Breaking News! Fear Does Not Improve Performance

The oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.
H P Lovecraft

How do we bring out the best in people at work?  How do we improve performance? 

Unfortunately, now, there is no cookie-cutter formula that I can give you to roll out to everyone on your team.

I can give you an example of what not to do.

A new team member to a new role with minimum knowledge of the work required.  They are trained each day and they constantly check that their performance is improving.  They are advised that they are doing really well, and performance is better than satisfactory.  New team member is happy and motivated.  As far as they are aware their employer is happy too.

Three months into the new role, the team member is called into an impromptu, no warning meeting with her immediate manager and the Cultural and Communications Manager (Great Title – assume it means HR manager).

At this meeting, the HR manager informs the team member that her performance is under review and she is reprimanded for various actions such as being late to work, extra long breaks, listening to music and use of mobile phone.  There is no mention about her previous understanding that she is completing her work better than expected.

Prior to this meeting, there had been no indication to this team member that the issues raised were a problem and that she was not meeting the performance standards of the employer. 

A formal Performance Improvement Plan (PIP) is provided to the team member for her to sign with the final statement on that plan that she understands she must comply with the PIP and that failure to do so may result in further disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment.

So, what do you think happens to the performance of the team member with this process?

You guessed it.  Total anxiety is the outcome.  The team member has gone from believing that her performance is better than required for her new role to expecting termination of employment.

Now perhaps the issues raised in the PIP were annoying to the organisation and needed to be addressed.  Wouldn’t it have been better to have a conversation with the team member on a regular basis about these issues?  Why was it necessary to make it such a threatening process?

Neuroscience shows that it is important for trust and performance that your team are in a toward state neurochemically so that fear which creates self-doubt and mistakes is kept to a minimum.  I don’t believe this was the outcome in the example I have provided.  In fact, trust has been broken and perhaps cannot be repaired.

I also understand that there is the overlay of Industrial Law and that employers need to document, document and document everything so that there is evidence of process if legal action is taken.

Surely, there is some middle ground here.  It’s important that we remember we are dealing with people and in my experience most people want to do the best they can at work.  Most of the time when I had an issue with a team member, it was a bit on both sides.  The person hadn’t understood, and I hadn’t explained enough.

Further, ensure you have a proper induction process for your team members that clearly set out the standards you require around work hours, mobile phone use and breaks if these are important standards to your business.

You cannot bring out the best in people at work with fear or a threatening process.  Improving performance requires human understanding for everyone on your team and finding the right way to allow them to move towards the best outcome for all concerned.

Remember all of this and much, much more is provided in my Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Program.  The next program is on 13th and 14th September, 2018.