Adding a team member with new experiences, specialties and fresh ideas can help diversify and expand the company. However, there may come a time when this employee isn’t putting in the necessary amount of effort to continue progressing in their role. Moreover, the employee's poor attitude may become detrimental to the rest of the company.
While letting the employee go may seem like the best way to solve the issue, there are other potential ways to handle this situation. To that end, 15 members of Forbes Human Resource Council shared the best ways to handle employees with issues before resorting to termination.
Forbes Human Resources Council members share advice on handling employee issues before resorting to termination.
Photos courtesy of the individual members.1. Make Sure Job Expectations Are Clear From The Beginning
Use onboarding and training processes to ensure employees are clear about behavioral and performance expectations. Evaluate managers on their ability to set clear goals and to communicate effectively on an ongoing basis with their teams. Leverage one-on-one discussions with employees as opportunities to course correct. This is effective because it can be preventative. - Phyllis Wright, Council for Inclusion in Financial Services (CIFS)
2. Initiate A Mentorship Program
We have all made mistakes in our careers; however, solid coaching that models the behavior, or appropriate abilities, can be transformational. In the past, I had a leader who did not want to take the time to coach a referral from the owner but wanted to terminate them instead. After the employee was patiently trained, he went on to become an assistant manager. - Tish McFadden, Maryland Oncology Hematology
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3. Try To Understand The Employee’s Point Of View
First, the leader has to assess whether the employee and his values are aligned with the purpose of the role. This helps to see why there are issues. Has there been a shift in strategies? Why has the engagement changed? Understanding the behavior, vision and motivation drivers is the first step of true leadership. Termination is merely a management step that could be avoided by communicating. - Philippe Clarinval, Carlton Hotel St. Moritz
4. Assess Work History To See Where The Employee Could Improve
Immediate termination should be the last course of action unless the triggering act is egregious in nature. For all other matters, fact-finding is key to making disciplinary action decisions. Assess the individual and the circumstances, including work history and performance. Interview all necessary parties. Remain neutral for a clean, cohesive process to avoid pitfalls that may lead to litigation. - Misty Johnson Oratokhai, Events DC
5. Put A 30- To 60-Day Plan In Place
First, get to the root of the issue. Once you've established the cause, assess whether or not this is a coachable offense, and if so, put a 30- to 60-day plan in place for the employee to correct the issue. Document progress of the plan and re-evaluate employment options from there. - Jenna Hinrichsen, Advanced RPO
6. Create Clear, Defined Goals Moving Forward
We use progressive discipline unless the employee did something egregious. We encourage the manager to have a discussion with the employee to determine what is occurring and if it can be resolved. Does the person need an accommodation or a leave of absence? If the coaching doesn't help, we can move to a performance improvement plan which would give clear, defined goals for the person to meet. - Erin ImHof, Circadence
7. Review And Adjust Your Employment Policies And Procedures
Let us start at the core of your roles and regulations—be consistent with your employment practices. Policies and procedures provide the baseline of satisfactory behavior levels for employees. - Nakisha Griffin, Ripple Effect
8. Open An Honest Dialogue Using HR Assistance
Effective dialogue is critical for finding a solution with an employee with issues. Mostly, the emotional turmoil between employee managers impairs the appropriate interventions. I believe coaching for an effective discussion through "dialogue frameworks" or assistance from HR to facilitate conversation could get the right outcome endorsed by both sides. - Kumar Abhishek, S&P Global
9. Allow A Leave Of Absence Or A Hybrid Work Schedule
It is seldom the case that an employee is fired because they just aren't good at their job. Rather than adding to recruitment costs and risking damage to team morale, try to identify the real issues driving the employee's inadequate performance. Allowing a leave of absence, a remote work arrangement or even flexible hours can help provide an employee with the opportunity to turn things around. - Laura Spawn, Virtual Vocations, Inc.
10. Ask The Employee How To Reduce Confusion In The Future
Provide clarity on the expectation, clarity regarding how the current behavior is not meeting the expectation, clarity on the time frame the colleague has to change behavior to meet the expectation and clarity regarding consequences of not adhering in the time frame. Clarity reduces confusion and debating after the fact if things go sour. - Megan Leasher, Talent Plus
11. Coach Instead Of Reprimand
I am a huge proponent of coaching over reprimanding. Understanding why an employee is having issues more often than not will help you fix the issue. Start with understanding why they are having issues. Is it a lack of training? Issues outside of work that are spilling into the job? When we work with our people to get to know what is going on, we can provide support and resources. - Katie Ervin, Park University
12. Let The Employee Know You Care
It is important to have ongoing and honest conversations with all of your employees, including those who have issues. This allows you to come from a place of care and concern to be supportive rather than accusatory. Based on what is learned, you can determine the direction needing to be taken by providing tools and resources or following your organization's disciplinary process. - Sherry Martin
13. Work On Your Employee-Leader Relationship
It's always best to approach the situation by trying to gain insight and understanding about what the employee is experiencing. This insight can provide the leader with valuable knowledge that can help them help the employee. It also puts the relationship between the leader and the employee at the forefront and sends the message that the leader cares about the employee beyond business results. - Raven Lee, Kapsch TrafficCom USA, Inc.
14. Train Managers To Be Empathetic And Create Safe Discussion Spaces
Take a coaching approach to problem resolution. Most managers are trained to uplevel issues to HR, which by definition creates a threatening process. Companies need to train managers to be empathetic and create safe policies to discuss issues and provide support resources to help resolve these issues. Termination should always be a last resort after trying for several months to address issues. - Madhukar Govindaraju, Numly™, Inc.
15. Reset Work Expectations And Create A Plan Together
Many times employees just need level-setting. Reset the expectations and put together a plan for their success. Many times managers put employees on performance improvement plans and this tends to help them get back on track. The manager and the employee should meet regularly and if the plan isn't working, then perhaps the employee is no longer the right fit—but at least there was a plan. - Greg Henderson, Whirks
