Consider this example:

Anna just couldn’t upsell.

For more than 10 years, I ran two Edible Arrangements retail stores. Our primary function was helping customers create awe-inspiring gifts. Suggesting enhancements to their fruit arrangements not only increased revenue, but also increased the wow factor of our products. Upgrading orders was important both to our business and the customer experience.

But Anna couldn’t do it. Her ticket average lingered well below our benchmark and was the lowest on the team. We reviewed our product line with her. We told her what to ask and what to suggest. Nothing helped. I finally asked her why she believed her numbers were so low.

“I’m afraid customers will get angry if I get too pushy. I don’t want to get yelled at.”

Only then did I realize the problem wasn’t what she knew. The problem was what she felt.

Employee performance reflects their combined hard and soft skills. But when you look at how most people are trained, there’s a disproportionate amount of focus on hard skills, the necessary information and competence to perform a task.

When you look at employee underperformance, however, often the problem is their soft skills. They may have the competence but lack the confidence or enthusiasm.

The distinction between “skill set” and “mindset” is critical for developing a robust employee development program. Management’s job is both to train and motivate — and knowing when to do either, or both, is the key to improving performance. In this article, we’ll review an approach learning professionals can use to diagnose employees’ training needs and prescribe the right training.

Diagnosing Performance

Measure employee performance by evaluating their skills set and mindset separately. An employee’s skill set is their mastery of the necessary hard skills. It’s their ability to perform a task to company standards. Employees need your help to acquire these skills. You test for their mastery by asking these two questions:

1. Can the employee state the necessary steps to complete the task correctly?
2. Can the employee demonstrate those steps?

If the answer is yes to both questions, their skill set is high. If the answer is no to one or both, their skill set is low. No need to complicate it any more than that. We want to keep this simple so you’ll actually do it.

Don’t check for mastery by asking the employee if they understand or if they’ve “got it.” Many new employees are reluctant to admit when they’re confused and worried about what you’ll think of them. They’ll say they’ve got it when they don’t — they just intend to figure it out later. The only way you can tell whether they’ve got it is by asking those two questions.

Next, we look at the employee’s mindset, their soft skills. Measure this by assessing:

1. Their level of confidence, or their belief that they can do it.
2. Their level of enthusiasm, or their willingness to do it.

Mindset is a bit more subjective than skills set, but if you’re paying attention, you can probably get a pretty good read on it. When we observe an employee performing a task and they seem both confident and enthusiastic, their mindset is high. If either or both are lacking, their mindset is low.

Managing Performance

Measuring a skill set and mindset as high or low can give us four possibilities, each requiring different training interventions.

1. Low skill set, high mindset: This is usually the case when the employee is new to a job or task. Their attitude is fine, but they lack competence. They need information, practice and guidance. That means more task-focused training and lots of feedback.
2. Low skill set, low mindset: When training is rushed or incomplete, or when the employee gets overwhelmed by the task, their confidence and enthusiasm drop. Not only do they need training, but now they also need help boosting their attitude. Many retention problems arise because poorly trained employees end up here without management helping their mindset. This employee needs additional training infused with more encouragement and compassion. The first person likes encouragement, but this person needs
3. High skill set, high mindset: This is the ideal state. Management’s job is to get employees here and keep them here. These employees don’t need more training for this task. Their skills set is fine. But they risk a drop in their mindset if they’re micromanaged, treated poorly or disengage. Praise these employees a lot. Challenge them and give them opportunities to learn new tasks. Asking them to train others who lack the skills set can be both flattering and engaging. It also promotes teamwork. But beware of dumping more work on them because of their high competence and attitude. Don’t punish them for being great.
4. High skill set, low mindset: Most problems with experienced employees result not from what they know, but from how they feel: bored, complacent, burnt out, resentful, etc. Maybe they’re having interpersonal conflicts at work or personal problems at home. Until you have more details as to why their mindset is low, it’s hard to say specifically how to proceed. But what these people don’t need is more training. The problem is not their hard skills, and unneeded training can risk making their mindset worse. They need to be reengaged. Ask questions. Offer support. Remind them of your expectations. Your best people are only human and will have occasional drops in mindset. The best managers watch for these slips and act quickly to raise their spirits.

Once I knew the problem with Anna, I shifted our conversations from competence to confidence. We talked through her fears. I offered less information and more encouragement, resulting in an increase in both her attitude and average ticket. Her improved selling started with my improved management.

Your employees don’t just do their work; they feel their work. They need you to help them feel good about it. So make sure diagnosing hard skills and soft skills separately is part of your skills set.