Every organization has them. That one person who’s not quite bad enough to fire, but not nearly strong enough to lead. Left unchecked, they become more than a problem employee. They become a cultural liability.
Get Better Soon: The Problem with Low Performers and How They Drag Down Your Organization
In healthcare, “get better soon” is a promise of recovery. A sign of care. A commitment to act. But what happens when the one in need of getting better isn’t a patient, but a team member? Waiting and hoping isn’t always the right course. Sometimes, intervention is required.
There’s a common myth in leadership circles: that tolerating a low performer is a compassionate, patient choice. But the hard truth is this. Allowing low performance to persist isn’t kindness, it’s negligence.
In healthcare organizations where excellence isn’t optional, a single underperformer can create ripple effects far beyond their job description. They erode morale, dilute standards, and quietly suggest to others that mediocrity is acceptable. Over time, your culture conforms to the lowest common denominator.
Think of it as a diagnosis left untreated. One person’s underperformance isn’t isolated. It spreads. It changes how others function. It drains energy from the team. High performers see it, feel it, and begin to ask themselves why they go above and beyond when mediocrity is allowed to stay.
Low performers often fly under the radar because they don’t cause overt disruption. They meet the bare minimum but never move the mission forward. And in systems that rely heavily on collaboration and accountability, that lack of contribution drags on everyone around them. It’s not just about productivity. It’s about trust.
When a team sees leadership tolerate poor performance, high performers start to question the culture. Engagement declines. Turnover rises. The organization weakens, not because of one person, but because of the silence around them.
Let’s be honest, many leaders hesitate to act not because they’re unsure of what to do, but because they fear conflict or difficulty replacing the individual. They hope performance will improve with time, with coaching, or simply with silence. But hope is not a treatment plan. And silence is not a cure.
It’s time to treat performance like the vital sign it is. If someone is underdelivering, it needs to be addressed directly, swiftly, and respectfully. The longer you wait, the more damage is done, not just to output, but to your credibility as a leader.
This doesn’t mean every underperformer needs to be let go. But they do need a care plan, a path to improvement, or a conversation about transition. Accountability, after all, is a form of care. It tells someone, “We believe you are capable of more, and we will support you in getting there, but we won’t let you stay here underperfoming.”
What’s at stake isn’t just performance metrics. It’s the well-being of your culture. Like any good clinician, leaders must evaluate the symptoms, prescribe the right intervention, and follow through. Because culture is shaped by what you tolerate, not what you preach.
So, if you have someone on your team who needs to hear it, tell them: get better soon. Not as a threat, but as an invitation to recover, recommit, and re-engage. Your team and your mission deserve nothing less.