John had been managing a small team of five for the past year, and he was proud of what they had accomplished together. They had delivered several successful projects on time and under budget, and John was confident that they were on track to meet their targets for the year. However, there was one team member who was not pulling their weight, and it was starting to become a major source of frustration for John.

Samantha had joined the team six months ago as a junior software developer, and she had shown a lot of promise during her initial training. However, as time went on, it became clear that she was struggling to keep up with the rest of the team. She was constantly making mistakes, missing deadlines, and requiring extra supervision and guidance from John.

John had tried everything he could think of to help Samantha improve, from providing extra training and support to giving her more time to complete her tasks. But nothing seemed to be working, and her poor performance was starting to impact the rest of the team as well.

Does this kind of scenario sound familiar to you? Do you as a manager or business owner have a Samantha on your hands? Do you have managers internally that are facing the same issues? If you answered yes, you would be one of the 50% of business owners we encounter here at Bespoke HR with performance based people issues.

Yes, ‘John’ and ‘Samantha’ are hypothetical characters, but represent the many clients we work with who express the same frustrations in their business. John is often perplexed by Samantha’s consistent underperformance. She has great potential, but her work lately has been below the team’s standard.

Our new auditing tool, The People Success Scorecard provides a roadmap and tailored recommendations based on common and universal frustration points and challenges when it comes to managing people. Using the scorecard, here is how John might tackle Samantha’s performance.

Step 1: John takes the People Success Scorecard

Realising that people management and performance can’t be separated from the overall health of the business, John takes the 15-minute, 59-question audit provided by the People Success Scorecard. He pays particular attention to the sections on Lead, Communicate and Perform.

Step 2: Reviewing the results

Once he completes the audit, John reviews the detailed, tailored people plan and takes note of the recommendations and areas of improvement flagged by the Scorecard. He discovers that his leadership style might lack clarity in setting expectations and that the existing communication methods may not suit every team member, including Samantha.

Step 3: Implementing changes

Taking these insights to heart, John revisits how he sets expectations and communicates with his team. He schedules a one-on-one with Samantha to openly discuss performance, employing a more tailored communication style geared toward her needs and based on the recommendations the scorecard report provided.

Step 4: Targeted training & support

The Scorecard also flags Perform as an area for improvement. John decides to provide Samantha with targeted resources to help her improve her coding skills. He also pairs her with a mentor within the team to provide more direct, day-to-day support.

Step 5: Follow-up and feedback

Following the tailored roadmap from the Scorecard, John schedules regular check-ins with Samantha to track her progress, offer feedback, and adjust strategies as necessary.

Step 6: Re-evaluate

After a few months, John takes the People Success Scorecard again to gauge the impact of the changes he’s implemented. Not only does he find that his scores in the problematic categories have improved, but Samantha’s performance has significantly picked up as well.

By taking a structured, data-driven approach to solving a complex problem, John successfully turns a challenging employee situation into an opportunity for growth—for both Samantha and himself. All it took was 15 minutes to take the People Success Scorecard and the willingness to act upon its valuable insights.

Did you want to complete your own scorecard? Take the FREE People Success Scorecard today.