One of the hardest parts of running anything is dealing with someone who is not performing or not motivated. It is frustrating, it eats time, and most managers handle it by either avoiding it for months or jumping straight to discipline. Neither works. What follows is how to set people up to succeed, how to work out why someone is struggling, and how to run a fair process when it does not improve.
Most Performance Problems Start at the Beginning
A large share of people who are labeled poor performers were never clearly told what good looked like. Before treating anything as a performance problem, check that the basics were done:
- They know specifically what is expected, including standards and deadlines
- They have been trained on the actual task, not just shown it once
- They have the tools, access, and information the job requires
- They get feedback more often than once a year
- Nothing outside work has changed that you do not know about
Getting these right is cheaper than any remedy that comes afterward, and it is what training is actually for. An owner who trains properly can eventually take a day off; one who never does becomes the only person who can do anything.
Find Out Why Before Deciding What
“Not performing” covers several completely different situations, and the response should differ:
- Cannot — a skill or knowledge gap. Train, or restructure the role.
- Does not know they should — an expectations gap. Say it plainly; this is more common than managers believe.
- Is blocked — something in the process, another department, or a tool is stopping them. Fix the system.
- Will not — a genuine motivation or attitude problem. This is the one people assume first and it is the least common.
- Something personal — health, family, money. Frequently temporary, and handled well it buys years of loyalty.
- Wrong role — capable person, wrong seat. Sometimes solvable by moving them.
The Coaching Conversation
- Have it early and privately, while it is small. Managers who wait until they are angry have already made it harder.
- Open with the specific observation, not a character judgment: “the last three orders went out a day late” rather than “you are careless.”
- Then stop and listen. This is where you find out which of the six situations above you are in, and it only works if you genuinely ask.
- Agree what changes, by when, and how you will both know.
- Write down what you agreed, briefly, and send it. Not as a threat — as a shared record.
- Follow up when you said you would. Not following up teaches everyone that the standard is optional.
- Say so when it improves. Feedback that only ever arrives when something is wrong stops being useful.
Motivation Is Mostly Not Money
Pay has to be fair, and unfair pay will absolutely demotivate people. Above that threshold, what reliably drives engagement is fairly consistent and mostly free.
- Knowing the work matters and seeing where it goes.
- Some control over how the job is done.
- Getting better at something, and being given the chance to.
- Being told when they did well, specifically and reasonably soon.
- Being treated consistently. Nothing corrodes a small team faster than one person operating under different rules.
- A manager who deals with problems. Tolerating a bad performer punishes everyone who is carrying the load.
Discipline, If It Comes to That
An employer asking how to discipline an under-performing employee usually has not looked at employment law recently. Most situations can be handled with a clear, consistent, documented process — and the process is what protects you as much as it protects them.
- Write your process down and apply it the same way every time. Inconsistency is what turns a defensible dismissal into a claim.
- Progress in steps — informal conversation, documented conversation, written warning, final warning, dismissal — reserving faster action for serious misconduct.
- Document facts, with dates and specifics, not impressions.
- Say what has to change and by when, and give a genuine opportunity to change it.
- Let them respond, and record what they said.
- Get advice before dismissing anyone. Employment law varies by state, and the cost of an hour with an employment lawyer is trivial against the cost of getting it wrong.
- Never discipline in response to a protected complaint. That is retaliation, and it is a separate and serious problem — see harassment at work.
Delivering Bad News
Sooner or later you will have to tell someone something they do not want to hear — no promotion, no raise, a role change, redundancy. Say it early in the conversation rather than burying it after five minutes of preamble, which everyone recognizes and which only prolongs the discomfort.
Be straight about the reason, do not pretend the decision is open when it is not, and give them room to react. Then follow up a few days later, when they have absorbed it and can actually think about what comes next.
See also employee performance reviews and leadership basics for new managers.