Shadow Competition

If the stuff hits the fan frequently where you work, it could be a sign that there are people at all levels who lack the necessary confidence to handle performance issues on their own. It could also mean that there are an unusually high number of undisciplined workers who are willfully letting their problems float to the top rather than fix it themselves. Regardless of who's doing it and why, unless these people are held accountable for their lack of performance, unpleasant incidents will continue.

Holding a subordinate accountable and providing constructive feedback is a task few managers do very well. When supervisors are given a list of job factors and asked to rank those they enjoy or feel confident in accomplishing, "conducting a performance review" usually comes out on the bottom. These same people also acknowledge that they lack the confidence and skills to properly counsel and coach employees who fail to meet performance expectations.

These results could explain why more and more leaders are ducking their responsibility for improving their follower's performance. Choosing instead to transfer a low performer to another department or simply ignoring the employee in the hope that he or she will get the message and quit.

So, you might ask, what's wrong with writing off the worse performers and concentrating solely on the best producers? Unfortunately, many managers are doing just that. But, it doesn't work for long because the high performers soon resent having to carry the load and start looking elsewhere for recognition. And it's not hard to guess who stays behind.

Let's assume you're up for the challenge of raising the performance expectations of your staff. As you begin to form your strategy, keep these thoughts in mind:

• High performers will figure out what improvements are needed and determine on their own how to make the necessary upgrades.
  
• Mediocre performers only think about doing better when you show them how raising their performance level benefits them personally.
  
• Low performers don't think about improvement, so don't expect them to give much constructive thought to raising the bar.

Watch Out For The Shadow Competition

There's always a shadow competition going on between the high achievers and the low performers. I use the term "shadow" because management is usually in the dark when it happens. Fortunately there are several observable behaviors you can look for to indicate when the shadow competition is taking place.

One common technique is for a couple of your more troublesome people to hang around after a meeting waiting to catch you alone. Once you're cornered, they'll claim that it is hard for them to say something negative about a star player, but they thought you ought to know that so-and-so has been interviewing for an outside job.

By bad mouthing the high achievers these folks are hoping you'll look upon them as loyal employees. They may even offer to take on the duties of the "departing" employee until you find a qualified replacement. Hint, hint -- they're bucking for a promotion.