本文发表在 rolia.net 枫下论坛网友提问:
If you had to assign a new task to an employee in the beginning of the fiscal year and now you figured out that employee’s technical skills do not meet the standards required by the job, how would you communicate to him/her in the performance review meeting? How would you make comment on review documentation for HR records?
The dilemma is it is hard for this person to build up solid knowledge base in the next 90 days and there is no other human resource available to you. It would be nice that we could find out a positive way to resolve the issue
without discouraging the employee.
提供一点背景材料：按年初的情况，应该增加合适的新鲜血液来做这件事情， 上面
对我们压缩成本，budget没有被批下来，让先内部培养，凑合着干，矮子里拔长子。
最终发现干有些活确实需要天赋和知识背景。
Specialday (Joyce)回答:
先申明一下咱昨天说的(“这样的下属如果是在俺手下估计以后的日子会很难过”)纯属胡说八道，咱心地那么善良，又岂会让手下的日子难过呢？:-)
之前说过了，LZ所在的地理位置非常特殊，就算budget批下来了，一时半会儿想找个好的candidate也不是容易的事，所以还得想办法先在内部解决。
咱要同情一下这位员工，管理层为了压缩成本把本不属于ta的活硬加在了ta头上。估计多半还是白干，没给人什么好处吧？(要是咱肯定也不乐意啊) 像这种情况就
不能去指责ta了，只能利诱(加鼓励)不能威逼。
有没有分析过为什么这位可怜的员工不能胜任这些新活？是真的lack of technical skills，还是没得到adequate training，或者是员工心里不舒服，故意做事不上心？
又或者是态度问题，自认自己是老员工，觉得没人能把ta怎么样。个人觉得要先找出员工poor (under) performance的原因，再想对策。
在做review的时候，不管这位员工在这新活上是否meet expectation, managers must show and communicate their appreciation to the staff for his/her willingness
to take on the new responsibilities.
个人认为员工是否有责任心是最重要的。如果ta是个老实员工, 做事认真负责，就不要对ta太苛刻。每个员工有自己的talent，可能在这项新活上学不来，但或许在其它活上就能很快上手。作为LD, 要学会如何去发掘每个员工的talent, 然后适当的 manage and utilize these talents,让每位员工的才能/特长都能得到最好的发挥.如果部门还有其它resources，不妨试试rotate (re-assign) some of the tasks among them，
可能会有意想不到的效果。(this is the lesson I learned the hard way ) :-)
之前读过一些关于如何管理好员工的书籍和articles，有一篇觉得写的挺不错的，和大家分享一下，希望对LZ能有所帮助。
How To Deal With Problem Staff And Poor Performance
By: Iain Mackintosh
Poor staff performance and 'problem workers' are some of the trickiest things to be dealt with in the office. It's difficult to balance morale and productivity
in the optimum way for office success, and as a result I often hear of managers turning a blind eye to poor staff performance, fearing that drawing attention
to it will cause problems in the atmosphere and work environment.The truth is that avoiding dealing with problem staff is often the worst
thing you can do. If you turn a blind eye, the rot can spread to the other apples. If a member of staff is consistently late, for example, and nothing
is seen to be done about it, then why should other staff members keep up high standards of timeliness? Inevitably, a rot sets in around the office
and poor staff performance becomes the rule rather than the exception! Even if it is something that others are unaware of, like plummeting productivity,
it is still something that should be dealt with as soon as you become aware of the issue - intervening in a timely manner will hit the problem on the
head early on, and prevent it from spreading and causing resentment and ill feeling. After all, problem employees may not realise they are doing
anything wrong unless you intervene, and doing this early can act as a wake-up call to improve staff performance before it's too late!
So the first step of dealing with problem staff or poor performance is to inform them of the problem. Naturally this should be done in private to
avoid shaming them in front of the others (this will cause major resentment), and the issue should be explained clearly so there is no grounds for misunderstanding.
If they have a reasonable excuse for a drop in form (severe illness in the family or problems at home) then you should endeavour to be understanding
and come up with a compassionate solution - see how you can help the employee return to standard. If they have no reason, you need to reiterate (or in
some cases, iterate) clearly what your expectations are from them - after all, if they don't know what they are it can be impossible for them to be
met! If you have a problem employee, you don't want to wait until their annual review to tell them what goals they should have met!
