Revenue
• Customer comments
• Sales
• Observation
• Customer visits per day/week
• Professionalism
• Cleanliness & truck organization
• Organizational skills
• Paperwork
• Following procedures or policies
• On time or tardiness
• Abuse of sick or personal days
• Peer review (team player)
• Personal growth
e. Measurement
• Identify specific areas that require improvement that made the performance problem obvious to you
• Avoid spending time on other issues that are not specific to him or her or relevant to the reason you are meeting - For example if you mention being late several times as a main issue, when it really isn’t, the employee may point out that someone else is late more than they are.

2. Review performance with the individual
a. This must be done as soon as poor performance is obvious
b. Don’t wait forever to “build a case”
c. Explain the intention is to help and improve
d. The review is to determine the cause of the poor performance and determine an action plan
e. Ask questions
f. Document everything and provide copies
g. Possible questions for the performance review - Avoid asking questions that can be answered with a yes or no answer. For example say:
• Please explain how what you do on your job can influence your performance measurement. What part of your job do you believe that you are not performing well at?
• Is there anything that can be changed to improve this?
• Do you believe that you are fully qualified for the job or do you believe some training would help?
• Are there any personal issues that are distracting you from your work? Do you want to discuss them?
• Do you like what you are doing? Why or why not?
• What changes would have to take place to improve this situation? (this would include any recommendations they may have for them personally and for the work environment)
• How would you rate your performance if you were me?



3. Determine why performance is poor
a. The employee has no idea what is expected
• Explain the measurement system
• Review their job description
• Ask them to explain their tasks and your expectations
• Review any points of misunderstanding
• If this may be the only issue, set up a meeting for four weeks and review what has happened
b. Lack of training or knowledge
• Find a source of information to get them trained (you, another employee or an outside source)
• They must be able to contribute their time to improve their career
• Set up a training & development plan for this person
• Set up a follow up meeting if this is the issue, preferably four weeks or less
c. A non-work related problem is distracting them
• You must be careful in this situation
• Avoid personal questions
• Limit your opinions to work topics only
• Don’t try to solve personal issues or problems
• Allow time for them to handle their situation, show concern and plan a date to re-meet and see if they have resolved it
d. Employee is not suited for the job
• Review the value of this person and see if they may be suited better in another position in your operation
• If not, they will need to be terminated
e. They just perform poorly in everything and maybe don’t really care
• This is the only other reason left after other explanations are exhausted
• Termination

4. Determine the action plan
a. Could be determined during the initial review or shortly thereafter with a follow-up meeting
b. Set specific goals
• Measurable
• Quantifiable
• Set Dates

5. Determine an agreed upon timeline of events
a. Set specific dates for feed back
b. Set dates for review
c. Explain long term

6. If performance meets desired standards
a. Immediately reward the performance with positive feedback
• Performance improvement needs to continue long term
• Follow-up steps must be laid out and explained
• List all rewards and potential outcomes

7. Set ramifications for failure
a. The employee must know what will happen should he or she fail to improve
• Short term & long term
• Performance improvement needs to continue long term
• Steps must be laid out and explained
• List all ramifications
• Time off with no pay
• Penalties
• Termination

8. Follow-Up
a. Give regular feedback
b. Don’t wait for the formal meeting to discuss performance changes
c. As soon as improvement is noticed give regular feedback
d. If no improvement is noted, give regular feedback
e. The scheduled follow-up meeting
• Should simply be a meeting discussing what everyone already knows
• As any other review, regular feedback on performance is important
• Do what you said you were going to do
f. Determine next steps

9. Don’t be afraid to modify recommendations
a. The employee may have other issues that need attention
b. You may have resolved one issue and another surfaced

10. Repeat steps as necessary
a. Make sure the employee knows that performance improvement must be sustained
b. The employee must also know that continued improvement is required as part of his or her job
c. Once again, document everything and communicate often

In Conclusion:
• It’s a team effort & YOU are the coach
• Try to keep emotions out of your business decision
• You have to stick to your decisions and be firm and not wishy-washy
• Hire right next time - If you start with something good, your odds of success are better
• DOCUMENT EVERYTHING!


Copyright - Training Source Inc. 2011
You may copy and distribute this document only with written permission from Frank Besednjak

Pricing & Customers

There are customers for everyone. You pick your customers. Some customers are focused only on spending the least possible and have no concern for quality or professionalism. There are plenty of companies out there willing to do shoddy work for almost nothing. Don't compete with them. Price yourself high enough to lose all of these people. These are the same people who complain about everything anyway.



Consider Flat Rate, or Up Front Pricing. There are several good programs out there. I've asked the following question from people who had switched to flat rate pricing for the last 15 years. "Do you make more money and are customers more satisfied?" 100% have answered yes. What does that say? Email me for some recommendations.


The most successful contractors companies in North America, are also the most expensive. What does that tell you?

If you are reluctant to raise prices, ask yourself why you don't think you are worth it?

So many times I've had contractors tell me that they feel like they are ripping people off by raising prices as I suggest. I ask you this . . . Is it because you do crappy work and are unprofessional and don't feel you are worth it? Otherwise you would have no problem charging a fee for great service, wonderful customer experiences, clean and professional service people, new trucks, a great workplace, fantastic benefits, excellent truck stock and the best team of people in your town.

. . . Or do you prefer to just be the guy who can only offer low prices as your best attribute?

Want next year to be the best ever? Raise your price. Need help in getting started? Come to one of my "Beyond the Basics" workshops listed in the schedule below.

I also offer onsite consulting and private classes if you would like me to speak to your employees or just sit and work with you.

*WARNING* I may make you realize that you need to make some drastic changes in your business and you may not like what you hear from me. I won't waste your time or mine. . . But I will tell you the truth, and you will improve.

Where Have I been?

you are probably wondering why I haven't posted a blog in months. Well, I forgot and lost my sign in information and couldn't get on here to post anything. Brilliant, Huh?

Well here is some usefull stuff . . .

I've recently read some on-line comments from contractors regarding the issue of employees complaining about fees that they have to charge customers. . . Here is what I have to say about that . . .

First . . . if you need to show your folks what things cost, here is a great tool for you to use. You may want to print these directions. (you must have MS Excel for it to work)

1.Go to my website www.frankpresents.com, click on Tools & Tips.
2.Click on "Hourly Rate Calculator"
3.You may want to save it, remember where you saved it.
4.Add up all of your monthly overhead costs, rent, utilities, office staff, management, benefits costs of office and management, advertising, charity, phone, office equipment, office supplies, etc. etc. Divide it by the number of fulltime technicians and installers and put that number in line number 42, column B.
5.Starting at the top, in column B, begin entering the per technician installer dollar amounts as indicated from column A.
6.Do not enter anything in the red column
7.On number 38, enter the average billed hours per year per technician. Typically this will be in the range of 1350 to 1550 per tech per year. (there are 2080 potential billable hours per year)
8.On line 46 enter what net profit you would like to make per hour.
9.The amount on line 48 indicates what you need to charge per hour.
10.Save this info, you may now create an Excel sheet for each person that works for you by entering their individual pay and billed hours into the program.
Keep in mind that the "Hourly Rate Calculator" program does not take into consideration overtime, parts & product sales or trip charges. Should you have any questions or comments, please email me at frankpresents@gmail.com