Step 5 - Clarify Acceptable Behavior

When talking about performance, use terms such as “performance gaps” rather than failures, errors, etc., because people attach themselves to words such as failure, problem, and errors.  Moreover, explaining the reason for the rule, policy, procedure, etc. helps the employee understand that you are enforcing organizational rules, norms, policies, procedures, and that it is not personal.   Even making a statement similar to, “Jane, this is about the gap I see in the performance, but as a supervisor I am responsible to ensure the policies are followed, and the performance meets certain standards.”

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Be prepared to show the gap between the performance expectation (law, rule, policy, procedure, or other expectations), and the observed performance in the form of data, process steps, finished product, technique, etc.  As an example: “Our performance expectations for the ‘Records Division’ says, ‘Employees will index report records at an average rate of 300 per hour…’ but the performance I have seen shows an average of 260 per hour during your shift, so how do we bridge the gap between 260 and minimally 300 per hour, which is the expectation?”

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In this example, the supervisor ties the expectation of “300 per hour” to the performance and shows the gap between 260 (actual performance) and the 300 (expectation), then asks how “we bridge the gap,” in essence asking the employee how they expect to change the behavior.

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The leader should have already determined if there was a lack of training, lack of material, or some other external cause that was beyond the control of the employee.  Having done this ahead of time allows the leader to take into account possible mitigating circumstances that may otherwise have been overlooked, and the very reason for the poor performance.

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Explained in the context of a “performance gap” and not as a “failure, error, etc.” helps the employee understand that their performance was unacceptable, not the person.  By tying the performance to a law, policy, procedure, or other documented performance expectation, reinforces the organizational expectation.

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Step 5 addresses the usual failure of:   Failure to focus on clear behavior expectations to achieve organizational goals.