Delivering Bad news to employees...

The first thing I would do is approach the employee in a friendly manner, I would not begin by coming off menacing nor would i promote a hostile environment. The last thing I want to do is add injury to insult and be inconsiderate of the other employees around. I would request to speak with them immediately in my office or the next most appropriate place. Once we have a little more privacy to speak i would begin by explaining their performance within the company or lack of, then I would express my concerns in terms of what will benefit the company with their future goals. The book "First Time manager" advises us to set a target for that employee to improve so they can achieve certain goals. "Your precise specifications serve a dual purpose, if the employee meets the goal you may be on the way to solving the problem and retain the employee, failing that you are ready to start the termination process."(Belker 2005) The first thing I would do is ask if everything in their personal life going okay. The reason being because it could be the main reason behind or a major contribution to why they are not performing at a high level. I would be open and understanding though I also would like to be direct and clear about what is considered acceptable in the company. I would allow them some time to express how they felt about any concerns or issues they have with the company or any of the practices that go on inside the company that they don't approve of. For the employee to have worked for the company in the past two years clearly they were doing something right to keep their position yet up to this point, where they became too comfortable. The important thing for me to do is explain the goals of our company and how every employee should have the same mind frame when it comes to reaching the goals of the company. I would also show appreciation and gratitude for the commitment and dedication the employee has presented with the past two years and I would express how much we value them. I would recognize the sacrifices they may have made and reaffirm that things generally happen in peoples personal lives to where it affects their performance in the workplace, we are only human as no one is perfect. With that said it would made clear that it is more beneficial to them if they communicate that something is going on so that we could make accommodations to where the employee won’t set themselves up for failure. I would then transition into the feedback I have been getting from customers and coworkers about the attitude and behaviors they have been displaying. I would let them know this is a team effort to provide excellent customer service and the team chemistry is greatly affected if one member can’t get along with others it causes a hostile environment and that is unhealthy for people who want to work in a stress free environment. I will then warm him that the confrontational attitude is only going to make his situation worse and lead him closer towards termination. I would let them know again that I really like them and appreciate their commitment over time but if their actions don’t change I will have no choice but to let them go. I would explain that I’d rather have employees who show professionalism and integrity over employee’s who are careless because like I said before it is a team effort and I want my team to reach the championship as I see potential in us all to reach that high level if we all participate with the same intensity. I would then state how its best to just follow my advice because I don’t want to see them loose out on a great opportunity and I don’t want to take their livelihood away but I will if I have to.







References:

Belker, L. B., & Topchik, G. S. (2005). The First-time Manager. New York, N.Y.: AMACOM.