The progress of one of my reportees, an Assistant Product Manager, has stalled. Not in terms of improving their skills, but in terms of just fulfilling their duties.
I have frequently provided actionable suggestions for how to develop and advance along with objective evaluation. Simply put, there has been zero progress.
Additionally, they have repeatedly demanded promotions.
Even when there is no progress being made, it is tremendously frustrating to keep defending them in front of the leadership.
Furthermore, I have seen that their LinkedIn page has been in premium status for the past two quarters (after an incident that received extremely negative leadership feedback).
My hypothesis is that they are looking for work elsewhere.
How can I determine whether they are job hunting and whether I should look for a backup as I am a new people manager? And how can I be certain that they make progress in completing their tasks?
I constantly assist them in up-skilling, go above and beyond to emphasize that doing XYZ will help them get promoted, etc. However, there is no reciprocity. It irritates me.
When was the last time you spoke with them about their professional development? Do you realize their motivations for seeking a promotion and their ultimate goal?
Have you gotten right to the point and asked them why they would leave the company?
You have to comprehend your people. Also, keep in mind that being transparent is nice; if they keep asking for promotions despite making little or no progress, you arenât being clear enough about your expectations for their progress.
Youâll see that none of this is related to a specific career. Whether they are a PM or something else is irrelevant.
We meet one-on-one once a week, and every time we do, I talk to them about these things.
Do you realize their motivations for seeking a promotion and their ultimate goal?
Since they donât appear to possess the necessary skills for the new post at this point, it appears that their YoE is the reason they are asking a promotion.
Have you gotten right to the point and asked them why they would leave the company?
No, I have not.
if they keep asking for promotions despite making little or no progress, you arenât being clear enough about your expectations for their progress.
@KaranTrivedi, 1:1 talks are not career development discussions. Set up a genuine dialogue regarding professional development and prepare some questions for it in advance.
You seem like someone who would gain from management coaching. To find out if thatâs an option, speak with your manager or HR.
I strongly advise you to cease believing that you need to defend everyone to senior management. Iâve been doing this for a long time. You claim you have a reportee who is failing to complete their tasks and isnât even making any headway. Youâve given them a ton of feedback and action items, but nothing has changed. This sounds like a worker you want to dismiss, to be honest. Itâs advantageous if they are looking for work because it frees up a job opening for someone who will genuinely contribute. I advise you to discuss your concerns with your management because you will eventually need to discuss them with HR. Even if you excel as a coach and people manager, you are going to have some phenomenal people, some ok ones, and some ridiculously terrible ones.
@MarcoSilva It makes sense in this case. My boss, however, asserts that I am accountable and that my reportee is accountable from the standpoint of impact. It appears that I am failing at managing people well because I brought up their failure in front of the senior management.
So, I would agree that both you and the employee are responsible for seeing that the task is completed. But I would argue that it actually signifies the complete opposite of what you would assume. Accountability calls on you to swiftly identify their shortcomings so you can either help them succeed or let them go so someone else can succeed.
This is particularly challenging for new people managers since they will doubt their judgement when dealing with low performers and be bullied by high performers. Practically speaking, it seems like this individual has to be fired. You must inform your supervisor immediately that they are failing, why they are failing, and what you have attempted if you want it to happen. The worst scenario for you is to keep this from your management because in that case you are not truly responsible for your team and are taking on all the responsibility. Stop fearing that you wonât be able to effectively manage everyone. No effective manager would ever claim to be able to turn every worker into a star performer. Think about managing a sports team. While itâs important to train the players you have to succeed, itâs also important to assess your talent to ensure that you have the correct people on your team and, if necessary, trade players or remove them altogether.
Does your company have a definite career development framework for the PM route?
The phrase ânot in terms of up-skillingâ implies that there are actual objectives or competences that this person is being assessed against.
I concur with your idea that they have given up and checked out if they arenât finishing things.
There are so many things I need to know or ask for in order to be able to offer greater advice here, but when Iâm in charge of a more junior PM like this, I usually:
Regularly check in and make specific requests (such as, âI observed there hasnât been movement on X. How can I help you and what is preventing you?â)
Get an accurate sense of their attitude by asking questions such, âHow do you feel about your job satisfaction on a scale of â1-10â?â
Regardless of their choice, publicly support them in order to try and create a safe environment (e.g., âHey, I care about your happiness and success in this role even if itâs not here at org. What can I do to best support you and what would be the ideal next step for your development?â)
In the end, if this person is examined and has already made up their mind, you can only really manage that situation. Focus on the reality that this is just another human doing their best and coping with something that is manifesting in this way rather than taking it personally or judging them for the mental state they are in.
