Difficult Conversations

Goal of Employee Discipline Conversations Confront an issue before it affects the work environment or the employee’s overall performance –Do your homework! Investigate the issue to see if a real problem exists –Don’t wait Provide timely and thoughtful feedback as soon as possible. Allowing time to pass can make the issue seem less important

Leadership Presence Tone of voice –Calm? Firm? Physical posture Eye contact Level of engagement –Are you giving a parental-type lecture? Or are you talking about your concerns to a peer? –Are you allowing the employee to respond or explain?

Meeting outline 1. Clearly state purpose of meeting “Allen, I set up this meeting to talk to you about our computer security policy.” 2. Describe the behavior “You’ve downloaded 3 unauthorized programs this week onto your PC, and that is against our workplace rules.” 3. Listen to the reaction

Meeting outline (Part 2) Listen to the reaction Possible Employee Reaction Manager Response Denial: “I didn’t do it” “The IT department has a report of the programs you downloaded with your unique ID. The purpose of this meeting is to make you aware it is unacceptable and it shouldn’t happen again.” Diversion to others: “Jill does it all the time and never gets in trouble!” We’re not here to talk about others’ behavior. We’re here to talk about what you’re doing and what needs to change.” Avoid responsibility: “Wow, nobody told me about the rule.” “Well now that you know, I expect you to follow the rule going forward.” Accepts Responsibility: “I did it.” “Thanks for being honest with me.”

Meeting outline (part 3) 4. Agree on resolution –“Al, the IT department is the only group allowed to download programs. I expect you to abide by our policy and never do this again. If you break this rule in the future, you may be subject to further disciplinary action, up to and including termination. I don’t want that to happen. Can you agree that you’ll abide by our information security policy?” 5. Document the discussion

Other Tips The meeting’s focus is not punishment. It should be communication and collaborative problem solving. –Ask yourself, “Am I trying to let this person how wrong they are, or is the meeting about us finding a solution so the situation doesn’t happen again?” Make sure the employee has a clear expectation about the resolution as well as the consequences for non-compliance

Practice Your Skills Form 2 even lines of chairs Make sure each line faces each other

MANAGER: Right Line JOE/JO: Left Line You are the manager of retail sales. You asked your sales administrator, Joe/Jo to immediately send new sales information to your boss for review. The next day, you are chewed out by your boss for not sending her the information. You look bad. You need to talk to Jo/Joe.

MANAGER: Right line CHRIS: Left line You’re a supervisor in a warehousing operation. Like most organizations you have a “No Smoking” policy in the facility. As you walk down aisle B in the warehouse, you see a cloud of smoke and see Chris running to aisle A with a cigarette in his mouth. You need to talk to Chris.

Change Seats with Someone on the Other Side

MANAGER: Right TAYLOR: Left You’re the accounting manager, and the business relies on your department to produce accurate financial reports at end of each month. Your department uses Excel. Last month, you hired a new accountant, Taylor, who claimed to be proficient in Excel. However, co-workers have come to you with complaints about Taylor’s work and questioning his/her abilities. You need to talk to Taylor.

MANAGER: Right PAT: Left You supervise 25 people in a PC repair call center. Your team works in close quarters with little physical separation between work stations. Pat is one of your best performers, yet you’ve received complaints from his/her peers that Pat tends use crude and vulgar sexual references in conversation. Although no one was willing to make a formal complaint, several agree that Pat is crossing the line. You need to talk to Pat.

Get into groups of 3

15–15 The Players Jay/Jae (Mgr of Shipping/Packing Dept) –Low-skill workers; lowest pay; 25 ees –An excellent trainer and mentor to staff –Advancement opportunities: 2 shift leads Alex (Mgr of Product Processing Dept) –Low and mid-skill workers; same pay; 100 ees –Advancement opportunities: 8 lead techs, 4 shift leads Don/Donna (Human Resource Manager) –After a verbal altercation occurs at a meeting, Don/na steps in facilitate the conversation

15–16 The Problem In the last 5 months, Alex has offered jobs to 5 of Chris’ best employees. All 5 accepted the offer. Now, Chris’ department is under- staffed. Chris thinks it’s unfair that Alex is “stealing” his employees Alex doesn’t understand why Chris is so upset. Employees apply for jobs in other departments all the time.