The Management Excellence workshop covered material focused on management fundamentals, improving employee performance and harassment avoidance. A few of the topics that I found particularly useful included: counseling employees, legal & policy concerns, manager’s liabilities, checklist for correcting poor performance and the importance of documentation. Below are some useful takeaways from the training:
Performance Documentation Basics
Checklist for Correcting Poor Performance
Performance Documentation Basics
- Facts
- What happened?
- When did it happen?
- Where did it happen?
- Who was involved?
- Objectives
- What are the performance expectations?
- When were they communicated?
- Solutions
- What forms of assistance/coaching were offered?
- Actions
- What are the consequences for no improvement?
Checklist for Correcting Poor Performance
- Rules and Standards
- Have they been communicated verbally and in writing to employees to their understanding?
- Enforcement
- Has the company consistently enforced violations of this rule or standard?
- Investigation
- Has the employee been afforded the opportunity to tell his version of the incident and explain his/her conduct or action?
- Warnings
- Has the employee been warned previously for the violations of the rule or standard?
- Documentation
- Has the investigation been documented in a factual and objective manner?
- Reasonableness of Corrective Action
- Was the degree of discipline imposed on the employee related to:
- Seriousness of the proven offense
- Past record
- The circumstances surrounding the particular case
- Is the company’s corrective action in this case consistent with its past practice for violations of the same rule or standard?
- Is the corrective action timely?
- Has the employee been told how he/she can prevent a similar offense in the future?
Comments
I have found 1-on-1's to be key for communicating and agreeing upon expectations and project timelines. This also allows the staff to share successes, challenges and obstacles with the manager.
Additionally, when employees realize that 1-on-1's are also held at higher management levels, the importance of 1-on-1's as a communication vehicle is heightened rather than viewing it as a "micro-management" device.
I like this video that discusses the importance of keeping 1-on-1 meetings with staff.
http://www.5min.com/Video/Importance-of-Keeping-One-on-One-Staff-Meetings-259853229
Humbly,
--Liko