As we discussed last time and have regularly throughout the “Virus Era,” keeping the practice staffed-up with a great team is tougher than ever. Where once it was employers who called the shots, or at least set the stage, in the workplace, it seems there’s been a shift. These days, it feels more like employees are calling the shots, even to the point of employers being held hostage in their own businesses amidst a “make it perfect for me or I’m out” mentality.
Sound familiar?
That mentality has made it harder...scarier, I’d say…than ever to address concerns with employees. There’s this mounting fear that if I address an issue with employees, they’re just going to quit, and to the extent that’s true, it leaves us with two choices: don’t address employee problems and let it ride, or address problems only to be subsequently hiring!
We shared some statistics last time that certainly fuel this concern. 73 percent of employees today are considering leaving their jobs. 63.3 percent of employers say it’s harder to retain employees than to hire them. Hiring/On-boarding new employees costs the business an average of $5,000. 69 percent of employees feel under-appreciated (Really?! ... after these years of bending over backward for them?!). So given all that, if I have a performance or conduct issue that needs to be addressed with an employee, do I dare do so? And how do I do so and not end up holding the fort by myself?!
It’s a down-right precarious situation, and one we worked through with a colleague just last week. This colleague has a long-time employee the owners have always liked and appreciated, but the last few months, perhaps even year, she hasn’t seemed to be performing as she had been. It’s to a point now where other employees are mentioning this to the partners – you know, the old “can I talk to you for a minute” whisper we don’t want to hear from staff (or spouse). And in those whispers, they’re hearing two distinctly troubling things:
1. “So-and-So is sluffing off or acting such and why are we tolerating that?”
2. “It’s making MY JOB harder that So-and-So is doing this!”
For starters, whether in this very challenging labor era or any other, there are but three options regarding unacceptable performance and/or conduct by an employee:
1. Let it ride. Cross our fingers and hope it all sorts out and gets better. The old let the sleeping dog lie strategy. I call this the Management by Hope option, and although very, very, very tempting and vastly more convenient (in the short-term anyway), this one almost never works out.
2. Clearly/Presently address the issue or conduct and support changing it (usually my first choice).
3. Move the employee out of the role or of the practice.
For purposes of accomplishing a better outcome here, tempting as it is, let’s dismiss #1. Except for the unusual situation (the employee is retiring/moving/going back to school/quitting in a month), it is a far greater risk to the practice, team and ultimately patients to let it ride than to address and impact the situation. Our patients count on us to be good stewards of their practice (we did say their practice), and “fingers crossed” is simply not good stewardship. They deserve better, and so do you and your team.
As for #3, I’ll simply say it this way: If you can’t change a person…CHANGE THE PERSON.
Such a thing is never easy for we who tend to give people the benefit of the doubt (which I shall always consider a right way of things, even if we do get burned now and then) and don’t like confrontation, but if all you’re getting by avoiding confrontation is conflict and underperformance, I’ll take the other all day long. We of course try #2 first, but in this day and age of employees rather than employers running the show in many small businesses, many kind and caring colleagues are being held hostage in their own businesses by fear of what confrontation might bring.
I’d far rather face the music now and be done with it. We can discuss strategies for changing positions or terminating employees when this is the answer another day, but for today’s conversation, suffice to say, let’s just get it done. And to that end, when necessary, I’ll share my general (although not always) rule of thumb: If YOU THINK you need to replace an employee, YOU DO!
OK, let’s spend the balance of this month’s post on Option 2 -- Clearly/Presently address the issue or conduct and support changing it. Alas, this is where we get into this post’s namesake.
As you likely know, I’m a big believer in systemizing great leadership and management. In other words, running an offense rather than just playing defense. In keeping with that, whenever we have a situation in which a team member (which can and does at times include an owner, by the way!) isn’t cutting the work or is exhibiting conduct unbecoming, the offense I recommend is what I call The 4 A’s:
1. Appreciate
2. Address
3. Action
4. Account
My dear mom used to say this as honey before vinegar. And she was right. There’s a time for vinegar, of course, and don’t we know it, but the strategy I definitely like best is starting with honey. 3
The honey in the case of our 4 A’s is Appreciate, and here we literally express appreciation as commencement of addressing the issue. Seems ironic, but think about it. If the goal truly is to improve the situation/work/conduct and not lose the employee, do you stand a better chance of achieving that goal starting with a compliment or with a criticism? (this is not a trick question)
Let’s take the above example of the long-time, well-liked employee whose conduct was fading. This is a particularly difficult one, because we know this person is fully capable of the work, and the team member, as you’d imagine, has her side of the story as well (ALWAYS!). We know of what she’s capable, and to that we want to return. So Appreciate might be something like this:
…“Thanks for meeting with me, Deb, and first things first, I’ve always been a fan of yours. …I’ve appreciated your work effort, and always admired the spirit of your work and learned a lot from you…”
And there you have it. Compliment rather than criticize. (…is there really such a thing as constructive criticism?)
