Articles

Disciplined Too Soon
by Dr. Lynne Curry

Question:
I just disciplined an employee for spending too much time chatting on the phone with a customer and she quit. She was actually a good employee but I'd caught her several times recently chatting with people on the phone and when I heard her giving a caller the name and phone number of one of our competitors I blew up. I told her she wasn't working for our competitor, she was working for us and she said, "Nope, not any more" and walked out the door.

There's another employee I want to promote into this customer service position but she's also quite sociable and tends to chat with other employees and customers for "just a minute" but she as long as ten or twenty minutes. When I talk with her about this, she acts like I'm coming down on her for no reason. I'm not a person who doesn't like conversation; I'm just trying to make sure our business shows a profit so everyone can stay employed. Can you help?

Answer:
You need to learn how to talk with your employees so they learn and operate within the guidelines you set for them. To accomplish this, you need to stop jumping down your employees' throats and to learn better methods for explaining to your employees how you want them to handle situations.

Let's start with this morning. You interrupted your employee in the middle of a call and reacted to what you overheard. Little wonder your employee reacted right back at you. By interrupting your employee in the middle of a conversation and disciplining her before asking her any questions, you treated her without respect.

What would have happened if you'd waited until she finished her phone call and said, "I overheard you give this customer our competitor's name, I wonder if you can tell me what you were trying to accomplish?" You might have learned your employee thought that by taking care of your customer, she acted in your company's interest - in winning the customer's future loyalty.

If you disagreed with her judgment call, you could have said, "Regardless of the circumstances, please never mention a competitor. Instead, see if the customer might be as satisfied with a different product we offer or simply give me a chance to talk with the customer." If you had done this, you would have given your employee a policy she could have lived with, instead of making her feel unfairly judged for trying to help a customer.

If you decide to promote your employee who likes chatting, start things out right. Let her know that you're promoting her because you value her skills and that her new position is key to your company's success. Set clear expectations for her both in terms of the results you hope to see her achieve and the standards you set for her. In the first several weeks she works in her new position, meet with her frequently, giving her plenty of positive feedback concerning what she does right. If you see habits that need to change, tell her honestly, without attacking, the improvements you want. For example, if you overhear her chatting often during the day, let her know you don't mind three or four short chats, but you feel the longer conversations ought to be tabled to the lunch hour or after work.

When you discipline an employee for chatting, you need to realize that you're taking away a part of the job she finds pleasurable. If you want her to give that up, you have to motivate her by offering her something in return. What would happen if you explained your views in terms that relate to her best interest? For example, you could say, "I pay you $120 a day for eight hours work at $15 an hour. I'd like to raise you to $16 or even $17 an hour, however, we need to increase our profit margin to be able to have the extra money to spend on salary increases. If we can get you and other employees to really focus on results during the time you're here, we'll increase our profit margin and be able to reward everyone. If, however, you spend even forty minutes a day chatting, you've actually raised your hourly salary to $17 an hour, because you've worked less than eight hours for that same $120. When you and others do that, we can't increase take anyone's take home pay because we don't make the profit we need."

As a manager, you succeed when you learn how to talk with your employees in ways that win their understanding of what they need to do to excel. When you fail to gain your employees' agreement that what you ask of them makes sense, you consign yourself to regular battles, leaving them feeling defensive and you frustrated.