(Time to read this Blog is about 4 minutes)

Before we get to the main topic, here are a few things to get you thinking or smiling:

1. My Biz Quote of the week:
   “Don’t try to build your business success on the backs of underpaid employees.  Build success through the enthusiastic contribution of well-trained, well-paid, empowered and engaged Team members.” 
   …Donald Cooper.
2. Quick Biz Tip:
   What important info are you leaving out?
    
   I keep getting electronic Appointment Notices from Toronto Western Hospital with an important piece of information missing.  Hospitals are huge and confusing places and, as ‘customers’, were there when we’re likely stressed and concerned.
    
   But these Appointment Notices never tell me which floor my appointment is on and which bank of elevators to use to get where I need to go. Telling me to go to the “3rd Floor via the East Elevators” would be helpful.  Why don’t they include this info? Maybe, because they know where they are and they assume that we know where they are.
    
   So, what are you assuming that your customers know…that they may not?  What important info are you leaving out?  How are you causing unnecessary stress…and how will you fix that?
    
3. Not your average Princess. Princess Salma, the 23-year-old daughter of King Abdullah of Jordan, is a jet fighter pilot in the Royal Jordanian Air Force.
    
4. 10 biggest Industries by Revenue in Canada vs the USA: The differences are most interesting.
    
   
5. How I can be helpful. If your business, Association or local Chamber of Commerce has a management Conference coming up in the next year, my bottom-line insights on how to sell more, manage smarter, grow your bottom line…and have a life can be transformational.  For more info on possible titles and all the additional value I deliver, I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com.
    
6. An important ‘Free Biz Tool’ from Donald C. I’ve just created an insightful new Biz Tool for one of my Biz Coaching clients.  To download the Tool, ‘The Top 10 things good employees want…how do you stack up?’  just Click Here.

Now, to this week’s important topic:

4 key questions to ask your non-performers:    

Failure to deal with non-performance is one of the biggest problems in many businesses today.  Non-performers often ‘fly under the radar’ because there are not clear standards, or performance is not being measured.  Or, managers don’t like having difficult conversations…or, they fear that they’ll struggle to find a replacement for a terminated non-performer, so they adopt a ‘better the devil we know…’  position.   None of these options will end well!

The first step to dealing with non-performance is to have clear and reasonable standards of performance, appearance and behaviour, to communicate them effectively and live them consistently.  In fact, as business owners, leaders or managers, our 1^st job is ‘Clarity’ about 10 specific things.  Many great ideas can come from the bottom up in an organization, but ‘clarity’ can only come from the top down.  

For more on the importance of ‘Clarity’ in your business, Click Here to download my Biz Tool #A-4, ‘The Clarity Tool’ and rate your businesses clarity out of a possible 100.  You’ll be amazed at the results.

Bonus tip:  Create a culture of clarity, commitment, urgency and accountability.

Every business talks about ‘goals, targets, aims and objectives’.   Replace all those weak and wishy-washy words that leave way too much wiggle room to not perform with one word                   …‘commitments’.  Nobody cares what we aim to do. They want to know what we ‘commit’ to do.  When we change our language, we change our culture.  Without clarity and commitment, there is no accountability.

This brings us to the ‘4 Questions to ask non-performers’.  A ‘non-performer’ can be defined as someone who:

1. Fails to live up to our clear, reasonable and effectively communicated standards of performance, appearance and behaviour.
2. Acts in a way that is inconsistent with our clear and effectively communicated ‘Statement of Values’.
3. Consistently fails to meet their agreed commitments for tasks or projects.  

Here are the 4 questions:

1. With regard to ___________________, do you understand what we’re committed to as a business, or what you committed to in the way of specific performance
    
   The answer to Question #1 will be a simple “Yes” or “No”.  If they answer “Yes, I understand.” move on to Question #2.  If they say they didn’t understand the commitment, there are two possibilities.
   1. The 1^st possibility is that they truly didn’t understand, because we didn’t create clarity. That’s on us and we need to fix it by being more clear.
       
   2. The 2^nd possibility is that they understood the commitment perfectly and they’re just being ‘weasels’. They’re trying to make their non-performance your fault.  In my experience, at least 75% of the time that people say they didn’t understand, they’re just being weasels. Get rid of weasels …they’re killing you.
       
2. Do you support that commitment?  ‘Yes’ or ‘No’.
   If they answer, “Yes, I agree with the commitment.”  move on to Question #3.
   If they answer, “No, I don’t agree with that commitment” there are 3 possibilities: 
   1. 1. They can engage you in respectful debate to get you to change your mind about the necessity or importance of that commitment. This takes real courage on their part. Respect that.
      2. They can change their mind and ‘get with the program’.
      3. They can leave.
3. Can you make it happen?   Is anything preventing you from making it happen?
   If they answer, “Yes, I can make it happen.”  move on to question #4.
    
   If they answer, “No, I cannot make it happen.” ask them, “Is anything preventing you from making it happen, because I’m here to help, empower and remove roadblocks.”  If something is truly preventing them from making it happen, commit to fixing the problem and give them another opportunity to perform.
    
   If nothing is preventing them from making it happen, and they agree that they just can’t make it happen, either there’s some other position in the business in which they could perform satisfactorily, or they need to be ‘coached’ out of the business.
    
4. When will we see it happen?
    
   If they understand and agree with the commitment and they state that they can make it happen, negotiate a reasonable time by which you will see it happen.  Document that commitment and follow up diligently.  The world is run by those who follow up.
     
   Make it clear (in writing) that failure to make it happen by the agreed date, will result in a change in responsibilities or dismissal.

Note: When the time finally comes to terminate someone, it’s essential to have that written record of non-performance or toxicity and proof that they’ve been talked to repeatedly about the need to get their act together, including the repercussions if they don’t, when those conversations took place, and what the result was, or wasn’t. 

If you get sued for ‘wrongful dismissal’, the side with the best documentation generally wins. It’s also important to seek guidance from an experienced labour lawyer. Getting rid of non-performing or toxic team members can be tricky…especially if you’ve ignored the problem for some time. 

If you’d like to chat about how to create a culture of clarity, commitment, engagement, accountability and profitability in your business, perhaps we should chat.  I’m easy to find at donald@donaldcooper.com.

That’s it for this week…

Stay safe…live brilliantly!       

Donald Cooper 

Donald Cooper speaks and coaches internationally on management, marketing, and profitability.  He can be reached by email at donald@donaldcooper.com in Toronto, Canada.