No one wants to deliver bad news to anyone. Usually, when there's no way out of it, we sandwich it in with good news: "I have some good news and I have some bad news." So what do you do when the only meat for that sandwich is bad? How do you tell someone bad news when there is no good news to soften the blow?
Case scenario: I am a department manager in a mid-sized company that provides technology support services. I have ten employees who are required to maintain a high level of technical expertise and deliver excellent customer service. One of my employees, who has been with the company for two years, is performing at a substandard level and you have received numerous complaints from customers and coworkers. In addition, this employee has displayed confrontational behavior which has created a hostile environment. I must now meet with this employee and deliver an ultimatum regarding the need for immediate improvement or dismissal.
In a company that small, there is no room for under performance. First, a mandatory six month review should be in place for each employee. Employees shall review their own performance, as well as face a review from their department manager. Employees who receive a bad review have six months to clean up their performance - if there is another bad review, employee shall be dismissed. Employees are aware of this process at the time of hire and sign that they understand the procedure.
At this time, the employee needs to be spoken to regarding his behavior. I would first approach this employee via email to let them know of the time and place I would like to meet with them. The subject of the email should include "Performance Review" and should be marked urgent. In the email, I would inform the employee that a meeting will take place regarding recent developments regarding job performance. The employee is to respond immediately that he has received the email and will be present at the meeting.
At the meeting, I will have the employee handbook present that discusses what is expected of all employees. When the employee in question enters the meeting, I would ask him to give me his side of the story, i.e. how he thinks his performance has been, why there has been confrontational behavior, etc. I would then tell the employee in question about the complaints that have been coming in about job performance and workplace behavior. I would show the spots in the employee manual that discuss what is expected. The ultimatum given to the employee would be clear: ship up or ship out. With a small company, each member is part of a team and the company cannot afford to have one faulty member. I would let the employee know that since they have been working at this company for two years; I would give them the benefit of the doubt and let them be placed on a probationary status for three months. If behavior did not improve, or if further complaints came in, the employee would be let go at once.
There are a few conflict resolution strategies that I would use when dealing with this problem. I would first use S-TLC (Cahn & Abigail 2007). I would probably state that this should always be used when confronted with possible conflict. First, I would stop - in this case, calling the meeting with the employee is putting a stop to the behavior. Next, I would think about possible solutions. Then, I would listen to the employee's side of the story. Everyone deserves the benefit of the doubt. Lastly, I would communicate to the employee what is expected, and what will eventually happen if behavior did not improve.
Lastly, a good conflict resolution strategy not to always use is avoidance (McNamara 2010). By letting the problem sit still, the company would suffer along with the rest of the employees. As a manager, it is important to make the workplace somewhere that employees want to work, not feel they are stuck at. That is achieved by creating a happy environment where people are comfortable and feel supported.
References
Cahn, D. & Abigail, R. 2007. Managing Conflict Through Communication.
Third Edition New York, New York.
McNamara, C. 2010. Basics of Conflict Management. Retrieved June 9, 2010 from http://managementhelp.org/intrpsnl/basics.htm.
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