When Poor Performance Persists

We all hit patches of poor performance every now and
then. Whether due to lack of motivation, illness, or pure exhaustion,
we can’t always be at our best. But what do you do with persistently
poor performers?

Leaders have a responsibility for addressing poor performers and
helping them overcome their challenges. However, many leaders need help
understanding the nature of persistently poor performance and what to
do about it.

This article provides a poor performance case study and strategies for overcoming performance related challenges.

The Case: Devon is a biology professor at a small
liberal arts college. Since joining the biology faculty in 2008, Devon
has yet to receive satisfactory student teaching evaluations. For four
consecutive semesters Devon has been in the lowest quartile in the
Biology Department and across the college. Simply put, Devon is a low
performing teacher.

Devon consistently blames the low teaching evaluations on external
factors. If it isn’t unmotivated students, it’s the heavy teaching load
or the “flawed rating system” by which faculty are evaluated.

Despite the consistently poor feedback from students, Devon continues
to use teaching methods that, although familiar, are clearly not
helping students learn. The department chair in biology has a meeting
scheduled with Devon to discuss his teaching evaluations. What should
the chair say/do to facilitate a switch in Devon’s performance?

The Problem: What are the issues at play in this case?
In addition to using ineffective teaching methods, there are some other
interesting dynamics at play. First, there is resistance to negative
feedback. Devon is clearly attributing his poor performance to external
factors to preserve his self-image.

There is a substantial amount of research in social-psychology and
communication studies, which suggests that humans rationalize
information to “fit” their idealized image of themselves (e.g., “I’m a
good teacher, so my poor evaluations must be the result of bad
students).

The second issue is that Devon is resistant to change. Despite the poor
feedback, Devon continues to use ineffective teaching methods, which
only perpetuate the cycle of poor performance.

How to Address Poor Performance:
If you were Devon’s department chair, how would you motivate a change in Devon?

Using the principles from Chip and Dan Heath’s forthcoming book, “Switch: How to change things when change is hard,” there are three steps for helping Devon make this much-needed switch.

First, you need to “direct the rider” (the rational appeal). Situate
Devon’s evaluation data for him to see where he ranks among his peers.
Require Devon to observe a high performer’s class in the department.
Heath & Heath call this “looking for the bright spots” or
identifying what high performers are doing and copying it.

Next you need to “motivate the elephant” (emotional appeal). Connect
with Devon’s emotions to motivate him to improve his teaching. Help him
feel less overwhelmed by shrinking the change. Instead of expecting him
to rise to the 95th percentile, set a more realistic goal of making a
15% improvement by the end of the next term, and celebrate small
progress along the way. Let him know that he’s well on his way to
making that small improvement. Develop Devon’s teaching by sitting down
with him for a 30 minute consultation, where you explore his goals for
his next lesson and how he hopes to achieve them. Shrinking the
challenge and developing people are two important strategies for
overcoming poor performance and making a switch.

Finally, if these strategies don’t work, “shape the path.” Alter the
environment to facilitate change. This could include small, low-cost
changes like reserving 20 minutes at monthly staff meetings to talk
about the importance of teaching and discuss teaching-related questions
in a large group. You could also alter the path by instituting peer
observations to help normalize discussions of teaching among the
faculty. Small environmental or cultural changes can go along way in
shedding light on poor performance and/or making success the norm! Visit www.drgroscurth.com