Somebody is not doing well. It has been true for months. Everyone can see it, nothing has been said, and the tension is quietly affecting the whole team.
Why the delay happens
Because the conversation is unpleasant and there is always something more urgent. So it waits until frustration boils over, and then the conversation happens badly, in one go, about six months of accumulated things.
From the employee's side that arrives as an ambush, and they are not entirely wrong.
First, check it is not you
Before deciding somebody is not capable, ask three questions honestly. Do they know exactly what good looks like in this job? Have they been told, clearly, that they are not meeting it? Do they have what they need to do it?
A surprising share of underperformance is unclear expectations, and no amount of pressure fixes that.
Have the conversation early and specifically
Not "your performance is a concern". That is unanswerable.
"Three invoices last month went out with the wrong GST rate. What is happening there?" is specific, is about work rather than character, and can actually be responded to.
Agree what changes, and by when
What will be different, how it will be measured, and when you will both look at it again. Write it down. Not for legal reasons, but so that in six weeks you are both looking at the same thing rather than two memories.
Then be willing to conclude it
If it does not improve, the fair thing is to end it clearly rather than let it drift for another year. Drifting is worse for them than for you: they are in a job where nobody thinks they are good, and nobody has said so.
Remember who else is watching
Your best people notice what gets tolerated. That is usually the real cost of doing nothing.
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