Coaching the Toxic Employee Dennis Wade Tyler Wade

Transcription

1 Coaching the Toxic Employee Dennis Wade Tyler Wade

2 Copyright 2012 by Dennis Wade. All rights reserved. Coaching the Toxic Employee Dennis Wade and Tyler Wade All rights reserved. No parts of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means now known or to be invented, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system without written permission from the author or publisher except for the brief inclusion of quotations in a review. Published by People Development Systems. ppldev.com Printed in the United States of America. 2 Coaching the Toxic Employee

3 Chapter 1 Introduction This book assumes certain things are in order. Before you can coach a toxic (or any) employee it assumes several things about you and the kind of work environment you ve created. You are a person of character; you lead by example. You have created a positive culture that is openly communicative and cares about people as individuals. You have set clear work expectations for each employee. You provide the necessary tools and resources for growth and job performance. You address issues as they arise; you don t sweep them under the rug. If these assumptions are not mostly true for you and your work environment, then this book won t do much good. It will actually make things worse. This doesn t mean you ve wasted your money. It just means you have a lot of work to do before you can use the following pages. Come back to this book after you have created and executed a plan to address the assumptions above. The plan should include input from your manager, your employees, possibly your Human Resources specialist, and our book, The New Supervisor s Coach, which is available in paper and Kindle versions. If the assumptions above are mostly true for you and your work environment, then you re ready to proceed with the rest of the book except for this caveat: the first assumption must be truer than all the others. You must be a person who leads by example, and when you fail, you must apologize to those who know you failed. Coaching the Toxic Employee 3

4 Chapter 2 The Coaching Approach Coaching is an approach to management in which supervisors help employees to achieve their goals by drawing out the best in them. It is a more collaborative relationship that emphasizes guidance and support. This kind of coaching is largely due to the shifting trend in management to empower and influence employees instead of directing their activities. Here s the bottom line: job performance is better when employees are guided and empowered rather than told what to do. While it is a proven approach, there are times when coaching doesn t work or isn t appropriate. Some issues may just require feedback; coaching could be overkill. Also, not everyone responds to coaching, but that s rare. Some employees will only respond to the latter stages of corrective discipline. Even more rarely, termination is the only answer. As a rule, coaching works because you re working with the employee. Nearly all performance issues fall into one of these five opportunities: OJT (On-the-job training) Provide OJT when someone doesn t have a job skill. Encouragement Provide encouragement when someone has a job skill, but needs reassurance. Motivation Provide motivation when someone is meeting expectations, but could do better based on his/her education, experience, and ability. Alignment Provide alignment when someone doesn t meet expectations from time to time. 4 Coaching the Toxic Employee

5 Realignment Provide Realignment when someone is consistently not meeting expectations. Here are some examples: Coaching Opportunities OJT: Provide OJT when someone doesn t have a job skill. Encouragement: Provide encouragement when someone has a job skill, but needs reassurance. Motivation: Provide motivation when someone is meeting expectations, but could do better based on education, experience, and ability. Alignment: Provide alignment when someone doesn t meet expectations from time to time. Realignment: Provide Realignment when someone is consistently not meeting expectations. Performance Issue Examples Kim doesn t know how to use Excel pivot tables. Tawana doesn t feel appreciated. Carlos is a remotely located employee. Jack is doing the minimum; it may be related to his retirement in three years. Don doesn t respect a younger supervisor. Jerry is Dr. Jekyll before probation and Mr. Hyde after probation. Lorraine shows a lack of respect for others by doing meanspirited things. Meredith has ongoing personal and family problems, which affects reliability and quality. Let s focus on the area that is the subject of this book: Coaching Opportunity Realignment: Provide Realignment when someone is consistently not meeting expectations. Performance Issue Lorraine shows a lack of respect for others by doing meanspirited things. Simply put, Lorraine is a difficult person. Several times every week she makes rude remarks or puts someone down. The team has nicknamed her Coaching the Toxic Employee 5

