Address Underperformance Early: Don’t Wait for a Crisis

Address underperformance early with this practical manager’s guide to managing employee performance and early intervention at work. Discover how this performance management podcast breaks down real-world strategies for handling underperforming employees and having productive tough conversations. Listen to gain concrete steps you can use this week to spot issues sooner, give better performance feedback, and support employee development before problems become crises.

What You'll Learn:

• How to recognize early, observable signs of underperformance before they escalate into serious performance problems.
• A simple framework for initiating low-stakes, collaborative performance conversations instead of high-stakes disciplinary meetings.
• Practical tips for how to give performance feedback that is specific, objective, and focused on behaviors rather than personal judgments.
• Ways to document what you’re seeing, what was discussed, and agreed next steps so you protect both the employee and the organization.
• How to turn a difficult performance discussion into an employee development strategy that builds skills and confidence.
• Concrete examples that debunk common myths about “waiting it out” and why performance rarely self-corrects without timely feedback.
• A short reflection exercise to help you identify one area where this episode applies to your current team or workload right now.
• A simple weekly action habit so you take at least one small, meaningful step to address underperformance early in your real work context.