| | MARCH 2024MANAGEHRMAGAZINE.COM9time someone does address the issues, it would be more difficult for the company to defend its position on any adverse action; especially with no history of holding the person accountable regarding behavior or performance.Whether a person has been with your organization for three months or thirty years, it's crucial as leaders to ensure the people on your team know the expectations of their positions and where they stand. Holding people accountable does not have to be a long-drawn-out process that most leaders fear. Discussions and coaching come in many forms as well as how you document those discussions. Key items to keep in mind with coaching discussions:· Be timely: ensure you have conversations as soon as you notice the performance or behavior.· Be specific: make sure to have information regarding the expectations and how the person did not meet them.· Most crucial: Document, Document, DocumentAlways remember to document interactions with your team members when having coaching discussions. This will ensure the company can support taking any necessary adverse action. This can simply be a follow-up email to the employee simply stating, "this is a follow up of our discussion regarding...". Emails are legal documents - so I would copy human resources on those emails for record. A coaching letter that states the specific issues that are being addressed and that leaves space for employee acknowledgement. If you have had multiple coaching sessions and the performance or behavior does not change then it's time to move to a performance improvement plan. The plan should outline specific areas not meeting expectations, actions items to improve behavior or performance, specific timelines, and routine follow-up to stay on track. This is the final effort to coach the person and the goal is to retain them, it is up to the employee to successfully complete the plan. Although retention is the goal, unfortunately this is also where most employees realize it's time to move on. Perhaps just like that singer we started with, it may be best for them and the company to find something new. Not dealing with performance or behavior issues is not doing anyone any favors, either the person or the leader, especially not the company
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