Handling performance issues
Performance conversations are uncomfortable. Avoiding them is more expensive.
Name the gap in plain language
Don't dance. 'The last three jobs came back for callbacks. The standard is zero callbacks for work this size. We need to figure out what's happening.' Specific, factual, no character attacks.
Get their version
Sometimes the gap is a tool, a process, or a coworker, not the person. Ask, then listen. You don't have to agree with what you hear, but you have to know it.
Put the next step in writing
Verbal-only conversations don't change behavior. A short follow-up email, what we discussed, what changes, by when, closes the loop and gives both sides a reference point in 30 days.
Take your version of this question further
This is one operator-tested angle on the question. Your shop, your size, your trade, and your team change the answer. Ask your specific version inside Ask a Shop Owner to get a response grounded in how owners like you actually handled it.