Employee continues to think he is a rockstar and it’s becoming increasingly difficult to manage him. His performance is just about meeting expectations. Don’t want to manage him out but help him realize his gaps and then put him on the right track so he can grow. Looking for guidance. Edit: I have 9 other employees in the team and I have a solid reputation of leading strong teams. Some of your comments are indicating if problem is in my side but I have honestly looked at that to remove any self-bias. Edit 2: yes he has been asking for promos and higher rewards that I just can’t justify. Edit 3: yes I have done competency assessment with him where he rated highest scores for which I rated lowest.
why does he think he’s a rockstar?
I'd start the conversation there. Then show him where he's barely meeting compared to an actual top performer.
He probably doesn't fully understand the scope of the job and thinks he's nailing it while only doing some of the work. Either challenge him with something harder or show him the pieces he's missing
I am facing the same issue everyday!
Is the employee simply arrogant by nature or did you or other promote this behavior in some form?
There is some arrogance for sure.
If you know his gaps you should be able to set him up and make him realize his growth opportunities.
He gets on defensive and at times aggressive
Has he ever hit you?
I’d like to know during my 1x1s if this was me. Early enough so I can change my tune and perform before the next cycle. I want to know exactly why I’m only performing at a meets And a solid example of what is exceed expectations in my exact role in this exact group. I also want to know what the repercussions are of only meeting expectations every year is Why do you think he thinks he’s a rockstar? It seems to be more of a difficult one to address
Send them this
If you have a company wide written expectations for their level and feel like not being direct with them about it, you can ask them to think offline through their own performance for their level referring to the written expectations and discuss in the next meeting. If their introspection isn't grounded in reality, you can ask follow up questions on where you disagree. And hopefully this helps.
I feel not being direct with a direct report is problem #1
On a second thought, what's wrong in just meeting expectation and taking it easy! He is doing what he is being paid for. Why go above and beyond for someone else's dream?
We cannot have an employee stuck at a level for more than N years. Plus I can find better performing employees with lower overall compensation that I know will exceed expectations.
No, there is no such rule man. Not everyone is ambitious for growth and promotion. Btw, I'm also managing a team but I have no such expectation for everyone to grow. People have different priorities.
I have the exact same problem! Dude is so junior and is not able to do certain things but thinks he knows the shit and keeps on offering advice. Please update when you have a solution.
Why don’t you just tell him, directly?
Seems to be a very Microsoft thing to do, OP. You should just be direct.
I once told a direct report directly that we needed to get their skills up. Got invited to a two-week investigation by HR.