5 STEPS TO DEALING WITH STAFF PROBLEMS AS SOON AS THEY BEGIN

Copyright (c) 2006 Mr Sital Ruparelia

Many businesses struggle to deal with under performing or
'problem' staff members. By "problem," I mean anything from
persistent absence and lateness, right the way through to a
bad attitude or not achieving the job requirements to the
correct standards. When I examine these situations it is
often a self inflicted problem which the business leaders
and owners have created themselves. Either...
a) they hired the wrong people,
b) maybe they didn't train them correctly, or else
c) they simply did not manage them when the problems first
arose.

This last point, failing to deal with a problem when it
first begins really is often the core reason and the
purpose of this article. Your failure to set boundaries and
have an 'awkward' conversation about deteriorating work
standards, attitude or time keeping as soon as they first
arise - will lead to problems down the line - I can
guarantee that 100%. So no matter how uncomfortable it
feels, you owe it to yourself, the business and the
individual to sit them down and "nip it in the bud" (as we
say in the UK) informally before it becomes a major problem
that grinds away at you and your business. So how exactly
do you do this..? Here is a 5 step model that you can use
when you first realize you have a problem with a team
member:

1. Create an opportunity for feedback. To provide feedback,
you cannot do it in public or at a time where you cannot
speak. Create or engineer an opportunity to have a one on
one conversation with them - it should ideally be part of a
regular weekly 1-2-1 update or catch up you have with your
team individually. If you don't have something like this in
place, then create an excuse or opportunity to talk the
team member about something work related and then tag on
the feedback at the end of the call in an informal "by the
way" fashion.

2. Check if everything is "OK." Before giving feedback, you
want to be aware of any circumstances that may be impacting
on a team members performance - e.g. someone may be
struggling to cope with the demands of the job, require
some training, have conflict with one of the team or maybe
experiencing some serious personal problems at home.
Ideally you want to know of any such information before
giving feedback. So casually say something like "I just
wanted to catch up with you on a couple of things - but how
are things going? Is everything ok?" Most often, they will
say "Yes everything is fine" in which case move to step 3.
But if they start telling you about a problem - then you
need to listen & deal with that first. Depending on what
the issue is, still try and progress with the next steps -
i.e. if possible, don't be distracted by the 'problem.'

3. Feedback with FACTS. The next step is to give the
feedback - but to do so with FACTS - what actually happened
and that cannot be disputed. As opposed to an opinion you
have formed based on someone's behaviour. This means NOT
saying something like: "I think your commitment and
attitude is slipping - you're constantly late - what is
going on?" "I'm not very happy with your attitude these
days, why are you so argumentative with everyone?" "You
have become careless in recent weeks, you need to
concentrate better and keep your mind on the job" Whilst
these comments very often reflect how you think and feel -
using this approach out of frustration will only make
people defensive and possibly create some antagonism,
rather than change their behaviour and move things forward.
Instead, say something like: "Over the last 2 weeks, I have
noticed you arriving late into work on about 4 or 5
occasions - is everything ok?" "I have noticed you got into
2 to 3 arguments with members of the team in the last
couple of weeks in front of customers, is everything ok?"
"You have made 2 to 3 major errors on the client accounts
in the last month, is everything ok" These comments are all
based on facts that cannot be disputed and don't judge the
person in the same way as telling someone that they are
"moody" or "careless" does. Which means you are better
placed to see the right reaction from them in terms of a
change in behaviour or works standards. But it is important
that you don't underplay things too much - the individual
should be in no doubt that the standard of their work /
behaviour / timekeeping is not acceptable. It is not fair
on them or your business for you to be 'woolly' and non
specific about things because you want to be "nice."

4. Request a Change. Once you have fedback these facts,
then you must request a change in behaviour as follows.
"Can I request that you make a concerted effort to catch
the earlier bus/train in the morning so that you can avoid
the delays and arrive to work before 9.00am every day" "Can
you please ensure that you are diplomatic and professional
with other team members - and in particular ensure that you
are pleasant and polite when in view of customers at all
times" "Can you please be much more careful and thoroughly
check the figures before submitting so that we have 100%
accuracy on all client records" Again, this needs to be
very clear - there should be no doubt in the mind of the
person of what you expect of them.

5. Ask what support they want from you. This is not about
giving feedback and expecting people to change instantly on
their own. But about being genuine, honest and fair - so
that they can adjust and get the job satisfaction of doing
a job well So yes, offer the feedback and make a request to
change. But also ask "what support would you like from me /
us in order to help you achieve X, Y, Z..?" Or similarly,
"What could we do to help you achieve x, y , z" Assuming
the responses you get are reasonable then you must keep
your part of the bargain and do what they are requested But
what is reasonable...? "Could you maybe help me understand
the ABC information as I don't totally understand it - and
hence why I think I made those mistakes?" This is
reasonable - as it's a request for further training to help
someone do the job to the right standard. On the other hand
"Can you please allow us all some flex time" probably is
not reasonable!"

It is much much easier to avoid these conversations and
hope "it will go away" or "sort itself out" - but in most
cases it will not go away unless someone takes action. And
that "someone" needs to be you. The longer you leave it,
the harder and more daunting it will become. So from today
- start "nipping things in the bud" and you will start
seeing the difference in your team and your business. When
you performance manage fairly and consistently, the "Right
People" will usually stay with your business, whilst the
wrong type of people will possibly self select themselves
to move on. In which case you have the opportunity to
recruit the right people who will help your business
prosper and grow.

----------------------------------------------------
Sital Ruparelia, The Recruitment & Retention Specialist,
works with businesses that struggle with recruitment and
retention issues and helps them implement strategies proven
to Find & Keep The Right People consistently. To receive
further tips and advice on Finding & Keeping The Right
People, sign up to our FREE twice-monthly newsletter at:
http://www.authenticresourcing.com