The Small Box Strategy: Setting Clear Roles for Employee Success

Only certain people are the right fit for your team. This is something most business owners come to realize early on. Sometimes, the situation gets so challenging that you’d consider replacing certain team members if a better candidate came along. You know exactly what I mean if you chuckled at that!

Many of us have had team members with potential but, for some reason, can’t seem to achieve consistent results. They’re good people with solid skills, but despite their efforts, they’re not where they should be.

The only way to help them improve is to track their results and regularly review their performance. Every quarter, it’s essential to evaluate each team member. You can do this with a scoring system that covers skills, culture, metrics, and other relevant factors, or you might prefer a force-ranking method.

Once you’ve identified those with low scores, it’s time to make a plan. Start by asking, “Is the issue one of performance?” If it’s performance — meaning they just aren’t delivering — ask yourself, “Is it all on them, or is part of it on me?” Although it may be hard to admit, we, as leaders, are sometimes part of the problem.

Have you put them in a position to succeed? Take a closer look at their role — is it well-defined? Do they have clear metrics that show them what success looks like? Is there adequate training and documentation on how to do their job effectively? In other words, have you provided them with the tools and structure they need to thrive? As their leader, it’s your responsibility to do everything you can to set them up for success.

It might not always seem this way, but every employee wants to succeed. Often, success can be a murky concept — and that’s on us. When roles aren’t well-defined, employees may feel like they’re working hard with good intentions, yet we’re still unsatisfied with their performance. For instance, this could apply to a project engineer who meets billable hours targets but faces two escalations a day or to a support desk resource who manages 10-12 open tickets but hasn’t received training on effectively reducing ticket touches. It’s our job to identify the disconnect and see if we can help them bridge it.

While not everyone may be your ideal employee, the truth is that every employee in your company matters. If someone is struggling, give them a well-defined role — a “small box” — with clear expectations for success. If they don’t succeed within that structure, you’ll know you did everything possible to help them thrive.