In the newest season of NBC's The Office, Andy Bernard -- self-admittedly the worst paper salesman at Dunder-Mifflin's Scranton branch -- has been promoted to office manager.
As a fan of the show, I find his unorthodox management style pretty hilarious. To motivate the crew and impress his superiors, Andy recently promised the employees that they could tattoo whatever they wanted on his derriere if they met brand new and extremely high company sales goals. The tactic was a huge success, with even the primary office slacker and the most disgruntled employee jumping on the bandwagon.
In real life, no executive would expect a supervisor to go to such an extreme or sanction this type of management approach. But senior leaders are expected to motivate their employees and they are also expected to take action when employees are not doing their jobs and efforts to bring about change fail.
In the federal workplace, unfortunately, employees believe that their leaders too often turn a blind eye to those who are not meeting basic performance standards, and that is no laughing matter. According to the Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey data just released, only 30 percent of federal employees believe that their leaders take steps to deal with poor performers.
It's a supervisor's responsibility to take action regarding poor performers -- both as a team leader and as a steward of taxpayer dollars -- even as difficult and cumbersome as the process may be. The percentage of poor performers in the federal government is small, but they have a disproportionately large and negative impact on an organization if unaddressed.
Many of the federal leaders I come into contact with accept responsibility, and also acknowledge that they should do more but say they need more support from their senior leaders and human resources. They add that they have tried to do the right thing around dealing with poor performers but have not been supported. As result, they're left scarred by the experience even when they prevail.
To help federal managers deal with poor performers effectively, here are a few ideas for senior leaders on how to best support their subordinate supervisors in this effort:
- Let employees know help is available for individuals with performance issues. The first goal in dealing with poor performance is not to remove employees but to help them be successful in the job. It should be clear to all employees that help is available if needed to perform well. It should be equally clear, however, that if ultimately an employee cannot or will not perform at an acceptable level, they cannot remain in the job.
Do you have success stories or ideas for how senior leaders can best support their supervisors in dealing with poor performers effectively? Please share your thoughts by adding a comment below, or send an email to me at fedcoach@ourpublicservice.org.
Originally posted at the Washington Post.