Why you MUST counsel and, possibly, terminate a problem
employee
The difficulties that come with a problem employee may seem
easily corrected by termination. However, if you believe the
employee's performance can be altered, counseling employees is
an intermediate step before firing.
Counseling employees takes a strong attitude and a plan of action.
Your plan of action must effectively alter your employee's behavior
so their work performance improves.
Too often, however, employers mistake disciplinary action as
disciplinary counseling. Simply citing your employee with a letter
of reprimand may improve your employee's work performance, but
often it won't have a lasting effect. This hinders your business
as it places a need for further disciplinary action later. By
fixing the problem the first time, your problem employee's behavior
may improve.
Dignity and Discipline when Counseling Employees
Perhaps one of the most important issues when disciplining your
employees is saving their dignity, so when they are a rehabilitated
employee, they will still have a sense of pride about working
for your business.
Discipline should be discreet. You should avoid any discipline
that embarrasses your employee, especially in front of other
employees.
Here's your purpose as a manager.
You should motivate your problem employees so their work performance
improves.
Counseling Employees: An Effective Plan of Action
First, you must ensure that your employee knows what the problem
is. This is where a letter of reprimand may come in handy, however,
it shouldn't end here. Your letter should detail exactly what
happened and why this was against the rules, and it should set
up a time for the employee to meet with you.
Before the meeting, you should gather as many facts and information
as possible. This will aid you during the discussion with your
problem employee. Once the meeting starts you should outline
the current problem, and then allow the employee to respond.
The information you collect for the employee during this meeting
will help you set the tone for the next actions in which you
will take.
After the meeting, you should get back to your employee as soon
as possible. Gather all the information you have collected, and
decide what steps are next. If you feel the employee is sincere,
and their behavior is correctable, then you should decide on
steps to improve and motivate them.
As is often the case, if you feel that they employee is not
sincere, then it's time to start the termination procedure.
If you feel that rehabilitation is still possible, the next
step you take may be a project or a series of projects that improves
your employees job performance. The projects may include revisiting
new employee training procedures, extra training procedures,
or following a colleague to gain further knowledge. No matter
what steps you take, the procedure should begin as soon as possible.
Finally, after you have carried out all steps of employee counseling,
you should review the problem employee's performance again. If
the behavior is good, you don't have to take extra action. If
the behavior remains poor, then it's time for formal progressive
discipline that will likely lead to the problem employee's termination.
While this may seem harsh, the employee's termination is usually
best for you and your company. It's also best for the problem
employee since it will be better for them to find a job suited
to their skills and motivations.
Counseling
employees but it's not working? Here's the next step.
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