Motivational Management: Inspiring Your People for Maximum Performance

Using Consideration to Overcome Negative Outlooks

When managers have to deal with employees whose performance is inadequate or deteriorating, what should they say? This situation comes up often in the life of a manager, and it will for you if it hasn't already. It is common to feel some hesitation and to try to avoid a confrontation with the employee. But eventually, managers realize they must take action to try to get the employee back on track. Otherwise, the work will not get done, or, maybe worse, it will get done poorly. Of course, the remedy must vary depending upon the cause of the employee's poor performance, but let's look at a fairly common scenario to start with and see how you would handle it.

A CASE IN POINT: WHAT TO SAY TO AN UNDERPERFORMING ...