PIMP your team

When you have a problem employee on your team, it might feel as though s/he is actively trying to underperform. Odds are that it isn't quite that simple. Very few people try to be bad performers, and even those few who do usually have some kind of history behind the poor performance: I once worked with a fella who'd been promised a promotion (when the hiring freeze  - in effect at the time - was lifted). With no further discussions on the subject, his manager hired someone from outside the company to supervise the department. The employee - who justifiably felt as though he'd been passed over - become disgruntled and went from being a high performer to a living example of poor performance.

Whose fault was that? It was his manager's fault, of course. In the end, the employee was terminated; unfortunately, there were no consequences for the manager. The situation might have ended entirely differently had the manager only engaged in a conversation with the young man and explained why the company had decided to hire a supervisor from outside instead of promoting him (or by not making a promise in the first place if he wasn't going to follow through). By his unwillingness to hold an uncomfortable discussion, the manager turned a good employee into a former employee.

Aside from the revenge-seekers, your poor performers are probably trying their best to do a good job, but something is getting in the way:

• They're having personal problems that are distracting them.
• They've always been told that they're perfectly good performers, and have no reason to believe otherwise.
• They're burned out.
• They have too much work to do and not enough time in which to do it.

Your job is to manage these performance problems, and your goal is either to bring the performance up to par or get the poor performer out of the position. This is where the performance improvement plan (PIP) comes in; I prefer to call it a performance improvement management plan (PIMP), mostly because that's the only way I could use that fun graphic at the top of this post. :-)

A PIMP, for those of you who've never used one, is a detailed document that identifies an employee's performance gaps and the actions that the employee can take to close those gaps. Now, before you put together a PIMP, you must spend some time coaching the employee; dragging out a PIMP at the first hint of a performance problem is like using a blowtorch to light a candle.

But if you've provided coaching and guidance, and the employee is still not up to the level you need, a PIMP can be most helpful. If your PIMP is well-written (and you should never implement a PIMP that isn't), it removes the emotions from the situation; if you let your frustration, anger, or dislike of an employee seep into your behavior, it's going to be increasingly difficult to get that employee back up to par. PIMPs deal in cold, hard facts, and that's their strength.

A well-written PIMP:

• Clearly identifies the performance gap(s): "Joe has poor time and task management skills" is not clear, whereas "Joe does not complete assignments on time"  and "Joe doesn't notify project stakeholders of delays to assignments" cannot be misinterpreted.
• Tells the employee what s/he has to do to close the gap: Telling Joe to improve his time management skills will not help him; if he already had that skill, you wouldn't be having this discussion in the first place. Instead, provide actionable steps Joe can take, such as "Set realistic target dates rather than overcommitting;" "If you cannot meet a target date, notify the stakeholders of the delay, give them a reason for the delay, and offer a new target date rather than waiting for them come to you for an update;" or "Complete the new TPS reports cover sheet no later than January 30, 2007."
• Is co-written by the employee and the manager: I know; it seems a bit strange to suggest that the very employee whose performance is at issue should have any say in the process, but this is important. If you allow Joe to participate in the process, then he's less likely to feel as though you're dictating to him, and he's more likely to buy in.
• Identifies a drop-dead date: If you're writing a PIMP, then the employee in question has an established pattern of poor performance. Don't make the mistake of offering an open-ended PIMP. Instead, provide a closing date - say, three months out. Document that the PIMP is in effect until that date, and that further evaluation will be made at that time if the employee meets the requirements specified in the PIMP.
• Clearly states the consequences for failure to meet the requirements: Ideally, working through a PIMP will bring your employee back up to the level you expect; however, sometimes the PIMP doesn't work. Sometimes the employee is a poor fit who's been hiding it; sometimes the requirements of the job have changed and the employee can't make the leap to the new requirements; sometimes, the employee's heart just isn't in it any longer. Because this possibility exists, you need to include some verbiage in the PIMP that makes it clear that the document specifies minimum requirements for success in the employee's role, and failure to meet the requirements documented in the PIMP may result in disciplinary action.

After you and Joe have agreed on the PIMP, you'll each want to sign it; consider it a contract between manager and employee. And if Joe refuses to sign it, you'll want to document that - right in front of him.

Writing the PIMP is really the first step of managing an employee's poor performance. You need to follow through with regular meetings to provide feedback and additional guidance. Remember, the PIMP says it all; Joe either meets the targets (in which case he'll be back to his normal self) or he doesn't (in which case you can initiate the disciplinary process with the knowledge that you've done everything you can to help). Either way, you've made progress toward making your team stronger.