Handling low performers on a team is one of the worst jobs any leader must do. It's not fun to have conversations with unmotivated employees and try to figure out how you can get them to put in more effort. And it's not fun to have brutally honest conversations with team members who are facing a mismatch between their skills and the new demands on the job.

But handling lower performers is also one of the most important jobs that a leader must do. If you want a truly high-performing team—a team with psychological safety but also accountability—then you can’t just tolerate low performing employees. If you’re trying to build a team where everyone holds each other to a higher standard of performance, then you have demonstrate that higher standard and help others attain it.

Or, you may have to invite that low performer to perform for a different team.

But before you get to that even-less-fun-conversation, there are a few things you can do to help low performers turn around their performance. So, in this episode we’ll outline four actions you can take to help low performers become star teammates:

Study The External Factors

These actions, done one at a time or done in conjunction during a constructive feedback conversation, will help increase the chances of turning a low performer into a high performer—or at least an adequate one and maybe even help them do their best work ever.

//DO YOUR BEST WORK EVER

//ABOUT DAVID

He is the best-selling author of four books about business and leadership. His books have won multiple awards and have been translated into dozens of languages. His insights on leadership and teamwork have been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Harvard Business Review, USAToday, Fast Company, the Financial Times, Bloomberg BusinessWeek, CNN, the BBC, NPR, and CBS This Morning. Since 2017, Burkus has been ranked as one of the world’s top business thought leaders by Thinkers50. As a sought-after international speaker, his TED Talk has been viewed over 2 million times. He’s worked with leaders from organizations across all industries including Google, Stryker, Fidelity, Viacom, and even the US Naval Academy.

A former business school professor, Burkus holds a master’s degree in organizational psychology from the University of Oklahoma, and a doctorate in strategic leadership from Regent University.

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