As the economy starts to improve, you may be considering changing jobs. If you are in a management role, most opportunities will have considerable challenges, including “turning around a dysfunctional department.” What would you do if faced with this particular type of situation? While the person in this article is a first line manager, the advice provided could easily apply to a vice president or CEO.

Jim Sullivan had never been more excited in his entire career. Today is his first day in a new job as manager of an R & D department for one of the country’s leading medical device companies. His new boss, Tom Browning, had mentioned in the employment interview that there were a few problems to be addressed with the staff, but what department doesn’t have problems?

Flash forward four weeks and Jim is having serious buyer’s remorse. His department is behind on almost every metric. His best engineer just resigned to join a competitor. After reviewing the files of every employee, Jim discovered that four out of the eight engineers received a “Does not meet standards” on their most recent performance appraisals.

What would you do in this situation? Sure it would be tempting to bail and go somewhere else. But what would you say to a prospective employer? As an executive coach, I have helped a number of individuals in similar situations. The purpose of this article is to recommend a Five-step Process intended to bring about positive results in a reasonable period of time. I know that this is a tough challenge, but like all of us, Jim will face many challenges in his career and there may be valuable lessons to be learned from this situation. Here are my recommendations for Jim:

Caveat: The degree to which Jim can move aggressively in this situation will be dictated by the organization’s culture. If his initial attempts meet with strong resistance, he will need to develop a schedule for change that is spread out over a longer period of time.

1. Pull together performance data

   Before Jim can devise a turnaround plan, he needs to have all of the facts available regarding his team's performance. As part of his data gathering, Jim should meet with his internal customers and encourage them to be brutally honest in their evaluation of his department. Let them know that he will meet with them again once his turn-around plan is completed.

   Caveat: Jim should be prepared for strong criticism from his internal customers. If his department's performance has been as bad as he suspects, then he will have to suffer through feedback on what has gone wrong in the past. Jim should stay calm, listen and take notes. There is nothing to be gained from getting defensive with these individuals.

2. Meet individually with direct reports

   Jim should go into these meeting with an open mind and listen more than he talks. He should ask for an analysis of the department's performance from each individual and suggestions for making improvements. While he is conducting these meetings, Jim will be making an assessment of the quality of individuals he has inherited. He should be looking for possible leadership talent as well as people who may have to leave.

   Caveat: There may be situations where employees are "thrown under the bus" by colleagues. It's Jim's job to separate fact from fiction and not to make snap judgments. Over time he will be able to identify the good performers from the poor.

3. Compile a written department assessment and improvement plan

   Up to this point there have been a lot of people watching Jim waiting to see what he will do. It is now time for him to meet with his boss, Tom Browning, and layout his findings and recommendations. This meeting will tell Jim a lot about his boss and the type of support he can expect in executing his plan. Let's assume that this meeting goes well and that Jim has Tom's full support.

4. Present findings and recommendations to team

   This is a critical meeting where Jim will quickly find out the difficulty of his challenge and how aggressive he may need to act. His plan may involve a re-design of roles and responsibilities. It may also consist of new control systems to measure performance on a more frequent basis. Over the next several weeks Jim will be able to measure individual performance with his own eyes. If some people are failing, he will need to quickly put them on a performance plan. He will also be determining who has leadership qualities and who could be appointed as group leaders.

   Caveat: This will not be an easy process. He may receive push-back from people outside his department, when he takes strong action with an underperforming employee. This will be an important test of character for Jim.

5. Follow up relentlessly

   It will be important for Jim to meet weekly with his team and frequently with his internal customers. If he has appointed group leaders, he can have them give status reports at the team meetings. Over a period of time, Jim may be able to recruit talented and motivated people into his department. It will be important for him to develop a good support system, including friends and family, outside of his work environment. It is easy to get burned out in a turn-around effort. A good support system will help Jim take time to forget about work and renew him for this difficult challenge.