Underperformers - Finding the Root Cause By Akhil Shahani

Let's go back to age old wisdom which says that all men are not made equal. And as the boss of a diversified workforce, you probably believe in that more than anyone else. In any group, you will find overachievers and underperformers. While getting rid of the latter may seem an obvious solution, it's not necessarily the best or the right thing to do.

Often, a below par performance has more to do with external circumstances, than any inherent laziness or lack of talent in the individual. As the senior person in the organization, it is your responsibility to find out the real reasons behind the poor showing of an underperformer, and take steps to remedy the situation.

In many cases you may find that some simple changes can work wonders. The trick is to get to the bottom of things. Here is a list of the most common causes of poor performance.

No clarity of job description. Oh, that's just great! Say that you're looking to deepen existing client relationships, but your sales manager believes that his priority is to recruit new clients. Obviously, you think he doesn't do his job.

This can be rectified by laying down clear job descriptions for important, if not all employees. Put down key deliverables, being as specific as possible. Once expectations are put in writing, there's far less room for confusion.

Inadequate support or resources. You can't blame employees for turning out a poor show if they don't have the necessary tools. If your finance manager is doing the job of the cost accountant in addition to trying to manage her own responsibilities, you need to reward her instead of pulling her up on her slip ups!

Evaluate the resource needs of your staff from time to time, and do your best to fulfil them. Sure, you can't always satisfy all their needs, but any support from your side will result in a more motivated workforce.

Lack of training. Training is usually looked upon as a cost rather than an investment, and that's where the problem lies. If you expect your employees to cope with the growth and increasing complexity of the business, you must make sure they have the necessary skills.

Formulate a training plan and stick to it. Let the results speak for themselves.

External distractions. Imagine writing a strategy paper if the neighboring building is undergoing repairs. Or sitting in an area adjoining the copier station!

Outside factors such as noise, excessive heat or even a disruptive neighbor can reduce the most capable people to underperformers. Fortunately, this situation can usually be easily remedied (except in the case of the latter) with some rearrangement.

Personal issues. What do you do when a top performer suddenly slacks off? Sit down with her or him and probe gently, taking care not to seem too interfering. Personal problems do get in the way of performance, and if you have the patience to wait it out, your underperformer will soon return to his or her winning ways.

Dealing with underperformers is a difficult, yet essential task. Make sure that you do what is fair, else you might just be throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

Are Companies Training Their Employees Right? By Akhil Shahani

Companies spend a small fortune each year on training their employees. Right from human resources personnel to line managers, everyone swears by the "T" word, almost as if it makes the world go round. Scratch the surface a bit; ask them about the real results they achieved from the last training program they were involved in and you might get a very different reaction. We think training might be the most misused, misunderstood, overestimated, yet underutilized tool in corporate history... well, maybe not quite, but you get the picture.

So, are we saying that companies that invest in training their employees have got it all wrong? Aw, give us a break! The last thing to do is throw the baby out with the bath water. Allow us to explain.

Don't think of it as annual ritual. We think that most businesses approach training like it was some kind of festive tradition - do it once a year and be done with it. Training is not an isolated experience, and learning isn't something that can be swallowed in three quick gulps. Like it or not, every person is continuously engaged in the training process - how would they learn, otherwise? Most real training happens during the normal course of a work routine, the more people go about their tasks, the more they learn. And that which is learned during this type of process, is rarely forgotten, unlike the information contained in glossy presentations and glib talks that form the essence of a lot of training programs!

Which brings us to our next point, and that is, there must be transfer of knowledge. The holy purpose underlying the efforts of all those firms training their employees must be that the trainee learns something, which can be put to good use, during the normal course of work. Knowledge by itself is of no value, unless it can find application of some sort. And since we've already said that transference happens best when one is on-the-job, it's easy to see that one feeds off the other. If we change our mindset to one that believes that training is not a one-off, but "infinitely-on" activity, and formalize the everyday learning a little bit, it can really pay off! Let's take the example of a research company - regular sharing of information among team members about new resources, techniques and concepts, multiplies the knowledge capital right away. Isn't that a type of training, in itself? Of course, there are plenty of situations where a structured training program is called for, like when new technology is involved, or a fresh recruit has to be taught a manufacturing process. But don't forget that the real learning begins once the training program ends.

We talked about results earlier. Many senior executives mistakenly believe that training their employees is a waste of time and money, because the results are not there to see. Hold on, a bit. Could this merely be a case of myopic hindsight? What efforts are being made to ensure that the goals of the training function are in sync with the company's objectives? Has someone tried to align the two? If so, what were the expected deliverables? You know what we're getting at. On the other hand, could it be that the process is not working because of practical limitations, such as the inability to gather all concerned at one place at one time? Technology has found a way around this - companies such as Walk the Talk offer a host of CD based training materials that enable people to learn when they can, where they can.

Get people together. If the newly gained knowledge is applied as it should be, it is likely to impact others within the company. So, take the big picture into account. Take the example of a new sales reporting or invoicing system primarily used by the accounts department - make sure the sales and customer service teams know about it too. And finally, make sure that senior management is involved at important times. If the CEO believes in the worth of training, and says so, the guys down the line have no choice but to believe it!

Paying attention to some of these ideas might make a big difference to the success of your company's training initiatives. Do give it a try.