How does your organisation measure employee performance? Is it solely about hitting (likely unrealistic) KPIs or sales targets? Or does your organisation have a more balanced approach.
Measuring if your employees are achieving required outcomes while positively contributing to the culture, productivity and reputation of the company is not an administrative tick-box – it is directly linked to your overall culture including how your employees and customers feel about engaging with you.
An old saying comes to mind – ‘What can’t be measured won’t get done!’
One of the most common, and costly, gaps in leadership remains the failure to pick up and address poor performance. We find that many managers don’t pick up on performance issues early enough and avoid issues until they become big and unwieldy.
We have seen examples of an entire team underperforming, which was found to be because of a culture of avoidance, blame and lack of mutual respect within the company. The issue began with one employee, whose ‘poor’ performance and high impact were not recognised soon enough. It wasn’t just an issue of one underperformer, over time, it undermined high performers and diluted leadership credibility.
In a nutshell, if you’re not managing poor performance, you will soon be managing its consequences.
For senior leaders, particularly CEOs and executive managers, it’s essential to create a culture where performance expectations are clear, feedback is timely, and accountability is standard practice. Allowing poor performance to persist, even from just one employee, can silently erode morale and productivity.
Why Do Leaders Avoid Managing Poor Performance?
Despite the impact of poor performance, many managers delay or avoid addressing performance issues for a number of reasons. Here’s a few to consider:
- Discomfort with conflict: Leaders often think discussions over poor performance will lead to difficult conversations, or even conflict, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Constructive feedback and communicating openly play a huge role in performance management.
- Lack of training: Many leaders are promoted for technical skill and commitment to the company, not necessarily for people management expertise. Strong leadership requires skills and training in people management. It is often an assumption that the job title automatically develops expertise – it doesn’t
- Fears around legal risks: It’s fairly common in organisations for leaders to be concerned about saying the wrong thing, inadvertently breaching HR protocols, or triggering complaints. This can be a factor when delaying discussion around poor performance with employees, which leads to normalising poor performance and behaviour. Unsurprisingly, this catches up and becomes harder to deal with, causing more issues. Unmanaged performance almost always has a compounding effect.
- ‘Head in the sand’ syndrome: Leaders sometimes assume, or hope, that the issue will resolve itself with time and they won’t have to the difficult conversations. Feedback given is too subtle, sandwiched in messages that are overly cushioned. Unfortunately, this approach often sees the situation get worse, not better. We find that people deal with feedback better when it is delivered clearly, directly and respectfully.
- Leaders’ personal belief systems: We often hear from leaders that they don’t like upsetting people, or being rude, so they shy away from giving feedback. The underlying belief system here is that feedback is always harsh, unbalanced and a personal attack on others. Such belief systems often get in the way of productive, and positive relationship building.
Inaction itself is a decision – one that sends a message to the team that standards are optional, and that it’s ‘ok’ not to meet measured outcomes of KPIs or behaviour.
Why Managing Poor Performance Matters
- Prevents Bigger Issues
Think of underperformance as a slow leak in the system. If left unchecked, cracks start to appear. Timely performance management prevents escalation into toxic culture or disengagement. The earlier it’s addressed, the less disruptive, and more constructive, the outcome.
- Encourages Accountability
When performance issues are addressed directly, it reinforces a culture of clarity and ownership. Teams are more likely to rise to expectations when they know what’s expected, which results in role clarity and improved psychosocial safety.
Conversely, when poor performance is tolerated, high performers can also begin to disengage, frustrated by being overworked, unequal expectations and a perceived lack of fairness.
- Uncovers Organisational Issues
Not all poor performance is about the task or behaviours. Often, it reveals deeper issues, such as unclear processes, unrealistic workloads, lack of training or poor communication. A well-handled performance conversation can uncover these obstacles, which will then lead to meaningful improvements.
This is where HR becomes a strategic partner; helping to identify not just who is underperforming, but why … and how to fix it.
- Builds Employee-Employer Relationships
Leaders have a duty of care to the business and the people in it. By addressing issues transparently and respectfully, organisations demonstrate fairness and consistency in how they treat employees. This not only protects your brand but also strengthens trust and respect across the organisation, building stronger relationships between employers and employees.
- Clarifies Expectations at Every Level
Underperformance can stem from misaligned expectations – either the employee doesn’t know what’s expected, or they interpret things differently. A strong performance management process encourages shared understanding between leaders and team members. This clarity improves focus, collaboration and ultimately, outcomes.
Setting a Leadership Standard
Poor performance is not just an HR issue – it’s a leadership issue, and the tone is always set from the top. When underperformance is ignored, it signals that accountability is negotiable. But when addressed constructively and consistently, it encourages a culture of respect and continuous improvement.
The best-performing organisations are not those that avoid performance problems – they’re the ones that normalise feedback and help people learn and grow. A proactive approach avoids unnecessary terminations, legal headaches, and costly turnover. It’s far more efficient to course-correct than to rebuild.
It’s important to note, that as a leader, your role is not to micromanage but to empower, equip, and ensure that every leader in the organisation does their part in upholding performance standards. Because when everyone knows what’s expected, excellence becomes the norm.
If you ever have any questions on how best to manage poor performance to support a respectful and collaborative culture, we are here to help.
