EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED 11/24/2018 EXPECTING THE UNEXPECTED A case study approach to helping your employees succeed Presented by: Heather Burchell, Human Resource Consultant Kendra Wilkins-Fontenot, Director Template-WSU Hrz 201.ppt

MEET YOUR NEW EMPLOYEES 11/24/2018 MEET YOUR NEW EMPLOYEES Alex Taylor Casey Long Term Civil Service Employee, you recently began supervising New Civil Service Employee AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU Template-WSU Hrz 201.ppt

STARTING OUT ON THE RIGHT FOOT You’ve met with each of your new employees to outline your expectations for their performance and review their position description. Position Description Performance Expectations General Departmental Expectations

Despite your best efforts… Alex Despite your best efforts… Performance expectations are not being met: Work is not completed accurately Deadlines are being missed Departmental procedures are not being followed Long Term Civil Service Employee, you recently began supervising What are some of the worst ways we could handle this? How do you handle the situation with Alex, your new civil service employee who is in their probationary period?

Despite your best efforts… Taylor Despite your best efforts… Performance expectations are not being met: Work is not completed accurately Deadlines are being missed Departmental procedures are not being followed New Civil Service Employee What are the worst ways we could handle this? How do you handle the situation with Taylor, the long term civil service employee you recently began supervising?

Despite your best efforts… Casey Despite your best efforts… Performance expectations are not being met: Work is not completed accurately Deadlines are being missed Departmental procedures are not being followed AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU What are the worst ways we could handle this? How do you handle the situation with Casey, your new AP employee?

ADDRESSING CONCERNS Talk to your employees Document What can we do to make sure this goes poorly? -wait too long -handle in public Talk to your employees Document Remove barriers to success Follow-up

TIPS FOR ADDRESSING DIFFICULT CONVERSATIONS: Timely Private Sincere/Respectful Actionable Document Follow-up

Alex 3 month check in Alex was receptive to your feedback and has significantly improved performance. Long Term Civil Service Employee, you recently began supervising You’ve trained, communicated, and documented Good job! A little feedback goes a long ways. What does your interaction/communication with Alex look like at this point?

3 month check in Taylor New Civil Service Employee There has been some improvement but Taylor is still struggling with meeting expectations. Work is not completed accurately Deadlines are being missed Taylor is not following departmental process for requesting leave or calling out New Civil Service Employee You’ve trained, communicated, and documented

Casey 3 month check in Casey’s performance has improved regarding the concerns you discussed early on. Casey is still new and has things to learn but is right where you would expect them to be after three months. AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU You’ve trained, communicated, and documented

Taylor 5 months Taylor is still struggling with meeting expectations and you have new concerns regarding interactions with customers. Work is not completed accurately Taylor is not following departmental process for requesting leave or calling out Communication with customers has been rude and inaccurate New Civil Service Employee You’ve trained, communicated, and documented Probationary Evaluation But I’m an amazing supervisor, I can turn this around…

Casey 5 months Casey is performing well but has been expressing frustration with Taylor. Casey has been rude to Taylor and complaining about Taylor in front of customers AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU You’ve trained, communicated, and documented How do you address this new behavior with Casey?

Medical Taylor Not eligible for Taylor provides medical documentation to HRS. You receive notification that Taylor will be on full-time Medical Leave for at least two months.

Distribution of work Alex Casey Both Alex and Casey take on additional workload due to Taylor’s absence. Anything you need to consider for Alex (CS)? What about Casey (AP)?

Alex Alex is able to perform their job efficiently and is taking on the additional work without a noticeable impact. Long Term Civil Service Employee

Casey is maintaining the workload but has been brining up concerns: Stress Anxiety Overwhelmed AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU What do you do now? HRS (medical) EAP

11/24/2018 More Medical Casey Casey provides medical documentation to HRS. You receive notification that Casey will be on intermittent Family Medical Leave (FML) for an unknown duration. Template-WSU Hrz 201.ppt

Limitations Intermittent leave Casey AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU You’ve trained, communicated, and documented How do you handle the situation with Casey, your new AP employee?

Alex Team Player Alex offers to take on more responsibilities and job duties. You already think Alex has taken on more than their “fair share”… Long Term Civil Service Employee High performer Has taken on additional work due to Alex’s medical leave Successfully performing job duties How do you handle the situation with Alex, your new civil service employee who is in their probationary period?

How do we help our best employees succeed? Succession Planning and Looking Ahead Discussing career goals with employees Giving opportunity for growth Have the expert craft or review department procedures Share the wealth of knowledge What does succession planning mean? Does it mean you’re picking who will fill the higher level role when your current employee leaves? Giving them a chance to do more and contribute within their current role. who here has ever walked in to a job and was told in essence figure it out

Return to work Taylor returns to work with limitations. Lifting restriction (20 lbs) Cognitive Limitations preventing them from being able to perform under stress and/or emergencies Requests to work from home

Annual Reviews Performance Summary Alex Long Term Civil Service Employee High Performer Taylor Newer Civil Service Employee Performance Concerns Casey AP Employee, new to your department. Performing Well (improvement through review period) What will your reviews reflect for each employee? What will their development goals look like?

Promotional Opportunities Alex Promotional Opportunities What if… Your department has promotional position(s) that may become vacant in the next few years? Your department doesn’t have any promotional positions? Long Term Civil Service Employee, you recently began supervising You’ve trained, communicated, and documented Alex, your dependable high performer approaches you about promotional opportunities. How do you approach this?

Taylor Continued Concerns Since Taylor has returned to work, the performance concerns have continued but… Taylor attributes the performance to medical limitations. Medical / Limitations:

Casey Medical Impacts Casey’s performance has been steady, when at work. Missed deadlines due to absences related to medical. AP Employee, new to your department, not new to WSU You’ve trained, communicated, and documented

Success is… Alex What might success look like for Alex, our “rockstar” employee? Promotion (internal to dept or external to dept) Hope to retain at WSU Staying in current/similar role but provided with new challenges

Success is… Taylor What might success look like for Taylor, our poor performer? What if the issue is: Lack of skill/ability Lack of interest in position/department Personality is not a good fit Skills/Ability – provide opportunity to learn/grow but may end up separating from the department Success may be employee deciding to make an employment change on their own… we may have to help them get there

Success is… Casey What might success look like for Casey, who is a steady performer? Success might be helping Casey get to the next level to make them your new rockstar… or it might be having a dependable, steady performer

What could we have done to ensure they would NOT be successful? Nothing – ignore the issue(s) Give negative feedback without positive direction For good performers: ignore positive work, don’t make them feel valued, don’t consider their goals

March 8, 2018 Recording date of this workshop is 11/24/2018 Recording date of this workshop is March 8, 2018 Some of the rules and procedures discussed in this workshop are subject to change. Please check University resources before relying exclusively on this recorded presentation. Template-WSU Hrz 201.ppt