Judi Clements, President of Judi Clements Training & Development

www.judiclements.com

Judi Clements • President of Judi Clements Training and

Development in Clifton Park, NY • NENY Girl Scouts “Outstanding Community

Leader” • Hudson-Mohawk American Society of Training &

Development Corporate Trainer of the Year • Qualified Myers Briggs® Personality Type

Trainer & Speaker

About Our Speaker

•To earn RCH you must: • Stay on the webinar for the full 60 minutes • Be watching the webinar using your unique URL

•Certificates of Completion • Will be delivered electronically to email that you used to register for this webinar • Sent to you no later 5pm PDT on 08/29/2012

HRCI Credit

Agenda Learn how to:

Analyze poor work performance Avoid the negative consequences of inadequate documentation Utilize the range of disciplinary options Respond quickly and appropriately to common disciplinary

infractions Keep a legal Performance Log Distinguish between subjective and objective documentation Develop Performance Improvement Plans Write legally safe and highly effective corrective & suspension

notices Q&A session

What is Discipline?

Formal and informal steps

taken by managers to turn around poor employee

performance and protect the organization from adverse legal action.

Why Use Discipline?

• To reverse poor performance

• To avoid termination, if possible

• To substantiate employment action

• To protect individuals and organizations from liability

Consequences of Inadequate Discipline

Discrimination and retaliation lawsuits Management liability Lower productivity Poor morale Poor employee retention Increased # of terminations Higher costs to the organization

The Pyramid of Success Employees do best with a healthy foundation consisting of:

Accountability

Clear Expectations

Respectful Relationships

How to Analyze Poor Performance

Never let poor work go unnoticed.

1. Does the employee know his work is unsatisfactory? Is there a pattern?

--- Let the employee know; provide feedback. 2. Does the employee know what he is supposed to do & when to do

it? --- Let the employee know; create a work plan. 3. Are there obstacles beyond his control? --- Remove the obstacles.

How to Analyze Poor Performance 4. Does he know how to do the job?

(Train the employee and/or provide practice.) 5. Does he have the needed support? (Provide tangible support & feedback.) 6. Could he do it if he wanted to? (Is it an ability problem or an effort problem?) 7. Does he know the consequences of his

unsatisfactory performance? (If not, make it clear.)

Ability or Effort Problem?

If it’s an ability problem:

• Provide training and/or coaching. • If the employee learns the job, provide

reinforcement & follow-up. • If the employee doesn't, reassign him to a

more suitable job or start appropriate discipline.

Ability or Effort Problem? If it’s an effort problem:

• Provide counseling & consequences.

• If the employee responds, provide reinforcement and follow-up.

• If the employee doesn’t, start appropriate discipline.

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Partner with HR

Consult with Human Resources when analyzing & handling

performance problems.

Mantra of Effective Discipline

No surprises! Nip poor performance in the bud!

How to Give Feedback 1. Don’t give too much feedback at once.

2. Explain the impact the employee’s poor performance has on the employee, the supervisor, the team, and the company.

Poor: Bill, can’t you ever get your work done on time? Good: Bill, when you don’t get your work done on time, we can’t make quota. This slows up production in other departments too.

3. Check to be sure you are understood. Good: Marty, please review for me why your performance is

unsatisfactory & what the consequences will be if you don’t improve.

4. Make it specific & behavior-based. Poor: Henry, you are lazy and have a poor attitude. Good: Henry, you have been late 15 minutes for the last three mornings.

Mantra of Good Feedback

Offer feedback multiple times in multiple ways.

Disciplinary Options

• Discipline is NOT a step system.

• Be sure you know your organization’s disciplinary policies and procedures.

• Most policies allow for a flexible approach on a case-by-case basis, while striving for fairness & consistency.

Disciplinary Options

1. Counseling 2. Counseling with

Verbal Reprimand 3. Counseling with

Written Reprimand 4. Performance

Improvement Plan (PIP)

5. Suspension 6. Termination

Characteristics of Fair Discipline • Focused toward

improvement • Fair & consistent • Equal for similarly

situated employees • Situational • In concert with

Human Resources

Options, Not Steps

• Your written policies should allow you to exercise management discretion with disciplinary options, particularly in serious matters.

• Never lock yourself into a “step system.” • Serious infractions may require moving immediately

to suspension or termination. • Most companies consider these grounds for

immediate dismissal: theft, violence, property damage, falsification of records, illegal drug or alcohol use, bringing firearms to company premises, & ethics violations.

When to Counsel

If the problem occurs once, it’s a mistake.

If it happens more than once, it could be a pattern of behavior.

Take action if there is a pattern of negative behavior.

Never let poor work or negative action

go unnoticed!

When to Counsel Lateness Substandard Work

Leave Time Abuse Bad Mouthing the Company

Cell Phone Abuse Bad Mouthing other Employees

Internet Abuse Bad Mouthing Supervisors

Safety Violations Complaints About Assignments

Policy & Procedure Violations Peer Conflicts

Refusal to Follow Directions Threatening Behavior

Mistakes Harassing Behavior

Personal Problems Affecting the Job Substance Abuse

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Take action if there is a pattern of negative behavior.

Why Document?

1. To create a collective memory 2. To track performance 3. To record important interactions 4. To record corrective action and

improvement plans 5. To make sure employees understand the

consequences of their behavior 6. To protect from liability

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2 Types of Documentation

Formal Documentation

Maintained by

HR

Informal Documentation

Maintained by

Managers

Types of Formal Documentation

1. Performance Appraisals

2. Performance Improvement Plans (PIPS)

3. Counseling Memos

4. Suspension Memos

5. Termination Notices

What All Documentation Has In Common

It must be behavior-based!