Now as we transition from Appreciate (and also the bonus A of Admire in this case) to Address, I do not recommend use of the word “but” in the transition. “But” almost always says something negative is coming, and that’s exactly what it does to the conversation – immediately turns what was positive (Appreciate) to negative.
Remember, the assumption here is we don’t want to go to #3. In this case (although not always), we don’t want to let this person go if we can help it, and we want to give ourselves (and the employee) every opportunity for success here. I therefore recommend the word “and” instead. 99 percent of the time when we were going to say but, we should simply replace it with and. …And holds so much more promise for a positive outcome here, where BUT can be a deal killer. Try it, you’ll see the difference.
So perhaps something like this for Address: …“And it feels like it’s time to address something that’s been coming on for a while that just seems so out of alignment with the work you’ve done and role model you’ve been for us all for so long…
And there it is, Colleagues. We’ve Addressed. Right there, and that quickly. It didn’t get ugly, loud or even critical. In fact, it was complimentary. But we’ve transitioned to Address and can now confront the issue without having drawn battle lines. And as a result, chances are we’re going to find out what’s going on here and be able to favorably impact it right here and right now.
Which brings us to Action. And it all comes down to this, Colleagues. It’s not just about having discussed the situation so we can check that box. It’s about impacting the situation with clear, deliberate action.
This is where we are fully prepared to indicate specific action that is your expectation. In doing so, I like the word “recommend” for outlined action, particularly in these times, as a recommendation indicates expectation but is vastly less inclined to draw anger (i.e…“Oh yea, well forget you!”…or something more profane). I understand certain situations call for a clear and direct order – “Change this now or else! – and I’ll trust your judgement if and when it’s come to that – but the former is vastly more often the better strategy.
Think about the roles being reversed here. What’s a better starter for you in terms of willingness and even desire to improve the situation: “You’re out of line, and you better change now,” or, “I’ve always admired your work and spirit, and we feel like something’s changed and I really want to talk with you about it.” (…there you have it, Mom, and thank you for the life lessons on honey before vinegar and playing nice…)
With Action, make sure you have specific and clear action in mind and outline it. Let there be no gray area…zero need to interpret…the action you’re suggesting. But communicate this action strategically so it’s welcomed, not in a way that puts us at odds immediately and is a game stopper. As we all know well by now, it’s as much how you say it as it is what you say.
Which brings us to Account, and the 4th and final A. Just as it does us no good to Appreciate and Address if we don’t outline expected Action (you ARE still the boss, after all, Doc, even in these times!), what good is outlining Action if we don’t hold it to Account.
You may recall from past discussions the regard I hold for great leadership, and this is perhaps the greatest challenge to that. Accountability.
In running The 4 A’s Offense, we make two things absolutely clear (in an upbeat way, not an “or else” way) with the final A:
1. What we’re hoping to see as we go forward. We remember our goal here is to be successful in retaining this employee, even though we chose to address the problem. Let’s use language (hoping vs expecting) that gives us a great chance to do that!
2. Exactly when we’ll meet again (actually an already scheduled date) to discuss progress and the road ahead. Again, note the wording here – discuss progress and the road ahead is a different choice of words than “evaluate your performance.” Let’s row with the current, not against it!
So in our 4th A – Account – nobody leaves this discussion without a clear understanding of what we’re seeking/expecting and the planned day of reckoning.
Well there you have it, Colleagues… The 4 A’s of Addressing Concerns with Employees in a Challenging New Era. Running an offense for addressing employee issues rather than being held hostage, and not having them walk out and slam the door. It’s a thin line we walk as employers these days, I hope this helps us keep on it!
Like all THRIVE content, the purpose of BOWEN’S BLOG and SUMMIT TALK Podlecture conversations is to keep us driving together toward IMPACT. If something here has struck a chord, shoot us an email or give us a call and let’s talk it out! Email Tbowen@mythrivecoaches.com or call 402-794-4064.