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CORRECTING PROBLEM BEHAVIOR

Tom is one of your best machine operators, but he insists upon running his equipment constantly and pushing it to its limits. Not once have you seen him shut the machine down to perform the cleaning and regular preventive maintenance you know is essential. Sure, you appreciate the fact that Tom is dedicated to getting production out, but you are concerned about the long term. That equipment has to be cleaned regularly and maintained if it is going to last. If Tom doesn't take care of it, pretty soon you know he's going to ruin a piece of expensive equipment. If there is one thing you can't stand, it's  somebody who doesn't  take proper care of his or her equipment. The more you think about it, the angrier you get.

Joan just talks too much. Every time you walk through the store, she is over talking to Betty about one thing or another.  You're not paying her to talk, you're paying her to wait on customers and stock the shelves. There are plenty of things that need to be done. This excessive chatter has got to stop.

Recently, Dan has developed a really bad attitude. He seems sullen and moody all the time. Yesterday, he even snapped at a customer. This morning, when you tried to say something to him about yesterday's incident, he just slammed down the order book, said something about "not having to take that kind of thing from a customer or anybody," and stomped off.

Neal is a hard worker, but recently he has started coming in late. At first, it was just a few minutes late, but yesterday he was almost one hour late. Bob got mad because he had to stay overtime to fill in until Neal finally arrived. Neal's tardiness has got to stop.

Martha has taken emergency personal leave five times just in the last month. You know she lost her baby-sitter for her youngest child and has had problems finding a new one. Regardless, every time she is out on short notice you have to scramble to get someone to fill in for her. Something has to change. This can't continue.

These are just a few examples of the kind of problem employee behavior every manager faces eventually. And it isn't just low performers who exhibit this type of behavior. Even your best employees can have a bad day or even a series of bad days. It happens even in the best and most motivated work force. These bad days - the problem employee behavior - are not only frustrating, but if handled poorly can cost you an otherwise good employee or worse, hurt your business.

In order to correct an employee's problem behavior, you must conduct a one-on-one counseling session. But before you call the employee into your office for a discussion, you need to do some planning.

Step One: Pinpoint the Problem
You can't begin to correct a problem until it is clearly defined.  To correct problem employee behavior, at some point you are going to have to meet with them employee to discuss the problem.  When you do, you will need to state the problem clearly and have
the "facts" to support your contention that a problem really exists.  A problem exists only when there are clear expectations for performance and actual performance fails to meet these expectations.  Therefore, you need to get the facts on the actual performance, facts on the standards or expectations for performance, and establish the extent to which there is a gap between the standards/expectations and actual performance. For example, you haven't seen Tom shut down his machine to perform preventive maintenance.  But how do you know the maintenance has actually not been performed? Is it possible that Tom has performed the maintenance, but that you didn't see him do it? What records exist about when maintenance is performed? What are the standards or expectations about preventive maintenance?  Are they documented? Neil has been coming in late. But how often? How late was he? Is there a written company policy about tardiness? Before you take action to meet with an employee to discus a problem, make sure you have defined the problem clearly and collected all the relevant facts.

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