Page 258 - An Indispensible Resource for Being a Credible Activist

Certainly, there are times when performance is problematic and it needs to be
addressed. Problematic performance can be anything from needing to acquire a new skill,
needing to enhance or master a skill, needing to improve behavior or communication skills,
or needing to follow company policies.
When skills are an issue, the company must look at why this person is in this position
and how he or she got there. Frequently, HR/OD professionals inherit situations where the
wrong person is in the wrong position for a number of reasons. Sometimes you can reme-
diate this and sometimes you cannot. If the owner of the company has his incompetent,
harassing, rule-breaking son-in-law in an important position that requires competence,
respectful behavior, and visibility, you have a serious problem. Certainly, the credible
activist will do what she can to explain to the business owner the many liabilities involved
in keeping the son-in-law in that position with his current skill set and behaviors. If the busi-
ness owner cannot be persuaded to send the son-in-law to needed training programs and
demand that he change his behavior immediately—or transfer the son-in-law to the base-
ment library job where he won’t be seen, heard, or have any interaction with anyone—you
will have a very challenging situation.
As we know from credible EI research, behavior and emotions are very contagious, and
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emotions linger. Other employees will undoubtedly resent what the son-in-law gets away
with, their own behavior will become more lax and more like the son-in-law’s behavior, the
anger about the special treatment afforded the son-in-law will start pouring in, and the
anger over his incompetence versus the competence of the other employees will only add to
that anger. Very soon, this poor HR professional will have an angry mob on her hands. Even
if there is fear among employees about complaining about the son-in-law, the anger will
seethe silently under the surface. Everyone will know about it, but nobody will officially
complain or actually speak to HR about it. What will likely happen is there will be anony-
mous complaints dropped into the suggestion box, there will be stories of injustices blogged
about on the Internet, and there may be leaks to the press about what the son-in-law is
allowed to get away with.
Hopefully, you haven’t inherited too many wrong people placed in the wrong positions,
and hopefully if you do need to help a manager handle a performance issue, it is handled
with some friendly critical thinking, effective feedback delivery, coaching discussions, and
appreciative inquiry.
Frequently, what at first appears to be a performance problem turns out to be only a
misunderstanding. As supervisors learn through training and improved corporate culture to
become motivating managers who elicit excellent work from their staff members, employee
performance will definitely improve. Many times supervisors simply have not clearly com-
municated to their staff members what they expect from them. In the case of workplaces
that have not yet implemented the use of formal job descriptions and regular coaching ses-
sions for supervisors and employees, it is easy for misunderstandings to occur regarding
what is expected.
There are many effective ways to manage performance. The HR Tools entitled “Checklist
of Characteristics of Great Managers” and “Checklist of Conditions in a Workplace System
That Support Excellent Employee Work,” on pages 245–246, outline some of these. After
perusing the information, you will notice that this issue is not just about whether a partic-

CHAPTER 15 • F ostering F eedback, Training, and Improved P er formance 241