Managers often perceive conversations about poor performance as conflict and depending on their preferred style either approach the situation too aggressively, hope someone the employee knows what is wrong by osmosis or avoid the situation completely. Unfortunately, none of these approaches are going to have the best results. Here at Emphasis HR & Training we are used to dealing with performance issues and have outlined below our 5 top tips for making these conversations as effective as possible.
- Don’t wait too long
The longer you wait the bigger the situation gets. Also while your mind is dwelling on this issue it is killing your productivity if you get into the habit of discussing issues shortly after thing happen it becomes easier and expected.
- Prepare the key themes and goals
Keep it simple. Make a list of bullet points detailing; the behaviour you have seen, what you would like to change and the goal of the conversation.
Observation: “you’re regularly late for meetings”
Change: “it’s important for the structure and success of the project that you arrive at the meetings on time”
- Keep the conversation positive
Starting the conversation on a positive note “I value our relationship and want to discuss an idea which could help us work more effectively.” If the other person believes your dealing with the situation positively, the feedback is more likely to sink in.
- Take responsibility for your actions
Take responsibility for your input for instance, if you haven’t spent as much time as you would have liked training someone, then say “I apologise for not spending the time needed on this. My workload is no excuse”.
Focus on future behaviour rather than past mistakes. Use “I” to state what you have observed but then focus on how this behaviour can be avoided in the future.
For instance “I’ve noticed you’ve missed the last two deadlines, what can we do to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
- Don’t forget to follow up
Finally and crucially make sure you follow up on any actions. Work together to hold each other accountable. If handled correctly, difficult conversations can ha