• Labels & descriptions of attitudes have no place in documentation. Delete personal opinions or judgments.

• All documentation must be accurate, specific, and focus on only observable behavior.

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Behavior vs. Attitude

A behavior • Can be observed • Is a written or

verbal statement about actions people do on their jobs; performance

• Can be discussed objectively

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Behavior vs. Attitude

An attitude • Is a subjective

conclusion or label describing an employee

• It cannot be measured or objectively discussed

• It can lead to an employee’s defensive reaction

Behavior vs. Attitude Example

Behavior: Jennifer has not been delegating routine work and has therefore missed 2 important deadlines on monthly reports. Attitude (Label): Jennifer does not take her work seriously and is lazy.

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5 Behavior vs. Attitude Examples

1. Mike does not put a lot of effort into his work. 2. Sue Ellen has not completed her last two week’s

time sheet’s within the 7-day deadline. 3. Jeff seems distracted when I assign tasks to him. 4. Ann solved the problem concerning lack of coverage

for early morning calls by instituting a regular rotation schedule among the staff.

5. Sue does not take her work seriously.

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Just the facts, ma’am. Just the facts.

Documentation Formats

1. Performance Logs 2. Performance Goals 3. Performance Improvement Plans (PIPS) 4. Counseling Memos 5. Suspension Memos

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Informal Documentation: The Performance Log

• Everyday documentation • Brief notes on good & poor performance highlights • Maintained & stored by managers • Can be SUBPEONED • Serves as a collective memory for performance

appraisals, discussions, & documentation • Can be kept in notebooks, file folders, index cards,

computer files, iPad, etc.

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Types of Performance Log Entries

Name, date, & time of each incident

Positive Performance Coaching Sessions Training Sessions Investigations Disciplinary Actions

6 Ways to Keep Performance Logs Legal

1. Keep language simple. 2. Use objective measures. 3. Be specific. 4. Document everyone you manage. 5. Ask HR oversight from time to time. 6. Keep your log in a safe place.

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Performance Log Examples

Positive Performance Friday April 15, 2012 9:00 AM Senior management recognized Hugh’s service when handling the product complaint as courteous and prompt.

Counseling Session Friday March 3, 2012 2:30 PM Second time in 2 weeks, Jon was 20 minutes late from lunch. Reminded him of company lateness policy, and told him he would be written up next time. He said he would be on time from now on.

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SMART Goal Documentation

Specific: Clear & unambiguous

Measurable: Able to be quantified

Actionable: Clearly identified by action item steps

Realistic: Doable by the majority within given parameters

Time-based: Defined with a clear schedule of start & end dates and milestones

SMART Goal Example

Specific Complete monthly reports on time. Measurable Each monthly report will be submitted by the last

Friday of the month by close of business. Actionable Joe will work with Susan to review how to write the

reports & get the next 3 month’s reports reviewed by Susan prior to submitting them.

Realistic Susan will devote one hour each week to coach Joe on report writing for the next 3 months.

Time-based This will begin immediately as of 7/26/12.

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Performance Improvement Plans (PIPS)

1. Description of the performance problem

2. Description of the needed performance improvement

3. Detailed action plan 4. Follow-up procedure 5. Employee comments

(optional) 6. Signatures

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PIP Example Performance Problem: Randy has been 20-30 minutes late to work everyday over the past week from July 9-13. When he arrives, he does not get to work promptly. Instead he takes time to get coffee and talk to co-workers. He does not check his email or in-basket for new assignments and thus misses important work assignments. He is often late to meetings or doesn’t show up for them at all.

Needed Improvement: Randy needs to come to work promptly at 8:00 AM. If he wants coffee, he needs to arrive earlier to arrange for that before work time. He needs to check his email and in-basket to be sure he gets his current work assignments and gets to meetings on time and participates constructively.

Action Plan: Randy will report to me briefly each morning at 8:15 AM over the next month (Aug. 2012) with an overview of his projects & meetings of the day and again at 3:15 PM with his accomplishments of the day.

Follow Up: After August 2012, we will meet bi-weekly to review his progress.

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Counseling Memos

Also known as “Verbal Warnings and “Written Warnings.”

Check your organization’s policy for the number of warnings and format.

They serve as written records of the discussions between managers and employees about substandard job performance.

They have the same 5-6 parts as a PIP:

Suspension Memo Example To: Randy O’ Hara

From: Cliff Randall

Date: July 26, 2012

Subject: Suspension for Poor Work Performance

On May 8, you received an initial written warning and on June 1 you received a second written warning which detailed several serious problems in your work performance. I have been monitoring your work, and you have not made sufficient improvement in the areas we discussed. Immediate and sustained improvement is necessary in the following areas: 1. You need to arrive on time and be ready to work by 8:00 AM sharp. 2. You need to read all your email and in-basket assignments by 8:15 AM. 3. You need to report to me by 8:15 AM to go over the day’s assignments. 4. You need to attend all meetings and complete all given tasks promptly. You have been employed in our department for over a year and during this time your work has continued to decline. Because of this unacceptable level of performance you are being suspended without pay for three (3) days (August 6,7, & 8). You are expected to return to work at 8:00 AM on Thursday August 9. Unless your performance improves and remains positive, your employment will be terminated.

Review

Never let poor work go unnoticed.

Offer feedback multiple times in multiple ways.

Work closely with HR. Use behavior-based

feedback & documentation; eliminate labels.

See discipline as a system of options, not steps.

Use both formal and informal documentation.

Be consistent & fair. Take the time to

document now and save time LATER.

If it wasn’t documented, it didn’t happen!

Your Trainer Today Has Been… Judi Clements

Judi Clements Training & Development www.judiclements.com

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