Comment 7 – Are people good, bad, or is it more that leaders don't know how our staff works? (Part 3)

When we measure the performance of our staff, simply by watching them work, we usually find that most work within an acceptable range. Statistically, this corresponds to a Gaussian distribution or normal curve.

This means that we are doing well in our personnel selection and work distribution. All this comes from some type of strategy and the experience we have as individuals and businesspeople. Thus, we can have a higher percentage of our staff within the range we expect for the work they must perform.

We also have people at the extremes of the normal curve: those who are outstanding (whom we will review in another comment) and those who are below the standard we set for our company.

We have spent a long time investigating why there are people who perform below the minimum standard that we have defined. So far, we have come to a conclusion: either people are lazy, or their ability and capacity are below the standard. It sounds simple, but it is not. We continue to investigate and delve deeper, and we have expanded this conclusion.

It turns out that when we have staff who perform below the standards we have defined, it is practically our fault: we have them poorly placed. Normally, when we notice that staff are lazy, we find that we have not motivated them adequately or we have them doing tasks that are too simple for them, resulting in low motivation. Of course, it will not always be possible to motivate everyone in the way that each one needs; many factors such as teamwork and chemistry with colleagues influence, and some requirements may not be economically viable for the company. But if we make the effort, we can rescue a lot of quality talent.

On the other hand, when we see that staff do not have the necessary skills or abilities to perform the work assigned, this is clearly an error in our selection of the person. Or we have placed them in a position that is too challenging for the market of staff we can find with the budget set. Again, we have them poorly placed, and here it is advisable to review the person's capabilities to see if we can place them in a position where they can perform well. You will be surprised to find that the person can perform well in a lower position or has skills for roles of responsibility on a horizontal level. There are also cases where we need to promote them to perform well.

My personal conclusion is that when we see our employees not performing as we want, we should analyze the situation from various perspectives. Include the perspective that we made a mistake, either in the position assigned or in the evaluation of their capabilities when hiring them, and I am sure that in this way we can rescue talented staff that we had not discovered.

Manuel Gonzalez