If you have a struggling team, do you think adding a high performer/star employee into the mix will help improve the overall team performance? Do you think this could backfire?
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Before I share my opinion I will be up front that I will try to stay as objective as possible. I am not a psychologist but I can share what I have observed from managing people over 20 years in an Information Technology setting.
It has been my experience that mixing strong performers with weak performers brings the strong performers down. Not some of the time. Every... single... time.
The root cause for this phenomenon is because leaders think mixing the high performers with the low performers will be an automatic improvement to the poor performers. I have never seen that method work.
Can it be done in a way that reduces that impact? Yes, I think it can.
But you need a plan and should expect to spend a great deal of time monitoring.
Also, I have seen this approach used as a means to try and avoid difficult conversations with an under performer. My personal opinion is this approach will not address the issue. Get them on a PIP and manage them out if you have to.
If the under performer needs peer assistance/mentoring on improving you could do some shadowing BUT have a plan. Be specific with what the goals are to show improvement. Do not believe you can put the two together and the good will rub off on the bad.
As with any problem, but certainly ones associated with people, the answer is not simple. In my experience 1. The root cause(s) need to be better understood. 2. Generally it is not one thing - but a combination of mindset, upskilling, culture, workload, environment, leadership, unrealistic expectations, hygiene factors such as salary, equipment and .... 3. Is there an employee opinion survey in place - a meaningful one, that has credibility. What does that tell you? 4. If there isn't one, consider creating one, or an equivalent safe space for folks to be open. 5. The team need to be a part of the solution - find the first amongst equals, find your supporters, and detractors. 6. How are you calibrating poor performance? What is your benchmark ? Is it realistic? Have the team seen the comparative data you are using ?