Yes. Discipline Without Punishment solves performance problems promptly and permanently by placing the responsibility for change exactly where it belongs—with the individual. The core concept of giving an individual whose performance is not acceptable a day at the company’s expense […]
There are several reasons that it makes sense to pay the employee for the day he is away from work on decision-making leave. As a practice, the paid suspension: Changes the supervisor’s role from adversary to coach. Demonstrates the company’s […]
Why not just issue a final written warning, or create a performance improvement plan, or place the individual on probation? At the final step of a discipline procedure, when earlier formal discussions have failed to convince the employee to change […]
Our discipline system seems harsh and inappropriate for professional employees with its warnings and reprimands and suspensions without pay. Is there a better approach? The traditional ‘‘progressive discipline system,’’ with its criminal-justice mentality and its use of punitive warnings and […]
The individual’s performance is very good, but her attendance record is spotty. How do I convince someone that we need to come to work, on time, every day? Start by making your attendance expectation clear. The attendance expectation the organization […]
The individual’s quality and quantity of work are okay. It’s his attitude that’s the problem. How do I solve an attitude problem? Ask any group of managers what the most common ‘‘people problem’’ they encounter is and they will uniformly […]
When a manager documents a performance improvement discussion or a formal disciplinary transaction, what is it that the manager is actually documenting? Too many managers think that what they are documenting is the existence of a problem. That’s a mistake. […]
Begin by writing down a clear and unarguable statement of the difference between desired performance and actual performance. If you can’t write down exactly what you want and exactly what the employee is doing that concerns you, there is no […]
Probably the toughest ten seconds in management comes when the manager has told the employee that they need to get together to talk about a problem. The appointed time comes, the employee arrives in the manager’s doorway, knocks, and says, […]
The most important step is to clearly identify the difference between the desired performance and the employee’s actual performance. Several other pieces of preparation help ensure that you are successful in your meeting with the individual: Identify the impact. Determine […]
Identifying the gap between desired and actual performance is the most difficult part of solving performance problems. The reason is that we usually define the problem in very general and abstract terms (e.g., ‘‘Harriet’s got an attitude problem’’), or we […]
I have an employee whose performance is not acceptable. I have had one or two informal conversations with him, but nothing’s changed. What should I do? Most of the time, with most of the people a manager supervises, a word […]
No. You may be delighted that the individual has successfully completed a significant development plan, or disappointed that she has ignored all of your suggestions about development. But development isn’t performance. Performance appraisal needs to focus exclusively on how well […]
The tasks, assignments, and activities that a person performs on the job can also serve as developmental experiences. In Performance Execution, we discussed ways of enriching the developmental nature of a job by deliberately building in challenge and autonomy. By […]
Most development plans seem to involve little more than just signing up for training programs. Where does training fit into a development plan? Training isn’t ‘‘development.’’ Training is simply one component in a complete development plan. Here are six suggestions […]
Isn’t development the responsibility of the individual? What are the manager’s responsibilities for developing subordinates? The manager has six key responsibilities for the development of subordinates: 1. Identify key individual and organization development needs. 2. Coach the subordinate’s selection of […]
There are eight components to an effective development plan. The best way to construct a workable development plan is simply to take a blank piece of paper and write down your response to each item: Knowledge, skill, or competency area […]
‘‘Impact and influence’’ is the other competency that research regularly demonstrates as a critical factor in differentiating between the merely good and the truly great. In studies done of three different job families—managerial/supervisory, technical/ professional, and sales— impact and influence […]
Achievement orientation is almost universally identified as one of the two most important predictors of success in complex, sophisticated organizations. Other terms that are often used for this competency include results ‘‘orientation,’’ ‘‘taking initiative,’’ and ‘‘entrepreneurship.’’ How do you know […]
There are several places to look to come up with good ideas on areas to focus development efforts: Personal knowledge Achievement orientation and impact and influence competencies Performance appraisal feedback Information from others 360-degree feedback data or employee survey results […]