Asymmetrical Performance

Rob posts research that says How One Bad Employee Can Spoil Lots of Good Ones

Of course, the trick to being a good manager is to balance and figure out if the employee is "beyond the point of no return" or can you still help him develop and come to the level of others.

The most important part would be to share the plan with the rest of the team and ask for their help, if a manager feels that the employee can still be helped.

For example in a consulting firm I know of, if after having a couple of "superstar" years a consultant's performance level dips to zero, the partner of the practice wants to know from the project manager if this drop is because of a personal issue the consultant is struggling with and can the manager work with the consultant to get him back to normal.