Are You Having the Right Conversation with Under Achievers?

As a leadership coach, I help executives and managers find solutions to the challenges they face. Sometimes it’s dealing with difficult employees, “managing” leaders at a higher level or preparing for intense negotiation. These activities are hard work, but rewarding. I also provide counsel during one of the most difficult and emotionally draining actions leaders must undertake in the corporate world: employee layoffs.

Unfortunately, when employees can’t do their job or are not a good fit, leaders need to break the relationship and refocus. It’s a difficult, humbling part of my work and it’s where I get to witness a variety of dynamics, reactions and situations.

Good employees are very valuable. A manager’s job is to make sure these people are in the right role for their skill-set. Excellent leaders take pride in their ability to nurture high performance teams by drawing out individual strengths to the benefit of the group. They recognize that everyone has a key role to play, and the manager must “redirect” anyone who strays from the team path. Yet sometimes I wonder how effective managers are in helping valuable but struggling employees find a role that best suits them?

Setting People Up for Success

I ask this because over the years, I have heard comments which indicate that employees were shocked when laid off. Regardless of the circumstance—poor performance or inappropriate behaviour included—a layoff notice should not be a surprise for the employee. A good leader will have provided the proper warnings, had the difficult conversations and engineered the realignment plans to help re-focus a struggling employee’s path. It’s tough to do, but done correctly, these strategies clarify the expectations and ensure everyone understands the consequences if expectations are met—or missed.

As a leader with the ability to significantly affect the lives of others through promotions and layoffs, it’s important you take the proper steps to make sure that terminating an employee is the final and only option to you. Because once you hand out the pink slip, you need to feel confident that the end result was in the best interest of the company AND the individual.

Recently, I was involved with a client who had to layoff some staff members. My role was to help the individuals go through the change process. During the project, I came across a situation where a very valuable employee was being let go. “George,” (not his real name), had been with the company for six years. He had a good reputation, clients were happy with him and there were no complaints from management. About 6 months ago, a new manager came on board with new directives. She was under a lot of pressure to show significant progress in a short period of time. The new objectives required employees to change the way they worked. George said this manager used demeaning language, raised her voice and belittled the employees in order to get them to adopt new behaviours. This triggered George’s “hot” buttons and he was clearly frustrated with her lack of respect. As a seasoned employee, he was very assertive and pushed back on her command and control style. Unfortunately, this was seen as insubordination, and in the end, a valuable staff member with six years of experience, was let go.

Is it Them… or is it YOU?

I am obviously simplifying what I perceive happened, but the lesson is: when a reputable employee is having difficulty under your leadership… is it really just about them? Maybe you need to look in the mirror to see the problem? How clearly have you communicated your expectations? Do they know what is needed of them and why? Are they in a role that best utilizes their strengths? Do they understand the big picture? Do YOU see the big picture? Are you aware of how you are perceived when you communicate and act with this employee?

These questions are difficult but must be considered by good leaders. Having these tough conversations is critical to the well-being of the workplace and will command you respect because you are doing the right thing. Over the years, I have used the following guidelines to ensure my clients are doing all that they can when faced with employee productivity issues:

1. Investigate the facts. Having real facts goes far when trying to solve a problem while rumours get you nowhere. Is your underperforming employee having issues at home? Did they understand the new protocols? Did they read the memo?
2. Abide by the 24/72 hour rule. When upset, if possible, take 24 hours to cool off before you respond. You need to show up in control and be logical! Yet, don’t delay the conversation for more then 72 hours; otherwise, you risk sending the message that poor performance or inappropriate behaviour is acceptable.
3. Use a methodology for constructive feedback. Your first task should be to gather the facts, listen to your employee’s perspective and make sure they feel comfortable as you provide your viewpoint. I suggest the STAR method: describe the Situation and the Task (or behaviour) that was performed by gathering the facts, then describe the Action that was taken and the Results. “John, I noticed that after a few minutes on the call, your language started to change and words deemed offensive were used. This resulted in the client escalating a complaint to my attention. We now have to deal with an important client who is fuming and hesitating to renew his support contract with us. This contract is worth around $250,000.” Relating the Situation and Task without judgment will help your employee receive the message and stay in the logical plane. It also makes sure you are looking at the issue from the same perspective and that your facts are correct. You can then choose to either coach John to get a better Action and Result, or you can become directive in outlining what could have been done better.
4. Work with the employee to outline a corrective action plan. Accountability is the key to making new behaviours stick.
5. Follow up with the appropriate actions. This may be a weekly or even a daily check-in to monitor your employee’s performance and motivation.

