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Lesson 3.7 of 10Module progress: 9 of 14

Supervisor Foundations · Lesson 3.7

COACH SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING BUT STRUGGLING

Not every performance problem is unwillingness.

Sometimes an employee:

  • wants to perform well
  • accepts correction
  • keeps trying

but still struggles.

Possible reasons include:

  • skill gap
  • unclear process
  • insufficient practice
  • missing resources
  • workload
  • misunderstanding
  • poor fit between task and current capability

Coaching asks:

What is preventing better performance?

Then:

What support or practice could reasonably help?

Poor

“You’ve made this mistake again. Maybe you are not capable.”

Better

“I can see you’re trying, but this step is still causing problems. Let’s go through it again and identify exactly where it becomes confusing.”

WORKPLACE EXAMPLES

EXAMPLE 1 — OFFICE

A new employee repeatedly makes errors in a spreadsheet process.

BETTER RESPONSE

The supervisor notices the employee never received the updated template.

EXAMPLE 2 — SALON

A receptionist understands booking basics but struggles with overlapping appointments.

BETTER RESPONSE

The supervisor practices several scheduling scenarios with them.

EXAMPLE 3 — RESTAURANT

A new server forgets part of the closing checklist.

BETTER RESPONSE

A checklist and supervised practice may help more than repeated vague criticism.

EXAMPLE 4 — RETAIL

An employee has received training, understands the procedure and has demonstrated the ability to perform it—but repeatedly chooses not to follow it.

BETTER RESPONSE

At that point, the issue may be accountability rather than skill.

Remember

Do not coach a willingness problem as though it were only a skill problem.

Do not punish a skill gap as though it were automatically misconduct.

Workplace action

When someone struggles, ask: Do they know what to do? Can they do it? Are they choosing to do it?

Quick Check

An employee is trying but repeatedly struggles with a newly introduced process. What is the best first response?