The cost of waiting
... it's one of those "hard conversations".
For the managers and leaders reading this, this one’s for you.
Want to know something that drives me crazy in HR? A manager that comes to me about a performance problem, and the first question out of their mouth is: “How quickly can we get this person out?”
Wrong question.
Six months ago, they noticed something wasn’t working. Maybe the employee missed a deadline. Maybe a presentation didn’t land. Maybe the work just wasn’t at the level it needed to be.
But instead of addressing it then, they waited.
They dropped hints after meetings. They hoped it would get better on its own. They told themselves other people could pick up the slack because they needed all hands on deck. Or, they felt they didn’t have time to address it.
And now, six months later, they want me to fix it fast.
But I’m not a fixer. I’m a partner.
And by the time you’re asking “how quickly can we fire them,” you’ve already cost your team more than you realize.
Let’s be real about what waiting truly costs you.
Your time. How many hours have you spent venting about this person? Redoing their work? Covering for them in meetings? That’s time you’re not spending on your high performers or driving the business forward.
Your team’s morale. Your top performers see what’s happening. They’re picking up the slack. And they’re wondering why you’re not doing anything about it. Some of them are probably already talking to recruiters.
The employee’s chance to improve. If you don’t tell someone there’s a problem, how are they supposed to fix it? You’re robbing them of the chance to get better or the chance to exit gracefully and find a role where they can succeed.
So here’s what I want you to do instead.
Call your HR Partner at the first sign of trouble. Not six months in. Not when you’ve “gathered enough evidence.” The moment you think “this isn’t working.”
We can help you figure out if it’s a performance issue, a fit issue, or something else entirely. We can coach you through the hard conversation. We can help you set clear expectations and create a plan.
Give clear, tangible feedback immediately. Not hints. Not subtle comments after a bad presentation. Real feedback with real examples: “Here’s what I needed. Here’s what you delivered. Here’s the gap.”
And document it. Sending a simple email to the employee with the points you talk about is the best thing you can do for the employee. Sometimes that first conversation isn’t what they were expecting and they need time to process what you need. If they have a clearly laid out email with what you need, they are more likely to succeed.
Set a timeline. If someone isn’t improving after clear feedback and support, then we can have the conversation about next steps. But you need to give them a real shot first.
I have too many examples of managers waiting to loop in HR. I worked with a manager once who waited nine months to tell an employee their work wasn’t meeting expectations. Nine months of frustration. Nine months of other team members covering. Nine months of missed opportunities for that employee to course-correct or find a better fit elsewhere.
When we finally sat down together, the employee was blindsided. They had no idea. And honestly? That’s on the manager, not the employee.
Don’t be that manager.
Your job is to build a successful team and use that team to drive business results. You can’t do that if you’re letting performance issues fester for months and then expecting HR to make them disappear overnight.
Address issues early. Be clear. Be kind. And bring your HR Partner in from the start.
That’s how you actually solve performance problems. Not by asking how quickly we can get someone out.
To the managers reading this: when’s the last time you gave real, clear feedback to someone on your team? If it’s been more than a month, it’s time.