Is It a Performance Problem, or a Management Problem?
- May 12
- 2 min read
Most managers I work with come to me frustrated about an employee. Someone isn't hitting their numbers. Someone keeps making the same mistakes. Someone just doesn't seem to care.
And the first question I always ask is: Have they ever actually done what you're asking them to do?
The answer, more often than people expect, is no.
There's a difference between an employee who can't perform and one who won't. But there's a third category that gets missed almost entirely: an employee who would perform if the conditions were right.
That third category is almost always a management problem wearing a performance costume.
Here's what I mean. A performance problem lives with the employee. They don't have the skill. They're not suited for the role. They've been clearly shown what's expected and consistently choose not to meet it. That's real, it happens, and it needs to be addressed directly.
A management problem looks like this:
Expectations exist in your head but haven't been clearly defined to the employee.
Feedback only happens when something goes wrong.
There's no consistent check-in, no coaching, no early signal that something was off before it became a pattern.
The employee was set up to struggle without anyone intending it.
Both problems show up the same way on the surface: missed goals, frustration, and a manager wondering what to do next. The difference is where the solution lives.
Ken Blanchard's Situational Leadership model makes this distinction practical. The idea is that there's no single "right" way to lead someone. The right approach depends on where that person is in terms of their skill and their motivation for a specific task. A new employee learning a role needs direction and close support. A seasoned employee who's disengaged needs something different entirely; more conversation, more autonomy, more understanding of what's gotten in the way.
When a manager applies the same leadership style to everyone regardless of where they are, people get either too much or too little of what they actually need. That gap, between what the employee needs and what they're getting, is often exactly where "performance problems" live.
Before you decide someone has a performance problem, ask yourself three things:
Have I clearly defined what good looks like in this role in specific and measurable terms?
Have I given consistent feedback, both positive and constructive, not just when things go wrong?
Does this person have what they need, the tools, training, and direction, to be successful?
If the answer to any of those is no, you're looking at a management problem. Fix that first before drawing conclusions about the employee's skill or ability.
This is NOT about letting underperformance slide. It's about being honest with yourself before you have a conversation that might be misdirected, or before you lose someone who could have been great with better support.
The performance conversation is only as effective as the system around it.
So, if someone on your team isn't performing right now — which type of problem do you think you're really dealing with?
P.S. If you're not sure where to start, that's what the free proposal consultation at PCS is for. Book a call here.
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