Why won’t he just do it?
David Buirs is a leadership coach in Amsterdam for new managers with 0 to 4 years of experience. This article explains how to address recurring performance issues by first examining your own role before drawing conclusions about the employee. It covers the Golem effect, the right questions to ask as a manager, and when a Performance Improvement Plan is a fair and honest step.
There is someone on your team who has not been delivering for a while.
You have talked about it. Maybe twice. Things improve briefly, then slide back. The same mistakes. The same patterns. The same conversation on repeat.
At some point, the thought arrives: why won’t he just do it?
That feeling is understandable. And it is also exactly the moment things can go wrong.
The Golem effect: how your frustration makes the problem worse
In psychology, the Pygmalion effect describes how high expectations improve performance. Researchers Rosenthal and Jacobson demonstrated this in 1968. Teachers who believed certain students were high-potential saw those students genuinely improve, with no objective difference between them and their peers.
The Golem effect is the opposite. Low expectations lead to lower performance. Not because the person lacks motivation. But because your attitude shapes their behavior.
You ask fewer questions. You explain less. You check in with a slight impatience. You give more critical feedback and less encouragement. Without realizing it, you are sending a signal: I no longer believe you can do this.
And the other person feels it. People are finely tuned to how others perceive them.
The result: the employee pulls back. Takes less initiative. Makes more mistakes. And you see that as confirmation that you were right all along.
Frustration reinforces itself. A performance problem grows while you believe you are addressing it.
The question most managers skip
Before you ask anything of the employee, there is a different question to answer first.
What role have I played in this?
That is not self-blame. It is the most practical question you can ask. Because if you have contributed to the problem and do not address that, nothing changes.
Work through it honestly:
Have I clearly explained what I expect? Not in broad strokes, but concretely. What does success look like? When is something good enough?
Has this person received the right training and resources to actually do this job? Or am I assuming they already know?
Have I given regular, constructive feedback? Or do I only speak up when something goes wrong?
Have I asked how they see their own work? Do they even know I consider this a problem?
Have I asked what they think the reason is? They might see something you do not.
This is not doubt. It is just good management. You cannot change anything in someone else while there are still variables on your side you have not examined.
Curiosity as a tool
The trap of frustration is that you start explaining. You already have a theory. He does not care enough. She is not motivated. He is not cut out for this.
Curiosity asks something different. What is going on for this person? What makes this difficult? What do they need that they currently do not have?
That conversation is uncomfortable to start, especially when frustration has been building for weeks. It feels like walking in the wrong direction.
But it is exactly the conversation that matters. Not to let someone off the hook. But to understand what is actually happening.
Sometimes something personal is going on. Sometimes there is ambiguity you have allowed to persist. Sometimes the person has felt like they are failing for months and does not know how to say it.
And sometimes you discover that the intention is there, but the skill is not. That is very different from unwillingness. And it calls for a completely different response.
When curiosity is not enough
Say you have done all of this. You have clarified expectations. You have offered training. You have had the conversations. You have asked what they need.
And nothing changes.
Then there is an honest question you have to ask: does this person meet the minimum standard for this role?
That is not an attack. It is a professional reality. Every role has a floor. Below that floor, the team does not function, colleagues carry extra weight, and results are missed.
If someone is consistently below that floor, and you have genuinely tried, there is a next step.
The Performance Improvement Plan: a last resort, not a first reaction
A Performance Improvement Plan, or PIP, is a formal process. You document in writing what the expectations are, what the current situation is, and which specific goals need to be reached within a set timeframe. Usually three to six months.
The plan also describes what support you will provide. And what happens if the goals are not met.
A PIP is not a punishment and it is not a goodbye. It is a clearly structured opportunity. With agreed milestones, support, and consequences.
But it only works if the process is honest. If the expectations are realistic. If the support you commit to is real. And if you are using it to give someone a genuine chance, not to build a paper trail for dismissal.
Use a PIP only after months of conversations, feedback, and concrete attempts to improve the situation. Not as a first response to a problem you have not yet fully understood.
Addressing recurring performance issues as a manager starts with yourself. Not because you are always at fault, but because you are the only variable you can directly change.
That takes honesty. And sometimes a conversation you have been putting off.
If you want to work on how you handle situations like this, you can read more about business coaching for leaders or explore what a structured leadership track for your organization could look like. Interested or curious? Let’s chat. Plan your free introduction here. Zero obligation.
