Learning lessons

If I have one piece of advice for employers it is this: don’t leave things until it is too late.

If you have concerns about an employee’s performance – address them.

Concerned that someone is upsetting the culture of your workplace – address it.

Concerned that someone is not behaving appropriately – address it.

Address it and address it now.  Sooner rather than later.

In the course of the work that I do it’s natural that I am often called in to deal with matters when they are too far gone.  Either a formal process is the only reasonable way to address the issue in question or the relationship between employer and employee is such that parting ways is the only sensible option.

However, I do believe that it does not necessarily need to be that way.  Better communication from the outset could prevent many of the situations that I am eventually asked to come in and deal with.

Do have policies around expectations around performance and behaviour.  But ALSO, make sure that those same messages are being reinforced through your regular catch ups with employees.  In my experience a performance issue, if ignored, is unlikely ever to resolve itself.  You need to address it, in a supportive way, with your employee to see what can be done to get things back on track.

Likewise, having a list of examples of gross misconduct in an employee handbook is not enough by itself, you need to be modelling the behaviours that you expect of your staff, and a timely  conversation if you have, for instance, overheard some conversation that you’re not happy with, can be enough to get things back on track and prevent much bigger issues down the line.

I understand that even having these simple conversations can be daunting if it’s not something you are used to.  This is why I am now offering a service where I can coach you in having these types of conversation yourself, or I will come in and do it for you (you can sit in so you see it in action).  If you have the beginnings of any doubts and would like support in dealing with these sooner rather than later, please do get in touch.