Under-Performers
Don’t let your problems fester.
Your top performers have to spend time fixing the poor performer’s mistakes or covering the extra work they are not completing. It’s demotivating—why are they even bothering to make an effort when the under-performer gets paid the same amount for doing so little?
If someone is not pulling their weight, start by diagnosing the problem. Are they demotivated? Do they need more training? Is there a miscommunication in their responsibilities? Do they have interpersonal problems on their current team?
The next step is to fix the problem! Have a series of short meetings (daily? weekly?) to check in with them on their motivation, their productivity, and/or their progress on their tasks. Or get them into a training class to build a needed skill. Or have an experienced co-worker train them in the needed skills. Or transfer them to a team that does not include the person who they find difficult to work with.
If you can fix the problem in one of these ways, then great! But don’t tolerate poor performance just because “it’s hard to find and hire new people.” If the under-performer is not pulling their weight, you might not be replacing them—you might be replacing the top performers who quit because they are so demotivated by working with the under-performer.
(image source: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/177399672814252364/)