6 Lorraine the Pain. Her level of productivity is fine, but if her behavior is ignored, more and more team members will refrain from working with her. While you haven t used the Realignment coaching approach with her, you have provided constructive feedback on at least two occasions. Each time, she responded positively for a few days, but she slipped back to her toxic/disrespectful behavior. You believe a more concerted effort is needed. 6 Coaching the Toxic Employee

7 Chapter 3 Coaching Opportunity: Realignment The table below shows the general and specific steps to take when coaching a Realignment situation. The next page provides an overview of these steps. Before Coaching Coaching Model Steps 1. Evaluate the situation 2. Describe the situation 3. Plan a change 4. Revisit the plan Realignment Steps a. Observe behavior and/or result b. Match the situation with one of the five opportunities (see page 4) c. Take notes on how you will approach the situation using the remaining steps as a guideline a. Describe the behavior that is a problem b. State the impact c. Gain agreement that there is a problem d. Express your concern a. Work on a solution by asking one or all of the following: What is getting in the way of your success? What can be done to address the problem? What will you do to deal with the problem? b. If employee doesn t generate an acceptable solution, say I have a suggestion. (Make suggestion.) Then ask, How would that help? c. Review discussion and get commitment So it sounds like, you will Is that your understanding? If no response or commitment, provide a plan of action a. Set a date b. Be supportive Coaching the Toxic Employee 7

8 Before we get to Lorraine s specific Realignment situation, it would help to provide an overview. Step 1 is done on your own before you meet with the employee. It s important to assume nothing about a situation. This step is all about ensuring that you understand the situation as best you can before you start coaching at Step 2. Step 2 begins the coaching session. This step is all about coming to a mutual understanding of the situation. You did your homework in Step 1, but there may be something you don t know or haven t considered from the employee s perspective. You have completed Step 2 when you both agree on the nature of the problem or opportunity. Step 3 is all about coming to a mutual agreement about what to do. You have completed Step 3 when you both agree on next steps to address the problem or opportunity. Step 4 is all about follow-through. You have completed this step when you both agree on when to meet for a progress report. This approach has these benefits: Helps the talkative supervisor to stay on task and not get off on tangents. Helps new supervisors with assurance that they re coaching correctly. Helps the supervisor who avoids conflict to be assertive. Helps the impatient or brash supervisor to take a collaborative approach, listen, and help the employee feel supported. On the next page, a Coaching Worksheet guides you through the four steps. Use the table on page 7 to complete the Coaching Worksheet for your particular employee. To see what this might look like, see the example on page Coaching the Toxic Employee

9 Coaching Worksheet How would you coach someone like Lorraine? 1. Evaluate the situation 2. Describe the situation 3. Plan a change 4. Revisit the plan Coaching the Toxic Employee 9

10 Coaching Worksheet Example Possible Coaching Results for Lorraine 1. Evaluate the situation Lorraine is a difficult person. Lorraine is sarcastic and doesn t seem to respect anyone. Almost the entire staff refuses to work with her. She doesn t exhibit these behaviors with me or her customers. It seems to be limited to her peers. This may be partly due to her nature and partly her negative lifestyle. Have I done everything I can to help her feel positive about the areas she does well? 2. Describe the situation Lorraine, I want to talk to you about an ongoing issue that affects team collaboration. We ve talked before about signs of disrespect and difficult behaviors toward team members. I haven t seen sustained improvement in this area. Some of our team members are uncomfortable working with you. Your behavior is preventing the team from functioning as a unit. (Pause; let Lorraine respond.) I am concerned that you haven t made enough progress in this area. 3. Plan a change What can you do to address the problem? That s a good start. What else can you do? If the employee doesn t have a suggestion, provide one and ask how she thinks it would help. So, it sounds like you re going to (review the items). Can you commit to this plan? 4. Revisit the plan When is a good time for you to meet with me next week? I am confident that you can be successful. Let me know if you need anything else. 10 Coaching the Toxic Employee

