Monday, July 12, 2010

It’s Not Always a Training Problem

“She must need training.”

It seems almost the natural answer to the question, “Why isn’t the employee doing the job like I expect her to?” But often training is not the answer.

How can you find out?

Ask yourself if the employee could do the job if her future depended on it. If the answer is “no,” then it is a training problem and we can develop an appropriate training plan.

However, if the answer is “yes,” then it’s a performance problem and, no matter how much training you give the employee, you’ll get the same results.

The performance problem takes further analysis.

1.       Does the employee have the right tools? I recall a young woman about to be fired because she continually made the same mistake in payroll computations. After a little detective work and a “one last chance” approach, the supervisor discovered the antiquated adding machine the employee was using had a broken part and would never return the right figures. With new equipment she became one of the better employees in the company.

2.       Does good performance result in punishment? More work? Singled out by others, as your mother or grandmother would say, as an “apple polisher?”

3.       Are there more rewards for other kinds of behavior? You want your employee to see himself as part of a team, but it’s the top salesman who gets the bonus, not him so your employee and his counterparts gain a better sense of teamwork by collectively undermining the salesman’s efforts.

4.       Does the employee know what you expect of her? Or do just expect her to know because “she’s been here long enough and ought to.”

These are only a few of the questions to ask yourself as you determine the best direction to take when faced with the employee who could be a star performer but is delivering less than star performance.

Posted by Bernice Johnston at 3:23 pm