Help Employees Bounce Back After Disciplinary Actions to Reduce Risk, Lower Turnover, and Increase Productivity
Posted Monday, April 16, 2018 by
No matter how well employees do their jobs, chances are they will have a corrective
interview
someday with their supervisor at least once--if you're an above average worker,
your chances increase that a mistake will come someday because you aren't playing it safe all the time.
As an HR manager, use your employee health, wellness, and
productivity tips newsletter (I hope you are distributing your own. It's easy.) to help disciplined employees bounce back
from that awful interview with the boss.
Use these tips or
re-write them to fit your situation and help workers stay positive, make the needed
corrections, value the feedback that came from their boss, admit their
mistakes, communicate better with a supervisor in the future, head
problems off early next time, and bounce back with resilience from the ego-slapped
feeling of being verbally corrected -- OUCH!!!.
Consider these five tips on managing corrective interviews like a champ.
Trust your ability to succeed.
Being corrected isn’t pleasant, but if you have a successful track
record, a corrective interview can’t take that away. Use this knowledge
to detach from feelings of dread so you can focus on what management has
to say.
Remain calm. Listen and keep notes. You don’t
have to refute everything you disagree with now. Consider a second
appointment to raise concerns, or compose a memo to tactfully refute
points raised in the meeting. Don’t try to take control of the interview
away from your supervisor in a fit of emotion.
Accept reality.
Corrective interviews are management tools, not disciplinary actions.
They happen, and mostly for good reasons. Try to understand management’s
perspective, even if you disagree. Don’t attack a supervisor for
correcting your performance. Don’t hesitate to ask for clarification on
what you don’t understand.
Supervisors don’t enjoy corrective interviews. Understanding that your supervisor does not take pleasure in correcting your performance can help you avoid feeling “picked on.”
If they’re right, they’re right. It
is possible to leave a corrective interview thanking your supervisor
for feedback. Affirm your intent to perform satisfactorily. Add your own
suggestions. Cooperation demonstrates professionalism, and it will be
remembered. It might also be reflected in your annual performance
evaluation.
Resilience is about getting the right
perspective, finding a way to step back from very uncomfortable event,
and quickly doing what it takes to feel good again while retaining all
the necessary lessons. There are several ways to do this.
Make up
your own schedule to meet periodically with the boss. Take a
list of essential functions with you on a sheet of paper and discuss
how you are performing on each one. Repeat this process every three months--we are
talking about a 10 minute meeting, and get feedback. Make it conversational. Don't drill your supervisor with a checklist!
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