How to Avoid 'We Needed to Talk'

How to Avoid 'We Needed to Talk'

by Charles Sujansky | Talent Management

 

Imagine the following scenario: Marc settles behind his desk and feels a small knot forming in the pit of his stomach. It is the beginning of the 3-to-11 shift he supervises at a call center for a large Internet retailer. Marc's crew of 25 customer service representatives fields phone calls from customers with problems ordering or receiving merchandise. The work can be intense at times; Marc's shift handles the highest daily call volume. But his employees are all well-trained and can resolve problems quickly. All, that is, except for one representative.

 

Debbie had recently come to Marc's department after a long career in retail. With her experience in retail sales and customer service, Debbie seemed like a natural fit for the call center. But despite company training and two coaching attempts by Marc, Debbie still has one of the worst records among his employees. Her callers' time spent on hold is among the worst in the company. Her call-abandonment rate - the rate at which callers hang up after a long period on hold - is also unacceptably high. Marc knows if Debbie doesn't change her behavior soon, he will have little choice but to fire her. As he contemplates the upcoming discussion, the knot in his stomach grows larger.

 

Decreasing Dread

 

Few phrases carry a greater feeling of dread than the words, "we have to talk." After all, that's usually shorthand for "you're in trouble." Talent managers dread these discussions as much as employees do. Most people don't like receiving criticism, no matter how constructively it's intended. Employees' biggest fear is losing job security. For supervisors, the biggest fear is that the employee will become defensive, hostile or possibly violent.

 

Jennifer Ciccone, vice president of human resources for Matthews International Corporation, said there are several factors that prevent supervisors from holding constructive discussions about job performance with their employees.

 

"Many managers are not equipped to give high-impact feedback, so they may lack confidence in taking on this responsibility," she said. "Other managers rarely give positive feedback, so whenever an employee is called into a one-on-one discussion, both brace for the worst. Giving positive and constructive feedback in a balanced fashion predisposes an employee to give the manager a fair hearing. But there are managers that have trouble setting aside their frustration with the employee's behavior so the meeting either doesn't happen at all or it is not constructive."

 

Here are some steps supervisors can take to ensure a disciplinary interview proceeds in a positive and constructive manner:

 

1. Set the stage:

The first and most important step is to make sure the discussion is carefully planned. Talent managers need to do their research. If the employee's performance is falling short, it needs to be supported with as many tangible examples as possible. Supervisors need to be concrete and avoid generalizing and making absolute statements such as "you always" or "you never." Finally, the supervisor and employee need to consider outcomes both can agree with, including the time frame for improvement and progress review dates that will occur after the meeting.

 

An organization's human resources department should be consulted so that supervisors remain up to date on necessary guidelines or procedures for conducting disciplinary interviews. There are times when an HR representative may need to be present when the interview is conducted, but probably only in the most extreme cases such as dealing with a historically combative employee or during a termination interview when a witness is required to be present.

 

Next, it is important to set the stage for the discussion itself. Privacy is critical, as is planning nondisruptive time for the discussion. Talent managers must give employees full attention if they expect employees to do the same. It is important to schedule an adequate amount of time to conduct a thorough discussion. The discussion should not appear to be too casual because the environment may lessen the impact. Meetings should not be held in a cubicle, over lunch or during a coffee break, for example.

 

2. Get to the point:

Beating around the bush is not the way to begin a disciplinary interview. This is not the time to chat about football or family. When conducting a disciplinary discussion, supervisors should get to the point and explain that the purpose of the meeting is to discuss specific aspects of job performance, either because the behavior is causing problems or holding the employee back from achieving important goals. It is unproductive to say things like "everybody is upset with your behavior" or "no one is happy with your performance."

 

Address concerns up front and be specific. Then say something like, "I wish to discuss steps we can take to get you back on track." By stressing concerns, supervisors are expressing shared investment in the outcome. Sometimes supervisors in situations like this fall back on the old "voice of authority," which can make them sound cold and unsupportive when it comes to finding a solution to a behavioral problem.

 

3. Describe the problem:

After describing the purpose of the meeting the supervisor needs to tell the employee as directly as possible what aspect of job performance is falling short of expectations. In the prior scenario, Debbie failed to meet the performance standards of 12 calls per hour with a quality rating of at least 95 percent. After discussing this issue, Marc discovered Debbie was not proficient using the software that helped her research customer inquiries. Marc and Debbie agreed on a training plan and set a date three months out to review training results. Marc also said if her performance was still below standards, disciplinary action, up to and including termination, would result. This illustrates the importance of clarifying performance standards required for the job and making sure the employee understands the consequences of failing to meet expectations.

 

Once again, this is a time for specifics, not generalities. Give examples with dates, times and other details so the employee can gain a clear picture of how the behavior is falling short. However, at this point the employee is likely to be feeling some strong emotions. Once the problem has been presented thoroughly supervisors are wise to take a breath, sit back and ask for the employee's reaction.

 

Listening to the employee's response is probably the most challenging part of the discussion, but it's the most critical. There actually may be perfectly good reasons why the employee is not following procedure or meeting goals. At this stage, supervisors need to learn what barriers may be holding the employee back, and they may be in for a few surprises.

 

4. Make the course correction:

Once the supervisor and employee have a mutual understanding of the problem their next task is to explore potential solutions. Many supervisors have a natural tendency to tell employees exactly what they need to do to improve performance. And that may be effective at times. However, behavioral change is far more likely if the employee gets to say what he or she can do to correct the problem first.

 

After the Talk

 

Talent managers need psychological buy-in from the employee to make the necessary changes. Supervisors also need to give constant feedback and check in regularly to ensure the employee sustains behavior change. We have all experienced the marvelous turnaround right after the discussion only to see the behavior slide back soon after to previous levels. To avoid this, schedule review discussions as well as spontaneous observations and conversations to keep the employee on track, show support and focus on the anticipated environment.

 

In Marc's case, Debbie suggested additional training and Marc agreed. He also reiterated the company's goals for average contact time with customers, set specific, incremental goals for Debbie going forward, and put review dates on their calendars.

 

Another critical step at this stage is to plan for follow-up. The goal is to give the employee at least a few weeks or even a few months to correct the behavior and begin achieving acceptable results. Setting a review date is another good tool to ensure employee motivation. Given a reasonable amount of time, the employee should be able to demonstrate that he or she has made the course corrections necessary to get back on track. Conversely, not scheduling a follow-up meeting is a great way to ensure unacceptable behaviors continue without correction.

 

Most supervisors will need to conduct a disciplinary interview with an employee at some point in their careers. It's unlikely that holding disciplinary discussions will ever be fun or easy. But with the right approach, these interviews can be positive and constructive.

 

1. Effective feedback offers advantages to everyone involved:

Certainly, the company benefits if an employee's corrected, improved behavior results in higher employee retention, stronger team engagement and improved productivity. The manager's life also becomes much easier as he builds trust in his ability to lead and create a safer, more pleasant work environment.

 

If managers would conduct more developmental conversations than corrective actions, performance conversations would become less frequent and less contentious. Properly executed, disciplinary conversations lead not only to better performance but also to an increase in the employee's self-esteem, and greater commitment to the manager and the company.

 

 

[About the Author: Charles Sujansky is CEO of KEYGroup.]