When going through this process, your intent will have a huge impact on the outcome. Coming from a place of compassion and helping your employee take the right steps for aligning their behaviour or increasing their skill-set will boost the probability of a positive outcome. The opposite will occur if your approach is vengeful or full of ill intent.

Finally, if your employee’s behaviour does not change and the problem persists, you must take action. With each subsequent occurrence, be clear that their behaviour is unacceptable and that failure to change could result in termination. At the same time, you must be prepared for the day when you may have to layoff this employee. If termination is the end-game, you can rest assured that you did take corrective action but things just didn’t work out. In these difficult situations, working with HR will be invaluable to ensure all laws and best practices are observed. Furthermore, providing a good career transition program is vital to keeping the dignity of the employee and helping them move ahead faster with less emotional difficulties.

Tough conversations and potential layoffs are not a fun subject; however, it’s a reality for leaders like yourself. Having the right conversation at the right time makes sure the end result is as positive and productive as possible. Until then…

Be amazing!

Change is All About Habits

We’ve all heard the phrase, “you can’t teach an old dog new tricks.” To me, it’s a poor excuse for explaining why it’s hard to change entrenched behaviours. Whether you are young or old, learning a new behaviour or changing your habits is hard work! Yet this is what we all must do when our habits are no longer productive for us.

Teaching New Tricks

This past summer, I coached my daughter’s U13 (13 year old) competitive soccer team. For many of the kids, this was their first exposure to competitive soccer and its higher level of skilled players. As a coach, it became readily apparent that the habits the girls developed in their younger, recreational years would no longer serve them at the competitive level where the games are faster, the plays more sophisticated and the opponents better athletes. For example, kicking the ball up the field and hoping our fastest sprinter could outrun the defenders didn’t result in goals like it used to. At the U13 level, the well-trained opposition could better anticipate this tactic and simply force our attackers into the corner where we usually lost the ball.

After a few games, I approached one of our “sprinters” to show different ways that she could be more effective on the field when trying to score goals. We had a good conversation and she committed to try new ways. Over the next few games I saw no change. She instinctively sprinted to the corner and usually lost the ball. I then integrated drills into our practices to anchor techniques to serve her and the other strikers in evading defenders and scoring goals. After a few more practices, still no change. The moment of glory happened the game after the third practice where the whole team started to show some new behaviours and use the techniques taught in practice. The outcome: a much stronger style of play with better results. Talk about quite an effort to change the reflexes and habits that were ingrained in their style of play.

I am sure you can relate to such dynamics in your workplace when you see change such as a new project management framework introduced, a new sales force program rolled out or a new customer service paradigm initiated. Humans are creatures of habit. We love doing the same thing over and over because we can anticipate the result and therefore minimize the unknown. Rather than risk the unproven, most people prefer to stick with the tried and true—even if we perceive there could be some benefit in changing. Over time, the “tried and true” behaviour simply becomes a reflex. Because these reflexes or habits have worked in the past, we keep on reacting the same way to the same type of situations.

The good news is, that with some work, anyone—young and old dogs alike—can effectively change their habits! Below are five tips you can use to better direct change:

1. Acknowledge that the status quo isn’t working anymore. Being over budget or delivering projects late are not acceptable in this day and age. Neither is a downward sales trend in a growing market or losing games to weaker opponents. As a leader, you and your team need to recognize that the group is going in the wrong direction and you must make changes to succeed in the future.
2. Provide training in the techniques and behaviour that you and your team need to adopt. Need a better close ratio? Teach your staff more persuasive communication skills and how to focus their efforts on higher potential opportunities. Want to deliver projects on time and on budget? Maybe you need to review your project framework and provide training on best practices. Role play various situations to help your team get comfortable in different, potentially uncomfortable settings. This training or “practice” will increase you and your team’s level of ability and confidence that the end result of this new behaviour will be desirable.
3. Be accountable. The next step is to ensure your team understands what is expected of them and they are prepared to take the risk and try new behaviours. When you’re at your team meeting and reviewing the status of the project or sales opportunity, have them discuss how they are using the technique and how it is working. You should also talk about how YOU are making changes. As the leader, show that this new way of doing things is not a flavour of the month and that you are committed to developing new habits as well.
4. Reinforce the new behaviour as it happens. It’s important to note that training is not enough to change habits. Your positive reinforcement, whether on the sidelines or in the boardroom, is critical to adopting new and unproven habits. When your employee uses that new communication method or sales tool, congratulate her on her effort. This will show that you are noticing the effort, because it does take an effort to do things differently.
5. Accentuate the positive. Do not point out every single mistake that your employee does when adopting a new technique. Chances are, they know when they’ve done it incorrectly, and having you point out all of their errors is demoralizing. Instead, celebrate the wins—even if they are small—by emphasizing the results and applauding the individuals who are taking a risk and trying the new techniques. So when you see your employee trying a new conflict resolution technique with a customer, let her struggle (if you can bear the consequences of a mistake, of course,) and then take her aside and applaud her for trying and congratulate her if she has been able to get the desired results. This is where the new habit will really start showing up. One caveat is to always take into consideration risks. If you are establishing a new health and safety procedure that concerns the life or safety of an employee, obviously, you cannot allow people to learn from their mistakes.

