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| Hiring, Terminations and Retention |
| Take the Reins and Guide Your Own Business |
Joe Knight’s business involves frequent travel, so he trusts his longtime admin assistant to ensure the office is run efficiently in his absence. She frequently “reminds” him that she holds this level of responsibility. Joe has given her several raises and bonuses, yet she continues to demand a higher salary. Joe has just returned from a business trip and learns that his assistant has spent much of her time engaged in non-work Internet chat and personal shopping via his office computer system during his absence. The assistant is well aware that this is in strict violation of company policy, as she just recently sent out a memo to all staff on this very topic. Joe feels betrayed but doesn’t want to rock the boat by making a big issue of it.
Wasatch Mortgage Company employs a skilled loan officer who earns a very good wage, and is provided with full medical insurance benefits, retirement plan and yearly bonuses. Yet the loan officer makes life miserable for boss Samantha, because he never acknowledges these perks and is a constant source of negativity that downgrades the morale of the entire company. Samantha values his skills but hates the tradeoff of having to put up with his negative attitude.
Does this sound familiar? Employee morale and performance issues can be extremely challenging and time-consuming for employers. Yet it can seem that the more the employer gives, the less good comes of it. Employees can become “bottomless pits” of ever-increasing demands for more perks, benefits, salary increases, etc., without possessing sufficient skills or demonstrating a level of performance sufficient to justify this. Also, the prospect of needing to recruit and replace the problem employee may be so daunting that an employer will choose to put up with the employee and meet their demands.
Before long, the employer is afraid to say anything negative to the difficult employee and tiptoes around his or her own business. It can seem that “nice guys” really do finish last. At this juncture, what is needed to turn the situation around? More raises, bonuses, and unjustified praise, in hopes the employee can be appeased?
This employer has forgotten his or her role and that of the employee. This is the time to stand back, objectively review the situation and retake control.
- Define the problem. Who is involved and what are the issues?
- Try to understand why the employee is behaving as they are. Be direct and honest in your communications with the employee about this. Make sure there are no additional “hidden” problems. Our Human Resource Specialists can assist you in identifying issues and making sure any potential legal fallout is considered.
- Determine if you want to retain this employee. What would be the consequences of terminating them and starting fresh? Or will this individual respond to a frank sit-down talk about exactly what needs to change and the consequences of it not changing?
- If you need to terminate the employee, do it promptly.
- If you do want to work with them, clearly communicate your expectations and what needs to change, as well as the consequences if this does not occur.
- Follow through and stand firm for the likely employee emotional “fallout.” The dust will likely settle and your business will run more smoothly. If the employee is not able to adjust to having you take back the reins, then you should replace them.
- Don’t give raises or good performance reviews in an attempt to motivate or change a poor performer – it doesn’t work. The employee knows they do not merit the raise and will respect you less for it.
- Recognize that some employees seem to thrive on negative feedback and actually “misbehave” in order to elicit it! Obviously, this sort of person will never respond positively to your best efforts.
- If the employee is “threatening” you with hints or outright statements that they will find another job that pays more, etc., let them know that you will not be manipulated by that approach. Let them know what you require of them as long as they work for you.
- Find other means than monetary to reward good performers. Give positive and specific verbal feedback. Pay attention to what motivates individuals. For instance, one person may love receiving a paid afternoon off, while another will value receiving concert tickets.
- Vary how you acknowledge and reward good performance, so employees don’t expect something in particular as a matter of course.
- Consider the value of peer recognition. Involve the successful employee in training others in their area of expertise. Many employees derive great satisfaction from this obvious respect for their abilities.
- Don’t look to the past for your current impression of how employees are doing, and don’t automatically give “longevity” raises if performance really does not merit an increase.
- Transcend the urge to allow employees’ personal opinions of you to dictate your management decisions. The need to be liked motivates many bosses to make poor choices regarding their employees. Try to detach your personal feelings and be objective.
- Understand that changing your approach to employee performance and behavior problems will take some time to take effect, as you have conditioned your employees to expect something different.
- Set a strong example for the ethics and business culture you want upheld by your employees. Be equitable and encourage open (and productive) communication.
- Be willing to look at your own actions to determine how you may be perpetuating problems with your staff. Make necessary changes.
- Don’t back away from giving accurate negative feedback when necessary, including specific examples, so employees have an opportunity to understand and correct problems?
Take the reins and guide your own business. It is your choice to engender a workplace ruled by fear, bribery and manipulation or one operating on the basis of reasonable goals, clear communication and mutual respect.
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