What You Must Know About Poor Performers

A recent study that originated in Germany invited internet users to take a logic test. Participants were then asked to predict their scores. It turns out that poor performers hugely overestimated their results. They just didn’t get it. They were unable to accurately assess how they had performed…in fact, drastically so. Those who on the average guessed that they had answered 70% correctly had actually scored a bit fat zero.

What does this mean for those of us in performance management training?

It means that we can’t expect poor performers to be self-aware. They see themselves as performing well even when their performance is well below acceptable. It is up to us to find ways to demonstrate to them just how far they are from the norm…not to belittle them but to give them a realistic picture of where they fit on the performance continuum. Only then can they be encouraged to improve. Otherwise, they see themselves as handling the job just fine.