When it comes to helping employees improve their performance, the key point is to understand why they have problems in the first place and act quickly. “The best coaching depends on what type of problem you’re fixing,” says Caroline Ceniza-Levine, executive recruiter and career coach. “If the employee’s work product is suffering, they may need more direction or skills training. If the employee is disengaged, they may need help getting motivated – in this case, giving them more information around why their work matters and how important their contribution is may help.”

Sometimes, it’s a question of setting realistic expectations that focus on short-term, achievable goals. “The biggest reason low performers fail to develop is the milestones set for them are too far away from where they are today,” Duval says. True change and confidence come from achieving small, incremental goals over time. “Once those small goals are achieved, increase the complexity of the performance goal incrementally until the desired performance is achieved.”

Certain tasks can be made more enjoyable. “We gamify activities such as simulated attacks (red/blue team exercises), threat hunting, and threat modeling,” MacLeod says. “We also have fortnightly games’ night for the team to come together and just muck about.” This brings out friendly competition, helps the team bond, and gives everyone a chance to show off their skills, pick up new ones, and stay up to date with threat intelligence.