Support is used here as a broader term for the less focused types of non-skills-related input you may need to offer employees from time to time. For example, an employee may be having trouble getting work done because of some unbreakable bureaucratic blockage within your organization, and may need your assistance to work around this. Or an employee may not be doing as well as possible due to a lack of confidence or self-esteem that makes going all-in to maximize performance difficult for that individual. You may need to find a way to build up that employee's confidence. Occasionally, you may need to buck a person up regarding a personal issue that has nothing to do with work in itself but that impacts performance nonetheless.

Some managers may feel uncomfortable offering this latter kind of support, or they may think that it's not really part of their job; and this is understandable. But these issues can have a big effect on how employees do their jobs,...