A company employee
under a manager’s direct supervision has been performing his work at a
substandard level and has been confrontational to his colleagues, who blame him
for the hostile work environment which has emerged in the office. It is the supervisor’s responsibility either to improve his performance or to
show him the door. Such situations are among a manager’s greatest challenges,
and her response to the situation reveals as much about her as about the
employee she must confront.
The company seems to be
unusually kind-hearted even to allow this employee a last chance. If an employee is performing poorly, it might
be worth it to retrain him, transfer him to another department, or even offer
him the option of reduced responsibility in exchange for keeping a paid
position. If a capable employee has become hostile, it behooves a manager to
find out the cause and remedy the situation, if at all possible. The
substandard performance combined with the attitude problem, however, would seem
to mandate summary dismissal, especially if the employee has never been very
good at his job but has only recently become hostile – perhaps because he was
passed over for a promotion on account of his incompetence.
If the manager truly
wants to work things out so that the employee can remain in his job, she must
do some thinking about the employee and how he reached this point. The
assignment scenario states that he works in technical support and has been
providing “substandard” service, as evidenced by negative reports from
customers and colleagues. What does “substandard” mean, exactly? Does he lack
the technical expertise to help customers with their problems? Is he becoming
frustrated or giving up too quickly? Is he brusque with callers? Do his phone manners need work?
Having done my stint in
customer service back in the pre-internet Stone Age, I can attest that it is
often a stressful, thankless job complicated by the fact that companies usually
dump a large notebook (or computer file) of pre-programmed, scripted responses
onto the desk of the support person,
which he must use with customers. Callers, meanwhile, are seldom happy when
they call a company asking for technical support. They may be angry, frantic,
bewildered, frustrated, or downright terrified. They may be ready to throw the
equipment out a nearby window – or they may already have done so! Calling a
company to receive technical support and being confronted with an artificially
cheery voice at the other end spouting scripted responses could be enough to
send some such souls right over the edge. They tend to vent their wrath on the
first unfortunate representative of the company with whom they come into
contact – namely, the intrepid tech support guy. The “substandard” employee may
either lack the expertise to solve these customers’ problems, or he may have
become frustrated with the treatment he receives from callers - or both.
An employee who hates
his job but must keep it in order to go on eating, paying his rent, and supporting
his family can quickly reach the point where his unhappiness begins to boil
over, as he lashes out at colleagues, superiors – even little old ladies
crossing the street. His supervisor’s first responsibility is to call him in
for a meeting, designed as much as an opportunity for him to speak about the
problems he is having as it is a Reproach. (Cahn and Abigail, 2007, p. 222) Because he is entitled to due process – to face his
accusers – the supervisor must gently detail the charges against him, and who
made them. She must make him aware that a problem exists, giving him the
opportunity to defend himself or to consider his own actions. According to Cahn
and Abigail (2007) this commences the Initiation Phase of the conflict
resolution process.
Once the employee is
talking, the supervisor will know a great deal more about whether the employee
can viably remain with the company.
If he is angry, he will likely make that anger
known, as well as its target or targets; if it is the supervisor herself, he
may simply resign rather than even talking with her. If it emerges
that the employee’s substandard performance
is a result of insufficient expertise, the supervisor might even offer
supplementary training at company expense to enable to employee to do his work
better. If he simply hates doing customer service, there may be no point in
continuing the discussion, and the supervisor should offer him the opportunity
to resign honorably (and with no negative blot on his record) rather than
continuing in a job he hates. If the company is large enough, he might be
transferred to a position which he finds more congenial. This hashing out of
the component elements of the conflict is the all-important Differentiation
Phase, as well as the portion of the Repair Ritual which provides a Remedy to the conflict.. (ibid., pp. 159-161, p. 222)
Finally, the supervisor
will have the information she needs to move on to the Resolution Phase of the
conflict. (ibid., pp. 161-162) She makes the decision regarding whether the
employee is still a viable part of the company and its culture. If, for example,
his performance and behavior problems are a result of personal issues, she can
offer an employee assistance program. If the problem is simply that he hates
his job, she can offer the graceful resignation option. If, however, he is
desperate to keep the job, she can then detail to him the areas in which he
must improve in order to remain with the company. She may offer him educational
and personal support, as well as helping him to resolve any intra-office conflicts
which may have arisen. She should set a probationary period – three months,
perhaps – during which his performance would be evaluated, so that he does not
get the idea that if he remains, all of his remaining time with the company
will be filled with judgments and recriminations. These steps should ensure
that the employee gets a fair opportunity to keep his position, and the company
gains a better-performing, better-behaving employee.
Resources:
Cahn, D. and Abigail, R. (2007) Managing Conflict Through Communication. Boston: Pearson Education,
Inc.
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