Feb 12, 2026

How to Manage Underperforming Employees

You've invested time and money in training your employees to meet or exceed the performance expectations you set for your company. But sometimes things go wrong. Read through for tips on how to motivate and refocus individuals before you have to let them go.

A recent study conducted by CultureAmp, a company dedicated to helping companies improve employee engagement, found that underperforming employees account for 4% of a company's workforce. The study identified three important reasons that explain employee underperformance. They are:

1. Underperformers are not motivated, because they don't see a clear path to achieving their career goals.
2. They feel that they are working at a job that does not take advantage of their strengths.
3. They do not feel they have the support of their managers.

How to solve the problems

To address the first issue, managers need to clearly identify the goals of the organization and how the employee's performance enhances those goals. The underperformer needs to see that they and the company have shared goals. When the employee succeeds, the company succeeds as well. One strategy is to identify where in the process for completing tasks the employee does not meet the standard. Once that has been detected, you may want to pair the underperforming employee with a strong team member to help strengthen their skills in that particular area.

In the second case, if employees do not see themselves as being part of the company in the long term, it is very possible that they are not putting in the effort in the here and now. Interestingly, some 68% of underperformers responded that they were "happy with my current role relative to what was described to me." Compared with the favorable 89% of high-performing respondents, the underperformers' percentage is lower by more than 20 points.

This seems to indicate a miscommunication in the hiring or the onboarding process. The employees feel that they are being asked to deliver on a job they did not sign up for. They may feel uncertain as to how they ended up in the position in the first place. One thing that can be done early in the tenure of the employee is to directly ask the question "Is your job meeting your expectations?" The same question can be asked of long-term employees who have shown a downturn in performance. You will want to play to the strengths, motives and goals of the employees if they have been solid performers up to this point.

Look toward management

As far as the third point is concerned, it is entirely possible that the underperformers are not being managed effectively. That may mean that the manager is not providing them with what they need to be successful. This is no small issue, as poor managers come up during an exit interview as one of the top three reasons why employees leave a company. You may want to speak to other employees managed by this person to see if the problem is unique to the underperformer or is more widespread.

If it comes to light that the manager is the issue, then the company may want to reassign the manager or provide additional professional development for them. If the situation is unique to the underperforming employee, then the company needs to take steps to mediate between the two parties to see what can be done to help the employee succeed. Sometimes the chemistry between two people just does not work. Consider moving the employee to another manager to see if they can improve their performance.

Data suggests that poor performance may not be the fault of the underperforming employee. It is incumbent on the company to identify the reasons and mitigate them as quickly as possible. There is a lot riding on this type of negativity in terms of employee morale and potential turnover. Bringing an underperforming employee up to company standards benefits all stakeholders in the long term.  

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