In my coaching, I spend my of my time working with companies to build top-performing teams. As you can imagine, December is often a fun month for me as I observe teams celebrating their successes and enjoying their bonuses. Then comes the flipside – those people who are let go due to their behavior or performance.
When a team reaches the top-performing level, they are self-directed and motivated by being #1. This requires everyone on the team to do their job at or above clearly defined expectations.
Along with all the celebrations this month, I also observed two people who were let go. In both situations, they had been working for the company for several years. They were not trouble makers. The key criteria for their dismissal was under-performance. They each had been given more than ample time to get up to standard, and they just couldn’t or wouldn’t come through. In both cases, it was a very tough choice for the boss. It was also a wise decision.
To be an effective leader we have to use the right balance of “head” and “heart”. In these instances, a “head” decision was needed. This under-performance was creating stress on the rest of the team. In addition, the boss was frustrated and so was the under-performer. It was a lose-lose-lose situation. It wasn’t much time before both bosses said the same thing: “Why didn’t we do this sooner?”
If you want to be a top-performing team, don’t tolerate under-performance. There is a difference between hurting someone and harming them. When you fire someone, there is a good chance they will be hurt. If you tolerate poor performance, you harm the whole team. The bottom line: It is better to hurt than harm