Yes, we do. We have measurable milestones for folks to achieve as they demonstrate progress.
Regularly check in and make specific requests (such as, âI observed there hasnât been movement on X. How can I help you and what is preventing you?â)
We have weekly 1:1s and during the week as well, I keep asking them this exact question and they refuse to answer. Sit there quietly with their video turned off. It is draining for me to keep speculating their challenges and offering help, only to be ignored/rejected.
Get an accurate sense of their attitude by asking questions such, âHow do you feel about your job satisfaction on a scale of â1-10â?â
Will try this. However, I am skeptical of getting an honest answer.
Regardless of their choice, publicly support them in order to try and create a safe environment
Yes, I have always supported them and genuinely want them to grow, and will continue to do so.
Why are they demanding a promotion so often? Do they deserve a promotion. If not, why? If so, why wonât you give them one?
Youâre their manager. Why are you not responsible for their promotion? Why are you making it seem like youâre a colleague and youâre helping them strategize?
Itâs clear they are looking for clear tangibles to invest any more of their time and/or energy into this business and itâs clearly not being respected.
From the sounds of it, you donât seem to see âthemâ but rather what they represent; their output. âHow do I get them to continue demonstrating progress?â This person is like a metric to you? Whereâs the empathy here?
What exactly was the feedback? Was it warranted? Were they discussing something that could be resolved? What actions did you take to figure out how to best move forward considering the feedback?
Your job is to achieve your objectives, through your team. Ideally, you do that by creating a path that helps them achieve their own professional objectives. But you canât carry them down the path. Also, I would be careful âdefendingâ them with your direct senior leadership - I bet you being balanced, objective and transparent will be more appreciated.
I think all new managers have to learn that not all people on their teams will succeed. Personally, I like managers who struggle with this. Iâve been managing a bit longer, and I still go through the same crisis I see you dealing with when I encounter poor performance. I mentally process it much more quickly now than I used to.
Document everything. Have a conversation about missed deliverables with expectations on improvement and then email a summary of your conversation. You might need to be very clear with timelines to see if itâs just a funk. I would also let them know youâre disappointed with their work and want to help them succeed. The documentation is if you need to fire them for just cause. Maybe they have something personal or just arenât feeling motivated. You need to figure out whatâs going on.
I have asked to document the meeting notes a hundred times and they have flat out never followed it or worked on the feedback.
Have a conversation about missed deliverables with expectations on improvement and then email a summary of your conversation.
I have decided that I will be doing it on their behalf so that when the time arrives, I can leverage it to make a case.
I would also let them know youâre disappointed with their work and want to help them succeed.
I have conveyed this message a hundred times and their is lack of empathy on their part. This is leading to all the frustration.
Maybe they have something personal or just arenât feeling motivated. You need to figure out whatâs going on.
Doesnât seem so. I am trying to leverage various things to figure out whatâs going on, but little to no reciprocation from their side leaves me at a dead end.
Well like I said build a case. If youâre at a big company youâll need to work with HR to do a formal PIP plan. If itâs a smaller company just document to CYA. Some jobs just arenât a good fit. When you hire someone new try to get to know what motivates them what bothers them etc.
You canât really anticipate that everyone will develop into an outstanding person. Is this person performing the task I need them to do without requiring constant supervision on my part? Then disregard it, go on, and focus on something else.
Iâve been in people management for the last few years.
One of the questions you asked was how to know if they are looking for a job. They probably are. But thatâs okay, your job is to drive results through your team, and help your team get where theyâre trying to go. At least thatâs the way Iâve seen it. If the place theyâre trying to go is out of there, cool beans. Sounds like theyâre no longer responding to feedback anyway.
Now about framing freeback in an actionable manner. Maybe you can ask them what blocks them Iâm completing âtask a,â give them an option on how to perform task a, on a consistent basis. Then in your one-on-one ask them to tell you the status of how they are progressing on putting action in toward task a. If they admit that task a didnât happen ask them why, but then you need to point out what the failure or problem is as a result.
If task a is not tied to any action or deliverable or anything that will have an impact then it may be a valueless task and maybe the APM sees that. But if you can uncover the value of âtask aâ outside of âit will help them get promotionâ and tie directly to job and possibly company outcomes. To that point you can document the value of the task and warn them clearly that if this or other tasks are consistently neglected youâll have to put them on a PIP. Of course youâll be working with HR to do this. And depending on your firm or company a pip is either a path to correct the behavior or an exit ramp.
Hopefully, it all works out, but you should be as a manager ok with people leaving as long as you arenât ushering them out the door with bad management and poor leadership youâre golden.