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Nix Managers’ Gossip About Employees

Some managers excel at missing opportunities, especially when the opportunity involves staff development. I’ve worked for managers who complained to everyone about under-performing employees except the employee himself. Once, when I was speaking with a manager in his office, he took a call from coworker notorious for turning in reports that were late and long. After their tense discussion, the manager slammed down the phone and said, right in front of me, “I wish he would quit.”

That kind of talk is wrong on so many levels. First of all it doesn’t help the employee in question improve his or her performance. Secondly, that kind of talk makes other employees wonder what managers say about them.

When remarks like that come to you attention, ask the manager three questions:

Have you told the employee about the problem? If not, why not? Have you worked out a plan for improvement? Those questions will help shift the focus of the manager’s conversations about his employees’ performance to staff development, where it should be.