“When an employee does something wrong, I tell them. However, I have a couple of employees who just don’t seem to get it and I’ve had 5-6 conversations with them about this same problem. What more can I do to get through to them?”
My HR Survival Tip
As you know, in an “at-will” state you or the employee may terminate the employment relationship at any time and for any reason, with or without notice. That’s the legal language but it doesn’t work out so great for companies in court.
The less risky method is to understand how to inform employees when they are not doing things as you want them done. There are basically two types of discipline: progressive or discretionary.
Progressive discipline is when you have a step-by-step process that must be followed for every incident and for every employee. While this is a method used by many companies, it means each situation is treated the same and doesn’t really allow you the freedom to discipline differently based on the seriousness of the situation. However, progressive discipline may be the least risky method of disciplinary actions leading up to a termination because you can easily prove you followed all the steps for every employee, every time.
Discretionary discipline is my preference but you do need to have some consistency or you could easily veer into discriminatory actions. I prefer this because I do believe some mistakes an employee might make require a much more serious response from you. For example, leaving the building unlocked overnight might warrant a final warning. However, using discretionary discipline means you have to be disciplined yourself.
Learn how to document employee performance. I’ve know many business owners start back-peddling as soon as I mention providing the employee with documentation. Part of this process is for you to become more comfortable with documenting. It doesn’t need to be a novel but it does need to include the basics of what the problem is and what you want done about it.
Don’t have 5 conversations about the same problem. After the 2nd conversation, send the employee a memo or email that just says what you believe happened during that conversation. Keep it simple. Make sure it includes what steps or action the employee agreed to do to correct the matter in the future. Then just send the memo to the employee with the following closing: “If this isn’t what you understood from our conversation, please let me know immediately so we can discuss it more.” The employee doesn’t need to sign this; it’s just another way of providing the same information to him/her.
If I need to have yet another conversation, I will again document it but this time I will add a signature block at the bottom for the employee to sign under “READ and DISCUSSED.” Don’t use the word “understood” … you are merely getting the signature as proof of the discussion.
People have different learning methods. Upon hearing anything negative, many people stop listening so it’s hard for them to absorb what you’ve just said. The documentation provides another way for your employee to “hear” what you want. Some people understand better when they can also see something rather than just hearing it.
Conversations are easily misunderstood or just not remembered in detail. If you truly want to help your employee improve, get over any personal avoidance of documentation you may have and learn to use the documentation to better help your employee understand what you want. You’ll both benefit.
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