Five Tips When you Dread Having a Difficult Conversaton with an Employee
Recently I had a client tell me that when she opened a discussion with a direct report about a violation of the dress code the person erupted, quit on the spot and immediately left the workplace. We role played the discussion and how to frame such a discussion so as to depersonalize it.
What I found most interesting is that the company rehired this person who abandoned the workplace the same day at another location in another leadership role. What???
Now my client has to manage a team who knows the organization will tolerate unprofessional and insubordinate behavior. She has to gain respect from a team who knows they don’t have to listen or adhere to company policy to keep their job.
We are now positioning her transferable skills for a company with a more solid culture. In the meantime here is a tip for when you need to have a difficult conversation with an employee.
- Get out the company policy or company value they are violating. Seek alignment and understanding.
- Open the discussion with curiosity. Tell them you understand how they might not be thinking about this policy/value (builds alignment) and ask them if they knew about it. Show them the document. At that point they will see where you are going with the conversation and begin to comment.
- If they become argumentative make the discussion be about their behavior versus the policy - not them versus you. Remove yourself from the equation. No emotion. It is them versus the document - them versus the values/policy of the organization.
- Listen. Affirm. Be firm on the rule. If they get defensive and the conversation is not moving forward, ask them if they were you what would they do.
- In the end remind them this isn’t personal, thank them for their consideration and cooperation in respecting the policy/value. As employees we all have to align with the goals and values of the organization.
If you want to learn more about transferable skills you can learn how to define, grow and position them for advancement on my training: Three Ways to Move to the Next Level In Your Career Right Now If you don't know where you will be at the end of 2018, you are already there.
Your coach,
Mary Lee
P.S. Feel free to send this link to someone who could benefit from it. We are all walking down the same road in life.
Mary Lee Gannon, ACC, CAE is an International Coach Federation certified executive coach and 18-year corporate CEO who helps busy executive leaders swap the treadmill to nowhere for a new career, promotion, higher pay, confidence, calm and better connection with the people who matter while it still matters. View testimonials from her career transformation mavens and FREE career tools at www.MaryLeeGannon.com
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