Change Takes Time and Effort… But it’s Worth it!

Research shows that 10% of learning happens in formal training (practice), 20% in coaching and mentoring (on the side line) and 70% on the job (during the game). Patience and perseverance are key to successfully changing your habits when using the above simple steps. In the end, you and your team will come out winners as you support each other and revel in your achievements.

Until then… be amazing!

How Small Changes Can Yield Results

At work, and at home, it’s easy to get comfortable with your processes, tools and routines. We often perceive this “autopilot” as being an efficient way to deal with the more mundane tasks of life. Yet, if we think about what we are doing, and tweak some of these habits, the results can be astounding. We can see things in a different way and identify new opportunities to improve or gain efficiencies. Sometimes, a series of tiny changes can make a big difference over the course of a few weeks or months.

Does Your Autopilot Need a Reality Check?

A recent event helped me to solidify this theory. I’m a jogger, and not that long ago I went out for my regular run. This is a routine task, so I don’t think about it too much: I just put on my shoes and run. Basically, I’m on autopilot. During this particular jog, I wasn’t that far along and I noticed my feet didn’t feel quite the same. They weren’t in pain, but something just wasn’t right. About 1 km passed until I finally took the time to look down at my left foot. Sure enough, I had put my old sneaker on that foot! I laughed to myself for putting on my old pair of runners, which did look similar to my new pair. I kept on running and then 500m later, I realized that something was definitely wrong because I clearly remembered putting my newer shoes on. Finally, I stopped and looked at both shoes at the same time. Here was my reality check: I had put a new running shoe on my right foot and an old running shoe on the left. Incredible! At that point I had to decide: do I continue or go back (or just hide somewhere)?

This event made me realize how we let our brain go on autopilot to address common, repetitive tasks. As a result, we end up paying little attention to the task at hand. We just “do” without thinking about the impact. At work, this translates into running your meetings using the same old format, communicating messages in just one particular way, or interacting with people using the same old style. Often, the status quo isn’t just an old habit, it’s more like a series of old habits from days gone by which have evolved into the company culture. Ironically, many of these habits are highly ineffective yet continue unquestioned—everyone doesn’t think, they just do.

Leaders Must Challenge the Status Quo

Constantly challenging the status quo at your workplace can be very beneficial to your company. Right now, I’m working with a client who has a strong operational culture, known for its quality products and customer service. Although this is a great reputation to have, this culture is so strong that it structures the sales force to become an extension of operations. Sales representatives no longer develop business, they take care of customer service issues and quality control in the field. When I began working with them, sales people spent 70-90% of their efforts reacting to client demand, post sales. You can imagine the company’s challenge to keep its market share and expand the business when their sales force is busy with non-sales related activities. Yet this is a behaviour that’s been ingrained over many years and plays a core role within their culture. The good news is that the organization has finally assessed the situation and is now moving to correct it. As a result of our work together, the incremental changes have seen sales volume growth and better market intelligence. And they have only started to make changes!

It takes courage and strength to look at yourself in the mirror and realize the status quo is NOT working and you need to do something about it. When jogging with two different shoes on, it took me some time to finally address the situation, even though I KNEW something was wrong long before I stopped. How long does it take you to stop and make a clear assessment of the situation when something doesn’t feel right? Are you actually aware that you are wearing two different shoes and not operating as efficiently as you could be? Is it time for your reality check?

Old habits are hard to break and working in autopilot is so much easier in the short term. It’s important that leaders like you spend some time every week—even if it’s just five minutes—to assess the value of these habits and culturally accepted norms. You can assess this personally, or get feedback from others. Either way, it’s likely that you’ll discover something that leads to greater productivity.

Oh, and by the way, I did decide to complete my run with two different shoes. I figured that I was almost 2km into it and didn’t want to go back. But I can assure you, I now double check my shoes so I can run efficiently—and proudly—again!

Until then… Be amazing!

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Denis Levesque is owner of Ottawa-based Big Dashan, a high-performance executive coaching, training and speaking firm. His ARC of Leadership methodology helps leaders go from good to great.