CIO Republic's monthly column, CIO HR Corner, focuses on helping IT executives and leaders find the right answers and approaches for staffing and personnel issues. If you have a question you'd like CIO Republic columnist Peter Woolford to answer, e-mail it to us.

Question: Trying to boost management performance
I have a good IT manager on staff, but I've noticed his performance has dropped off the past two months. What is the best approach or steps I need to take to get him back on track?
Writer's anonymity requested

Answer: The key is finding the cause
Unfortunately, a -good" manager can turn into a -bad" manager fairly quickly. Hoping things will get better on their own is usually not effective, so let's rule that out. The first step in fixing a manager's performance is to determine the cause of the problem. Then, open an ongoing dialogue about the change in performance and the plan to fix it.

Here is what you need to answer:

• Is the manager doing something wrong?
• Is the team doing something wrong, and the manager hasn't fixed it?
• Is there something that you, the CIO, have done that has caused this change in performance? (Is that even possible?)

Let's look at these in reverse order.

You need to look at the guidance, instruction, and incentives the manager has received from you, as well as from the rest of the senior management team. Is there something that has caused the manager to head down the wrong path?

Look at the team that works for this manager. Has something changed there? Have you lost a key player? Or have you added someone who isn't working out? Does something need to be changed in their guidance, instruction, and incentives?

Review the actions of this manager lately and compare them to a time when the manager was performing well. Is the manager even aware of the change? Did the manager make a bad business decision a while back that is haunting him now? Has the external climate changed? Is this manager capable of dealing with the problems of the current business climate? Is he burned out, frustrated, or in over his head?

Identifying the cause gets you most of the way to the solution. Solving the performance problem will be a combination of communication, counseling, demanding improvement, and threatening dire consequences if things don't get better. Put the improvement plan in place that either solves the problem or leads you to the decision that you need someone else in the seat.

In addition, you should put in place a succession plan for this individual. What if his performance goes from bad to worse? Or, after your counseling session, he walks? What is the effect on your business if the position is unstaffed?

If the position is mission critical and must be staffed, there are three approaches to provide insurance.

1. Decide whether you can promote from within.
2. Have a contractor lined up.
3. Start reading resumes for a permanent replacement. Call your favorite agency to get a few resumes on your desk (and to make sure they are still in business). See what the available talent pool looks like. Given the current economic climate, there should be some excellent resumes on your desk, quickly.

Question: How to make managers play nice together
How can a CIO make two VPs work together who may not like each other and whose combative relationship is very disruptive to staff interaction?
Writer's anonymity requested

Answer: A little animosity can be okay
We've all seen examples of people who couldn't get along in the work place. We see it at every level, from the chiefs to the secretaries. No amount of interview screening, team building, or management interaction is going to make people like each other.

And do they need to? No. As long as it doesn't interfere with getting the work done, there is nothing wrong with a little animosity in the workplace. The question above is how to deal with the dislike when it turns into disruption. The disruption can be to the parties involved, or to the teams around them.

I've seen a number of creative solutions.

• Change their incentives. If they need to scramble to meet some new goals, they won't have as much time to waste on disruptive games.
• Make one work for the other.
• Threaten to fire one or both of them. Make it clear that they are on probation because of the disruptive behaviour.
• Fire one of them. The fight stops if the other boxer is no longer in the ring.
• Force them to work together more closely. They'll either get past the hostility or quit. Either way, your problem is solved.
• The most creative solution I've seen is a mutual-destruction pact. The two parties, both IT directors, were each trying to force out the other person. They were doing everything possible to get the other to either quit or be fired. One was in charge of the functional part of the project and the other was in charge of the technical part. The result was that the project was going downhill fast. To stop the war, their boss instituted a mutual-destruction pact. If either of them left or was fired, the other would be fired immediately. No questions asked! It didn't cause them to turn into fast friends, but it did put an end to the games.

You need to use the technique that fits your players best. No matter which option you choose, do it quickly. Otherwise, your entire team could walk out. Then your business will surely be disrupted.

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