11 Temporary improvement is a typical response to the initial coaching. If you meet a week later, the employee may still show signs of improvement. The coaching may go something like this: Coaching Worksheet Example Possible Coaching Results for Lorraine 1. Evaluate the situation Lorraine is normally a difficult person, but she has improved this past week. There were no incidents of toxic behavior. I should encourage her to continue in this positive direction. 2. Describe the situation Lorraine, I noticed that you made improvements and are moving in the right direction. Thank you for making a positive change! Your behavior will help the team function as a unit. 3. Plan a change How do you feel it s going? What seemed to help? What can I do to help you keep moving in the right direction? So, it sounds like (summarize the discussion). 4. Revisit the plan Will this continue to be a good time for us to meet on a weekly basis? I am confident that you can continue to be successful. Coaching the Toxic Employee 11

12 At some point, Lorraine will probably show signs of reverting back to her old ways. Rarely does one coaching session result in a permanent fix. The coaching may go something like this: Coaching Worksheet Example Possible Coaching Results for Lorraine 1. Evaluate the situation Lorraine has shown signs of improvement, but she has been toxic/disrespectful again. I don t want to ignore her toxic behavior, but I don t want to discourage her either. I need to strike a balance between accountability and encouragement. 2. Describe the situation Lorraine, I want to acknowledge that you seem to be trying to curb your disrespectful behavior. (Explain and maybe give an example.) This kind of behavior will help the team function as a unit. There was an incident earlier this week that I need you to think about. (Explain with an example.) I need to see more consistency for this to make a positive impact on the team. 3. Plan a change What can you do to be more consistent? I also have an idea. Write something positive about each person on the team and the value they bring to the team. Bring the written results to our next meeting. How could my idea help? So, it sounds like you re going to (review the items). Can you commit to this plan? 4. Revisit the plan Will this continue to be a good time for us to meet on a weekly basis? I am confident that you can be successful. 12 Coaching the Toxic Employee

13 If the employee doesn t respond to coaching, consult your HR representative for advice on next steps in the corrective discipline process. In the meantime, be sure to document all of your performance discussions with employees who need Realignment. Best wishes! Coaching the Toxic Employee 13

14 Appendix A Job Aid: Situational Coaching Model Before Coaching Steps 1. Evaluate the situation Observe behavior and/or result Match the situation with one of the five opportunities (see page 4) Take notes on how you will approach the situation using the remaining steps as a guideline Opportunities 2. Describe the situation Introduce the opportunity Discuss the impact Gain agreement that there is a situation that needs to be addressed OJT Encouragement Motivation Alignment Realignment Coaching 3. Plan a change Collaborate on a solution Ensure understanding Gain commitment 4. Revisit the plan Set a date Be supportive 14 Coaching the Toxic Employee

15 Appendix B Job Aid: Coaching Worksheet 1. Evaluate the situation 2. Describe the situation 3. Plan a change 4. Revisit the plan Coaching the Toxic Employee 15

16 Bibliography 1. Coaching for Improved Work Performance, Ferdinand Fournies, Coaching Skills Workshop, Intel Corporation, Performance Management, Robert Bacal, McGraw-Hill, The Role of Supervisor, Nick Leforce, Los Rios Community College District, Coaching the Toxic Employee

17 About the Authors Dennis Wade has been involved in private and public employee development for over 20 years in the greater Sacramento area. His experience in Human Resources Development, Information Technology, and Intel Corporation management prepared him to work with Robert Mondavi, Affymetrix, CalPERS, Caltrans, UC Davis Health System, RagingWire and other Northern California organizations in the areas of team development, customer service, management/leadership, and structured on-the-job training. A graduate of UC Davis, he also has a master s degree in Human Resources and Organization Development from the University of San Francisco. He is certified in Bob Mager s Criterion Referenced Instruction, William Bridges Transitions, Jeffrey Nelson s Expert OJT, and Achieve Global s Leadership for Results. He lives in the Sacramento area with his wife of 35 years. Tyler Wade (tyler@ppldev.com) spent nine years in the win-lose world of California politics before moving on to the positive, collaborative, win-win world of workplace learning and performance. His greatest thrill as a people developer is the Aha! Moment that moment of clarity when some additional understanding, wisdom, or recognition brings learning home. Tyler has a master s degree in Public Policy from Pepperdine University. He lives in the Sacramento area with his wife and two sons. Coaching the Toxic Employee 17