“The term ‘problem performer’ can be used as a scapegoat to help a company evade accountability,” says host Rebecca Weaver, HRuprise Founder and CEO. As someone who has worked in HR for over twenty years, Rebecca didn’t fully understand the implications of the term “problem performer” until she was labeled as one. After being forced to quit her job while pregnant, Rebecca came to the unfortunate realization that as an HR insider, she had been complicit in reinforcing this harmful and toxic workplace culture without even knowing it.
According to Rebecca, the term “problem performer” is used by HR to describe an employee who isn’t meeting performance expectations. Because this label often reinforces manager bias, companies are regularly setting their employees up for failure. Rather than considering other factors such as incorrect job placements or poor management, companies rely on the “problem performer” label to excuse abuse in the workforce, particularly towards marginalized employees. That is why it is so crucial for people who have been labeled as “problem performers” to share their stories and fight for change.
Tune into the premiere episode of Problem Performers to learn what a problem performer is, and how you, like Rebecca, can challenge work environments to implement lasting and meaningful change.
Quotes
• “A ‘problem performer’ label can reinforce manager bias. It can set even high-potential employees up for failure, and it helps employers maintain a status quo that harms people. Most of the time, the people that it harms the most are marginalized employees.” (02:59-03:22)
• “I had to tell my boss that my personal reputation was worth a lot more than any severance they could give me.” (15:12-15:20)
• “The term ‘problem performer’ can be used as a scapegoat to help a company evade accountability.” (15:59-16:07)
• “The concept of problem performer actually can deprive companies of their own high potential talent in the interest of maintaining the status quo.” (16:42-16:49)
• “The label problem performer does not define you, your career, your potential, and certainly not your value.” (29:05-29:12)
• “We [so-called problem performers] need to tell our stories because our perspective as outsiders and as people who present a problem to the company are really actually very valuable.” (29:35-29:45)
Links
Find your own independent HRuprise Coach at https://www.hruprise.com/
For a transcript of this episode, visit www.hruprise.com/podcast/episode-00.
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