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 Hello all, could use some advise on a situation I am attempting to deal with. I have 2 Managers who report to me, and in the past several months have seen a steady decline in one of their performance. I have been doing weekly one on ones with both of them for some time now, but can not seem to get the under performing manager to address the issues we have been discussing now for some time. They say they understand, they say they will correct their performance, but it never seems to actually happen. The manager in question has been working in his job (As a manager) for about 7 years now and I am wondering if their heart is just not in it anymore. As a result, their teams morale and performance has been sliding, while the other managers team has been doing well. My real question is, how can I address this managers performance issues, saving them, and their team? OR, does there come a time when I have to face the fact that they are just not up to the task anymore and it's time to make a change? This person has been with our company for 15 years, and has a family at home so I really hate to make a rash decision here, but I recognize that I need to do "something" differently, as his current performance cannot be allowed to continue. (Not meeting with his directs/ doing his one on ones, not following through on commitments, getting the teams schedule out 2 days before the start of the next week, poor team morale, poor team performance, etc.) Any advise is appreciated.... 

SamBeroz's picture

You say you've been discussing it with him for some some time now, what words / examples are you using?  As communication is what the listener does and he hasn't changed his behavior, it sounds like the message isn't getting through.  What would you guess his DISC style is and how has that influenced your communication?  Can you leave the one-on-one's with some mutually agreed actions that you expect to be completed and will follow-up on before you meet again? If he does understand what's being asked for and still not delivering, the nature of your conversation should change to reflect that.  Would he be surprised if you let him go?  If so, for HIS BENEFIT, you may need to more effectively communicate to him where he is relative to your expectations. Good luck - Sam

acao162's picture

Here's my best advice - choose one behaviour you want to see corrected.  Something that will give the manager a "win" and therefore promote him to seek more "wins".  Perhaps the goal is he completes all his O3s before your next O3 with him.  Two wins here, the manager gets credit for doing well & the team gets face time with the manager.

Next week, add another small change, but keep the O3 performance standard.  Keep adding goals and be willing to allow for some backslide one week, so long as it doesn't continue.

Try to help this person help himself.