Suggestions for Dealing with
Performance Problems

If you manage people, no matter how well you do the job, from time to time you will be challenged with performance issues. The following tips will help you deal confidently with the challenges.

1.  Take immediate action. The longer you wait to confront a negative behavior, the harder it will be to change. It does not take long before the inappropriate behavior becomes a habit, and habits are very hard to break. Once you have determined that a negative pattern of behavior exists, take action.

2.  Give feedback privately. Prior to beginning the discussion, you should make sure that you have a private location to meet. Take steps to ward off any interruptions. If at all possible, hold the meeting one-on-one. Only in rare instances is a third party necessary. (If the employee is to be terminated or is unwilling to cooperate, you may need a third party, such as a union representative or a human resources representative.)

3.  Remain calm. If you have ever driven home from work saying, “Now why did I say that?” chances are you may have regretted giving feedback to an employee when you were mad. If you are angry or emotional, postpone the discussion until you are feeling more in control. Remember, communication is permanent. Do not lose control of the discussion or say something that may later come back to haunt you.

4.  Be consistent. Do what you say you are going to do. If you tell employees you are going to do something if their inappropriate behavior does not change, do what you say you are going to do. If employees do not feel you are going to take action, they may see no need to change.

5.  Correct behaviors selectively. Do not use a correcting session to point out all the negative things that you have seen over time. If you coach properly, you should only be dealing with one or two inappropriate behaviors at a time. If you do not have ongoing communication with your employees, you may start to generate a laundry list of behaviors you want to discuss. Our general rule of thumb is, “If it’s more than two, they think it’s you!” Meaning, if you do bring out your long list of inappropriate behaviors, after about point five or six, the employee begins to think, “Why bother to even come to work? I must not be doing anything right.”

6.  Remain positive. Keep your thoughts positive. Help the employee identify what is causing the problem, and what the employee will do to help resolve the problem. Remember, the goal of this discussion is to make the employee more successful. Only in rare instances is an employee not willing to grow by changing negative behaviors.