This is a tricky one. Being a business manager is tough. You need to think about so many different and difficult things at once. Having or maintaining a good product or service is important. You have to keep track of your costs and earnings. Marketing, legal and other aspects of a business. But being a good people manager is key for developing a long lasting healthy company. Without your employees, you're nothing. But an individual of your staff could underperform. If you don't act quickly on this situation, you could face a major problem.
There are 2 main reasons why someone is underperforming.
- Demotivated
-Undereducated
Being demotivated is something we all face once in a while. I think most of us know that "monday feeling" when going to work. You could feel tired or just having a bad day. As a manager you don't have to be worried about this. It's perfectly normal. It starts being a problem when someone is demotivated all the time. There could be several reasons. One of them is ,like always, money. Being underpaid sucks. So why should you put in the effort if you're not being paid correctly. You could give this person a raise. It's a direct impact. But you could also be more creative and tell him/her they could earn a bonus when performing well. It saves you money short term but will gain you money long term.
One other reason of being demotivated is no opportunity to get a promotion or to grow within the company. This hard to solve You can't just invent new jobs or promote someone. Try having a good conversion with the employee and talk about the future of the company and how they fit in.
A lack of education is a big one. Fortunately this could be solved quite easily. You could organize workshops or send your employee to a training. Tell the employee you expect more of them and that gaining more knowledge will be much appreciated. Motivate them! In turn they could become more important and more actively engaged with the company and actually make you more money. Or equally decisive, save money!