I’m
paying close attention to the wisdom of my clients and friends
for practical, applicable advice I can share with you from an
HR perspective. The other day a client telephoned and asked
if I was available at that moment to assist her. Since we were
already connecting, I figured, "Why reschedule?" Let’s
do it now.
She was excited by my response and
called it a “DIN DIN DIN” moment! Do it now! Do
it now! Do it now!
I can procrastinate with the best
of them. I’m sure I’m not alone in putting some
things off to the last moment. But today’s question is
what HR, personnel, employee relations, activities, practicalities
and legalities are you putting off that should be DIN DIN DIN?
I’ve picked some of my favorites below and in the sidebar:
DIN #1 - FEEDBACK: Do you speak
to your employees on a regular basis? Are all your conversations
general or are they performance oriented? The social part is
good for developing relationships with your people. But it is
pivotal for the success of the individual and the organization
that you give your employees regular feedback on how they’re
performing their job.
This can be as simple as “good
job” comments when you see them doing something right.
Or it can be as simple as “I’d prefer if you performed
task A in this manner.” These routine discussions need
not be formal and they need not be in writing but they must
occur.
Many of you who have heard me speak
on this subject are familiar with my “No Surprise Theory
of Feedback.” In a nutshell, when we give annual reviews
of our employees’ performance, there should be no surprises
in the discussion. The employee should have received all the
feedback throughout the year, and the appraisal should merely
repeat the year’s discussions. So, Do It Now.
DIN #2 - DOCUMENTATION: Sometimes
the feedback conversations must go deeper than everyday feedback.
For example, when problem performance or behavior mysteriously
appears in an employee. That’s when our tendency to procrastinate
increases and our need to document skyrockets.
DIN really applies here. As soon
as you see a potentially or actually serious problem, it’s
time to start taking notes and documenting. What day did the
event happen? Describe the incident. Who was involved? What
discussion did you have with the employee? What was the employee’s
response? How is the situation going to be rectified? What assistance
do you or others need to provide to improve the employee’s
performance or understanding of the problem? In what time frame
must the issue be resolved?
These are only some of the questions
that need to be answered in your documentation. Most important
is that you don’t try to leave an employee’s work
history to memory. If the employee’s performance continues
to go south, your communication and documentation can serve
as evidence for terminating an employee and winning an unemployment
decision. If the employee’s performance improves, you
can add a note to the employee’s file that congratulates
the employee for resolving the issue and succeeding in their
job. However, do not destroy any documentation (good, bad, or
ugly). Even if the employee turns out to be the best employee
you’ve ever had, that paper trail should always exist.
