Question: What is your approach to handling performance problems with your best employee? How would this approach differ with your worst employee?

Alternative Question Phrasing:

Follow-up questions:

In what ways will the approach differ?

Question Details:

Question Type:

Skills:

Basic – Critical Thinking,Basic – Monitoring (Making observations of self and environment),Social – Social Perceptiveness

Abilities:

Cognitive – Category Flexibility (Mental Flexibility)

Other Factors:

Management Level,Personality-Job Fit,Personality-Organization Fit,Self-Awareness

Work Activity (Task):

Interacting with Others – Performance Management (Guiding, Directing, and Motivating Subordinates),Mental Processes – Thinking Creatively (Creativity),Work Output – Quality Improvement

Work Context (Person-Job/Team/Org Fit):

Interpersonal Relationships – Coordinate or Lead Others

Work Style (Person-Job Fit):

Achievement/Effort (Action/Result Orientation),Leadership/Command,Patience

Question Frequency

Question Difficulty

What to look for in an answer:

The candidate’s management skills.
The candidate’s analytical thinking skills.

Red Flags to Watch For:

Answers that reveal poor management skills.
The candidate’s poor analytical thinking skills.

Sample Answer:

There really is much of a difference when handling poor performance of best and worst employees. Documentation is important for both. The only difference in some cases is you need to focus on retaining and motivating the best one. For worst employees who were given chances but fail to shape up, the last resort is to let go.

Question Source: Unknown