What If the Problem Is Not the Person?

Have you ever had that sinking feeling when someone on your team is not performing?

 

You know the one. Right in the pit of your stomach.

 

It’s been hiding in plain sight for a while. Missed deadlines. Falling short of targets. A flatness about them that wasn’t there before.

 

And the temptation, especially in a small business, is to move fast. Cut your losses. Start again.

 

I understand that. I really do.

 

But here is something worth knowing before you do.

 

Performance Improvement Plans (PIPs), the go-to tool for most managers in this situation, have a roughly three-way split in outcomes: 30% improve, 30% resign from the stress, 30% are let go.

 

60% don’t make it through.

 

And here is the truth about PIPs. They start with the intention of helping the person. But they are also designed to document the decline and protect the business legally. Nursing someone back to their best was never really what they were built for.

 

So, before you reach for that conversation, consider a different one.

 

Over the years, I have heard all the reasons small businesses don’t engage coaches.

 

“We cannot afford it.” “It won’t work for someone like this.” “We do not have time.”

 

And I get it.

 

But there is a maxim in business that has always stayed with me.

 

CFO: “What if we train them and they leave?”

 

CEO: “What if we don’t train them and they stay?”

 

One is treating people as an expense. The other is treating them as an investment.

 

Here’s the numbers, because for an SME owner the numbers matter.

 

The ICF and PwC Global Coaching Study found that 86% of organisations that invested in coaching reported a positive return. The median ROI sits between 5 and 7 times the initial investment.

 

Put that alongside the cost of replacing the person you are about to let go: Between $23,000 and $40,000 for a mid-level role. Up to $60,000 or more for a specialist. And that is before the overtime, the lost client relationships, and the quiet toll on team morale.

 

Coaching is not an expense. It is the cheaper option.

 

A skilled coach helps you get underneath what is really going on, build a plan the person owns, and make a clear-eyed decision based on evidence rather than frustration.

 

For an SME, one person turning a corner can change the energy of an entire team.

The businesses that get this right build something more valuable than cost savings.

 

A reputation as a place where people are genuinely invested in, not just managed.

And in a market where 61% of Australian employees are already watching for their next opportunity, that reputation is worth more than any recruitment budget.

 

I would welcome your thoughts in the comments.

 

Reply with “Coaching” and we will contact you to tell you more about our coaching programmes.