From Under-Performer to Super-Performer
Transforming a Struggling Remote Employee into a Star Performer Through Intentional Leadership and Support
There are a lot of conversations going on about Remote versus Office work these days. It's clickbait, but I also have some thoughts.
Hot take: If you think offices are better, you probably need to manage better.
I've wanted to write for a while on a topic that might help managers struggling with remote teams be more successful.
My favorite story is about a special lady who went from underperformer to super performer. I'll share some insights on why I think things changed and how you can implement it yourself.
"You changed the trajectory of my career." - Leah Schmitt
Let's set the stage.
It's February 2021. Four months prior, I was part of a small company that was acquired by a much larger organization. I was put in charge of the Marketing Operations team, really defining a true "team" for MOps for the first time, rather than individuals who sort of worked in tandem.
It was a big switch, and it wasn't easy. I was from the smaller company; I hadn't managed before. We were all remote. The team was not TEAMING. On that team was one young professional who had been identified as not living up to her potential. I saw something different.
Leah had been hired just before the pandemic. As in had a few weeks in office before she went home. It was her first big corporate job. As you can imagine, the training was not ramped up for a remote world. The basics of "how to job" and build relationships in an office hadn't been taught. The team at the time was more focused on people staying in lanes as opposed to building up a young new employee that they didn't understand the value of. She internalized that and picked up their habits.
Here's the punchline: Within a year, she was my top employee.
Let's chat about some of the choices you can make to bring around a struggling employee (remote or in the office).
Acknowledge the Struggle
As I mentioned above, Leah wasn't actively trying to perform poorly; she was set up in many ways to fail. Ignoring the history, the time of life that the WORLD was going through, and that there were active roadblocks was key to healing.
Embrace Hope
I guarantee you, even if the employee did a 180, if you have written them off, they will not succeed. A mind already made up will not get you what you want. I believed Leah's apathy and cynicism was tied directly to her environment, not to who she was. You can't be that cynical a year into your first professional job. So I took it on as a challenge.
Ensure Operational Basic Needs are Met
WAY farther into the process than I should have, I learned Leah was working off one monitor. I don't know how ANYONE works off less than two screens. I have four. Get your team the right equipment and make sure they understand WHY they are using two screens. For a while, she only had two screens on her in her office days: I celebrated her success on those days and explained how much more efficient she was.
Process, Process, Process
Also, check your processes. People before process, but sometimes your process is hurting your people. To get ANYTHING done in our team, you had to send an email and politely ask people to do the next step in the process. It was inefficient. We added in a whole lot of processes slowly but surely over the next few months and years to automate steps like that. We established that people assigning next steps was not wrong; it was just your job.
Be Present
It can be so hard to listen. Once you master that, then you have to hear, then you have to figure out what you can change, then you have to follow through. It can take some time to learn this and to really CONNECT. You have to connect, though. Get to know what's going on in their lives. Are they struggling with things at home that you need to have grace for? Are they excited about something new? Do they have a project they want to work on? Leave time for chats.
Train
Ok, I'm as guilty as the next person of throwing people to the wolves. A mentality that says, "I was thrown into the deep end and lived, so you can, too." How rude and privileged. Level up those following you. Make each phase of humanity grow. A learning project isn't always a bad choice, but you should provide plenty of meeting time and documentation so they can ask questions and not drown. This is for sure my weakest area, but one I'm trying to grow on. Adding biweekly office hours has helped.
That said, I showed Leah this before I published it, and she said that being thrown to the wolves now and then showed her that I believed in her. She's grateful for those because it emphasized my trust and confidence in her skills. So train, but don't do it for them.
Measure the Metrics
Little mistakes in preview emails sent to senior leaders called attention to Leah in a negative, but very visible light. I built a simple spreadsheet that I had her fill out when I reviewed her emails. The goal was for her to get to a 90% accuracy rating on reviews done by her before they were sent to the rest of the team. It was a clear, simple system that also provided her a way to consistently remember what to check (Process, Process, Process).
Leah has been promoted off my team [stolen more like by two women I deeply admire]. She's widely known as the rockstar I've always known was inside her. I'm barely remembered as having been a marketer these days. A lot has changed, but our mutual respect and admiration are still strong.
We were together recently, and I mentioned wanting to write this article. I offered to make it anonymous, but she enthusiastically offered to be a part of it. She said she wasn't going to cry when she spoke about what my attention and INTENTION did for her, but we both got teary-eyed.
She told me I changed the trajectory of her career. I can't imagine a greater compliment as someone's leader. As a boss, you ALWAYS have the option to do that, but so often the positive changes are laid to the side and only the negative ones are remembered. Try. Give your employees your all. I guarantee you, you'll see the return on the ones who want it.
Manage well, my friends. You have the power to change lives for the better.