The next phase is actually helping them to meet your outlined expectations. In the case of something like consistent lateness this is easy to monitor,
but with something more abstract - like quantity and quality of work, it's harder for both you and the employee to keep an eye on things. For this
reason, you may need to consider the following things when managing poor performance in your staff:
Plenty of Feedback
Positive, constructive feedback is a good idea to give your employee an idea of whether they're heading in the right direction or not. Let them
know clearly what's improved and what still needs to be tightened - it should be specific, detailed and timely.
Possible Supervision
Problem employees often require direction and for employers to work closely with them in order for them to reach their potential. Both parties should
understand that this hands on approach to managing poor performance is with the ultimate goal of the employee working competently independently of constant supervision.
Additional Training
In some (but by no means all) situations, the employees underperformance may be through no fault of their own, and they may as a result require extra
training in order to reach the standard of skills and competency stipulated in their goals.
Checklists
Depending on the type of problem employee you have, you may find checklists to be of use. These are particularly useful for problem staff who struggle
with their timekeeping and priorities, it allows them to stay focused on each task and organize their workload.
Positive Reinforcement
Having already been highlighted for doing something wrong, it is essential you redress the balance when the employee's performance improves. Positive
reinforcement - telling the employee you're pleased with their work can make someone's day, improve their happiness at a company and - most importantly
- make them more likely to deliver a repeat performance. Let them know that this is the sort of thing you've been hoping for.
Set a Period of Evaluation
One of the most important areas of dealing with problem staff is setting a period of evaluation. Put in writing the problem, the improvements you
hope to see made, and the timeline for this. Close with the disciplinary actions that will be taken if things are not improved (and maintained) -
all the way up to dismissal if there is no improvement. Whatever you do, don't just make firing your employees your automatic response
to poor staff performance! You need to work with the employees to try and resolve issues, and give them fair warning that their job is in danger,
otherwise you are leaving yourself wide open for litigation. It may seem a lot of work, and easier just to let it slide initially, but failure to
act early will cause the problem to get worse and worse, and potentially for discontent to spread within the office environment. Follow this procedure
when managing poor performance, and there's no reason why your productivity shouldn't recover from the slight dip!更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net
If you had to assign a new task to an employee in the beginning of the fiscal year and now you figured out that employee’s technical skills do not meet the standards required by the job, how would you communicate to him/her in the performance review meeting? How would you make comment on review documentation for HR records?
The dilemma is it is hard for this person to build up solid knowledge base in the next 90 days and there is no other human resource available to you. It would be nice that we could find out a positive way to resolve the issue
without discouraging the employee.
提供一点背景材料：按年初的情况，应该增加合适的新鲜血液来做这件事情， 上面
对我们压缩成本，budget没有被批下来，让先内部培养，凑合着干，矮子里拔长子。
最终发现干有些活确实需要天赋和知识背景。
Specialday (Joyce)回答:
先申明一下咱昨天说的(“这样的下属如果是在俺手下估计以后的日子会很难过”)纯属胡说八道，咱心地那么善良，又岂会让手下的日子难过呢？:-)
之前说过了，LZ所在的地理位置非常特殊，就算budget批下来了，一时半会儿想找个好的candidate也不是容易的事，所以还得想办法先在内部解决。
咱要同情一下这位员工，管理层为了压缩成本把本不属于ta的活硬加在了ta头上。估计多半还是白干，没给人什么好处吧？(要是咱肯定也不乐意啊) 像这种情况就
不能去指责ta了，只能利诱(加鼓励)不能威逼。
有没有分析过为什么这位可怜的员工不能胜任这些新活？是真的lack of technical skills，还是没得到adequate training，或者是员工心里不舒服，故意做事不上心？
又或者是态度问题，自认自己是老员工，觉得没人能把ta怎么样。个人觉得要先找出员工poor (under) performance的原因，再想对策。
在做review的时候，不管这位员工在这新活上是否meet expectation, managers must show and communicate their appreciation to the staff for his/her willingness
to take on the new responsibilities.
