Life is good. You have a group of employees who are chewing through work like ravenous coyotes. And then there is Dave*...

Dave just isn't performing as well as the others. His work product is sloppy, he takes longer than others, and his attitude is atrocious.

What do you do about Dave? First look in the mirror. Is there anything you are doing wrong (or not doing) that affects just Dave? A large percentage of employee performance problems can be traced to their managers.

Does Dave understand what his job assignment is and what is expected of him? Does he have all of the external tools to complete his work satisfactorily (broken computers or poor working environment are some valid excuses that come to mind)?

Next discuss with Dave what his personal career goals are and does he feel he is making progress toward them? Does Dave have some non-work problem that is hijacking all his brain cycles? Is there a medical problem? A drug problem? The effect of these problems can often be remedied—many companies have special plans set up to deal with them.

If none of the above is affecting Dave's work, then you and your human resources department need to craft an improvement plan that has realistic measurable goals for Dave along with specific penalties for not achieving them. Key to this process is documentation. Some disgruntled former employees will sue a company for "wrongful termination" and only your carefully documented improvement attempts will convince the court you were giving Dave every opportunity to show improvement in his work.

Finally, if Dave does not meet the goals of the improvement program, you are faced with firing or reassigning Dave. This process must be managed by your human resources department so that you don't unintentionally violate state, federal, or union rules that might apply. If your plan is to reassign Dave, you should work with his new manager to make sure that Dave has a chance of succeeding in his new position (not fair to just dump your problems on another manager).

Don't let Dave's underperformance stretch out. Your group knows who the underperformers are, and if you tolerate them, some respect for you will be lost

-Don Burtis

*My apologies to everyone named "Dave" out there—it's just an artistic convenience.