How to Mentor Employees into Home Services Rockstars

How to Coach an Employee That’s Underperforming

Growing from independent home services professional to a business leader is a sign that your business is scaling. There’s a steady stream of customers, new employees are being hired, and yes, more overall revenue. It’s an exciting time, however, there’s a learning curve that comes along with it. 

Instead of only being responsible for yourself and a handful of employees, you now must hire, provide onboarding training and manage an entire staff. Some of these employees will be motivated and eager to grow as professionals. Others will be less than enthusiastic. This isn’t to say that employees that have rocky starts when beginning a new job, doesn't turn out to become great employees down the line. It happens all of the time. It takes understanding and finding that their "golden nuggets" of motivation, coaching them in a comprehensive way, and surrounding them with other motivated employees. This in itself, is one of the main pillars of employee retention

Employee Attitude is Everything

Being an effective leader doesn’t mean ridiculing, or immediately firing a newer employee because they’re a weak link. Employee potential is maximized when managers put their teams in positions to succeed. Unlike in previous decades, today many companies hire for attitude rather than aptitude. An employee can always be trained to perform a task, but a positive attitude is everything! Take a step back and examine the situation. Does the employee really care about the job? If they can’t afford the required tools and equipment, do they ask for help from other team members? After one-on-one conversations and coaching sessions, do they take the discussions to heart and try to improve on their sticking points?

What to Say to an Employee with a Bad Attitude

There are times when you’ve exhausted all possibilities. You have tried to coach the individual, but it just isn’t there. They take time off (even though they’re still new to the company), arrive unprepared, and have toxic behaviors. 

In this case, many managers and business owners believe that an employee should be put on an "employee performance improvement plan" and given a timeline to meet the requirements. 

Final Thoughts

Attracting great employees to a company is a job all in itself. Part of being a great business owner, manager, and leader is understanding each member of your teams’ strengths and weaknesses. If you can identify these, and the employee has the right attitude, any troublesome worker can be turned into a rockstar. And if the employee doesn’t have the “can-do attitude”, desire to learn, or doesn’t meet improvement requirements, then the conversation of separation will need to be had. And sometimes, it’s what’s best for both parties.