A strong rapport with your staff can reveal inefficiencies in the organization, departmental processes, and help to identify issues within your staff that may result in turnover if adjustments are not made. Communicating openly and regularly with your staff also allows for the generation and implementation of new ideas, guidance opportunities, and employee recognition. Not sure where to start or how to fit it in with your other countless duties? Here are a few quick tips:

• First and foremost you have to make it a priority. As with anything on your to-do list, if you don’t make it a priority chances are you won’t make time to meet with your staff. Mark it on your calendar as any other important appointment and stick to it.

• Keep it simple. Sometimes informal meetings can be even more productive and revealing than a structured meeting or progress meeting. Step outside of the office to a mutually comfortable setting such as a restaurant or coffee shop and make yourself available and free from distractions such as your phone and email.

• Prepare for the discussion and remain open minded. Do your homework. Be sure to acknowledge specific accomplishments your employee has achieved since your last meeting. Be open to their feedback, both positive and negative. Often times the best ideas, changes, and suggestions come from those who work in the trenches day in and day out. Remain objective and avoid becoming defensive of any constructive criticism.

• Make a follow up plan. Did you discuss ideas or changes that may need to take place? Are there things that you may need to investigate further or additional tools that may be helpful to the team? Be realistic and up front with what your team member can expect from you. Give them a timeline in which you plan to consider the points of your discussion and when they will hear back from you. Create an action plan for simple executable items to get the ball rolling.

• Thank them. Make sure your employee understands that you appreciate them making the time to meet with you and let them know the best times for them to reach out to you if they have things that they would like to discuss further. If your staff feels that the meeting was something done out of obligation rather than a genuine interest in their development at the organization, they’ll be less likely to engage with you in the future.

Even the best leaders and managers can experience failure if they don’t have the support and dedication of a strong team behind them. Keep in mind that every member of your staff brings an added value to your organization and deserves recognition and acknowledgement on a regular basis. For more information on employee recognition, click here.

Are you a stand out professional, technical professional, driver, or skilled worker seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job board  for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide. Trillium is privately owned by Oskar René Poch.

The first step to managing a poor performer is to identify who that person may be. Chances are if you haven’t heard complaints from others in their department, you will soon. Conducting regular employee performance reviews, spot checking their work, and communicating with your staff in regards to their role are great ways to ensure that you identify someone who is under performing before it becomes a major hardship. Poor performers often are distant from other team members, take longer to accomplish tasks, avoid accountability, and are not goal driven.

The next step is to determine the cause of the poor performance. Reasons for poor performance can range from situational such as those who are struggling personal life issues, health issues, or lack of focus to skills related such as training and development, under qualified for the position, or those with an overbearing workload. Take the time to communicate openly with your employee to help determine the cause for their lack of performance. Sometimes the solution may be as simple as providing additional training on a process or program. Keep in mind the longer you wait to begin communicating with the team member the less likely you are to remedy the situation.

The third step is to create an action plan. After openly discussing the performance issue with your employee and hopefully identifying some of the underlying causes, you need to communicate and employ a very clear plan of action. Provide your employee with clear and concise expectations and goals for their position and performance. Implement a plan that will help them achieve those goals that directly correlates to the cause of their poor performance. Solutions may include job shadowing another employee in the department, retraining on a specific job duty, or attending additional outside training. If the cause of the poor performance is due to non-work related factors you may allow them to use accrued personal time to address these factors or share with them any professional resources that are available through their benefits package. It is highly recommended that you document and both sign off on the proposed plan of action and schedule a time in the near future to discuss their progress.

Finally, you should review and come to a conclusion on their performance status. Meet with your team member to discuss and review what progress, if any they have made since the implementation of your action plan. If you find the employee is progressing at an acceptable rate, than you may consider setting further goals and additional review appointments to continue to monitor their progress. If you find the employee is not making improvements or their performance is regressing even further you may need to consider further options. Further options may include re-assigning the employee to another position within the organization, taking disciplinary action, or even terminating their employment.

Managing poor performers can be a difficult task but it is crucial to supporting employee morale, company productivity, client satisfaction, and providing a profitable service to your organization. You should always consult with your HR department or Labor and Employment Law adviser if you are unsure of your company policies, procedures, or rights when interacting with your staff members.

Are you a stand out professional, technical professional, driver, or skilled worker seeking contingent, temporary, or long term career opportunities?  Visit our job board  for more information!  Want to learn more about how you can gain access to Trillium’s national network of professionals and skilled workers? Contact us today!

Trillium, a national leader in staffing and recruitment is a valued staffing partner to over 5,000 companies nationwide. Trillium is privately owned by Oskar René Poch.