Delivering Bad News Tactfully and
Effectively
In addition, this employee has displayed confrontational behavior which has created a hostile environment. You must now meet with this employee and deliver an ultimatum regarding the need for immediate improvement or dismissal.”
As a manager in business and in personal life there is always the possibility of confrontations. Establishing a climate of nurturing and teamwork within an organization or business demonstrates a balance of power, cooperation, trust and supportive behavior encourages openness, and collaboration. Managers desiring not to abuse their power should develop and implement a solution-oriented behavior rather than abusive power-perpetuating behavior.
In this particular scenario the manager of a mid-sized
company providing technology support services discovers an employee that is
performing below standards. The employee
has received numerous complaints from both customers and coworkers. In addition the employee has displayed
confrontational behavior which has created a hostile environment. The managers’ initial response should be to
greet the employee with “Good morning or Afternoon, whichever is convenient
followed by asking them “how things are going?”
After the employee replies, say “That’s good, now we need to
talk about the bad news. Can you step
into my office?” When the employee
enters the room, ask them to have a seat. As a manager you’re in a position of
power and will potentially play a dominant role in the conversation. Individuals in this position should always
consider the idea that we are all in the same boat, and share similar goals and
that is customer satisfaction.
Because we’re in a job of customer satisfaction, complaints
from the customer will not be tolerated.
When you ask the employee to explain their actions, expect the employee
to provide a less than candid response.
That’s when it becomes necessary to ask the employee to speak freely
about some of the complaints against them.
Once the employee has rendered their recollection of the
incident, the manager should use the S-TLC (Stop, Think, Listen and
Communicate) system. The hyphen is used
in S-TLC to help recall hey system because we all need a little TLC (Tender,
Love and Care) in our lives (Cahn & Abigail, 2011). So stop and take the
time to ask for yourself, “When was the last time you had a pep talk about the
importance of customer relations?”
Think before you act.
Try not to take the conflict personally by remembering your ultimate
goal in the counseling process. Were you
listening to the employee when you asked them to speak candidly about the
situation? Most people believe they are
hearing the person rather than listening to what they say when confronted with
criticism. The final step in the S-TLC
system is to communicate.
As the manager, you have to decide
how to communicate with your employees without abusing your power, causing the
employee to resort to violent behavior.
Sure there are instances where you could respond in a destructive manner
by being aggressive, but in this circumstance you want to avoid any
conflict. Keeping this in mind, you
start by informing the employee that they are a valued member of the team. With that being said, you can follow-up by
saying that their current actions are detrimental to the team and the policies
of this company.
Most employees will see this as a good sign that they aren’t
being terminated. At this point you can
deliver the ultimatum, if there is no improvement in your behavior, there will
be further disciplinary actions, up to and including termination. From a Human Resources perspective, this is
your first warning. Once the employee
signs or refuses to sign their first warning, clear lines will be drawn in the
sand and so are the actions of the manager.
If the employee signs the warning notice then they will more
than likely change their behavior and become a vital asset to the company. If they refuse to sign the document, forward
the warning to HR with a memo indicating the employee refused to sign the
notice. The next outburst or complaint
will result in immediate termination.
References
Cahn, D.D. and Abigail, R.A,
(2011). Managing Conflict Through
Communication.
Hi George,
ReplyDeleteI really like the layout of your blog. It is easy to read and I really like the look of the light text to the dark background. I think the orange accents as well, it gives your blog some character. The photograph you chose to post of yourself seems to really capture who you are. I think you should add a brief bio about yourself to the about me section.
It would be super beneficial to your blog to add some assignments from past courses, maybe something you did on a PowerPoint or with graphics. This specific post was one of my favorite assignments because you can really put yourself in the spot. It is a great way to show what you have learned thus far in the class.
Thanks!
Tracy