个人认为员工是否有责任心是最重要的。如果ta是个老实员工, 做事认真负责，就不要对ta太苛刻。每个员工有自己的talent，可能在这项新活上学不来，但或许在其它活上就能很快上手。作为LD, 要学会如何去发掘每个员工的talent, 然后适当的 manage and utilize these talents,让每位员工的才能/特长都能得到最好的发挥.如果部门还有其它resources，不妨试试rotate (re-assign) some of the tasks among them，
可能会有意想不到的效果。(this is the lesson I learned the hard way ) :-)
之前读过一些关于如何管理好员工的书籍和articles，有一篇觉得写的挺不错的，和大家分享一下，希望对LZ能有所帮助。
How To Deal With Problem Staff And Poor Performance
By: Iain Mackintosh
Poor staff performance and 'problem workers' are some of the trickiest things to be dealt with in the office. It's difficult to balance morale and productivity
in the optimum way for office success, and as a result I often hear of managers turning a blind eye to poor staff performance, fearing that drawing attention
to it will cause problems in the atmosphere and work environment.The truth is that avoiding dealing with problem staff is often the worst
thing you can do. If you turn a blind eye, the rot can spread to the other apples. If a member of staff is consistently late, for example, and nothing
is seen to be done about it, then why should other staff members keep up high standards of timeliness? Inevitably, a rot sets in around the office
and poor staff performance becomes the rule rather than the exception! Even if it is something that others are unaware of, like plummeting productivity,
it is still something that should be dealt with as soon as you become aware of the issue - intervening in a timely manner will hit the problem on the
head early on, and prevent it from spreading and causing resentment and ill feeling. After all, problem employees may not realise they are doing
anything wrong unless you intervene, and doing this early can act as a wake-up call to improve staff performance before it's too late!
So the first step of dealing with problem staff or poor performance is to inform them of the problem. Naturally this should be done in private to
avoid shaming them in front of the others (this will cause major resentment), and the issue should be explained clearly so there is no grounds for misunderstanding.
If they have a reasonable excuse for a drop in form (severe illness in the family or problems at home) then you should endeavour to be understanding
and come up with a compassionate solution - see how you can help the employee return to standard. If they have no reason, you need to reiterate (or in
some cases, iterate) clearly what your expectations are from them - after all, if they don't know what they are it can be impossible for them to be
met! If you have a problem employee, you don't want to wait until their annual review to tell them what goals they should have met!
The next phase is actually helping them to meet your outlined expectations. In the case of something like consistent lateness this is easy to monitor,
but with something more abstract - like quantity and quality of work, it's harder for both you and the employee to keep an eye on things. For this
reason, you may need to consider the following things when managing poor performance in your staff:
Plenty of Feedback
Positive, constructive feedback is a good idea to give your employee an idea of whether they're heading in the right direction or not. Let them
know clearly what's improved and what still needs to be tightened - it should be specific, detailed and timely.
Possible Supervision
Problem employees often require direction and for employers to work closely with them in order for them to reach their potential. Both parties should
understand that this hands on approach to managing poor performance is with the ultimate goal of the employee working competently independently of constant supervision.
Additional Training
In some (but by no means all) situations, the employees underperformance may be through no fault of their own, and they may as a result require extra
training in order to reach the standard of skills and competency stipulated in their goals.
Checklists
Depending on the type of problem employee you have, you may find checklists to be of use. These are particularly useful for problem staff who struggle
with their timekeeping and priorities, it allows them to stay focused on each task and organize their workload.
Positive Reinforcement
Having already been highlighted for doing something wrong, it is essential you redress the balance when the employee's performance improves. Positive
reinforcement - telling the employee you're pleased with their work can make someone's day, improve their happiness at a company and - most importantly
- make them more likely to deliver a repeat performance. Let them know that this is the sort of thing you've been hoping for.
Set a Period of Evaluation
One of the most important areas of dealing with problem staff is setting a period of evaluation. Put in writing the problem, the improvements you
hope to see made, and the timeline for this. Close with the disciplinary actions that will be taken if things are not improved (and maintained) -
all the way up to dismissal if there is no improvement. Whatever you do, don't just make firing your employees your automatic response
to poor staff performance! You need to work with the employees to try and resolve issues, and give them fair warning that their job is in danger,
otherwise you are leaving yourself wide open for litigation. It may seem a lot of work, and easier just to let it slide initially, but failure to
act early will cause the problem to get worse and worse, and potentially for discontent to spread within the office environment. Follow this procedure
when managing poor performance, and there's no reason why your productivity shouldn't recover from the slight dip!更多精彩文章及讨论，请光临枫下论坛 rolia.net