avoiding difficult employee issues only makes matters worse
DESCRIPTION
When you manage employees, it's the most important part of your job. Ignoring problems has far reaching business impact.TRANSCRIPT
Easy Small Business HR 1
Just My Opinion:
Avoiding Difficult Employee Issues
Only Makes Matters Worse
Special Report From: EasySmallBusinessHR.com
I know.
You've heard me tackle this subject before on my blog. But it's a
topic worth revisiting. You have to take the bull by the horns and
develop the skill of dealing with confrontation.
When you manage employees, it's the most important part of your
job. Ignoring problems has far reaching business impact.
Easy Small Business HR 2
Yet the one thing that I've found that has been consistent over my
years of coaching managers on how to manage is the fear of
dealing with difficult employees, or difficult workplace situations
directly.
I recognize that confrontation at almost any level is very difficult
for most supervisors. Most of us care about what others think of
us. We want to be liked and respected. It's hard to be the "bad
boss". It's even harder to have to deal with someone who might be
confrontational, argumentative, even intimidating.
As you've likely experienced if you've managed employees for any
length of time, ignoring even the most minor issues can create
larger problems:
* Issues doesn't go away and can actually become
even more complicated and harder to tackle.
* Employee morale is affected.
* Your best employees almost always become
resentful and unhappy. You won't always know
that they are resentful or unhappy because they
won't tell you in most cases.
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* Turnover increases
* Work productivity is reduced
* Perception of you as a leader is negatively
impacted
The first step is to make the decision that you will address
problems when the issue occurs and that you won't shy away from
delivering difficult messages.
So Just How Do You Manage Difficult Employees?
Tips On How To Deal With A Difficult Employee, or Issue
The next step is to develop a plan of action that will make it more
comfortable for you to tackle these issues. For example, when you
know that you'll need to make an employee who is consistently late
for work aware that this has become an issue, write down:
* What the issue is
* The pattern of behavior that you've observed over
time
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* The business or workplace impact of the behavior
* Your expectations and action steps that your
employee needs to take to resolve the issue
Use the information from your bullet points as your talking points
when you have your conversation with your employee.
I'll be sharing more information soon on a step by step action plan
for managers at all levels that will assist you with dealing with
difficult situations; including how to have the difficult
conversation and specific "talking points" based on a variety of
possible workplace issues that will help you with having that
difficult conversation.
In the meantime, make a promise to yourself to take steps to
address issues immediately.
Contact me if you have a difficult situation that you'd like for me
to include in my step by step plan that I'll be developing just for
you:
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Be sure to put: "Difficult Situation Coaching" in the subject line.
To your success!
Get more tips just like this without leaving your desk. Go to
TipsonManagingEmployees.com for your weekly Employee
Hiring and Managing Tips email.
Recommended Resource: 101 Tough Conversations to Have
with Employees: A Manager's Guide to Addressing
Performance, Conduct, and Discipline Challenges
