Dealing with Marginal Performers: The Therapeutic Approach

--PREPARATION: The purpose of the therapeutic approach is to spark an employee toward improved performance through counseling. The manager's goal is to help the employee recognize the existence of a problem, accept the need for change, and formulate his or her own program for improvement. The manager should critically assess his or her own attitudes and opinions. It is important to try to eliminate all personal bias and prejudice or at least be aware of any such emotions no matter how little effect they seem to be having. For the most positive results, the manager should be noncritical or at least noncommittal toward the marginal performer. In addition, the interview should be conducted in private, without interruptions, and with adequate time.

--SETTING A COMFORTABLE ATMOSPHERE: The employee should be made to feel relaxed and at ease. It is particularly important that no mental anguish is spent in guessing the interview's purpose. It is not necessary for the manager to "build the employee up" with praise about favorable performance but it is desirable that the atmosphere is friendly and constructive.

-- STIMULATING SELF-APPRAISAL: The simplest, most forthright tactic is to explain to the employee that there are problem areas. Elicit self-analysis from employees about their jobs, particularly focusing on those areas where they feel that their performance could be improved. Once employees begin discussing unsatisfactory performance - or at least elaborating on problems they are encountering on the job - the manager can pursue the problem areas. Asking, rather than telling the employee, becomes the key to an effective discussion. Through these questions, the manager keeps the employees on the subject and gets them to suggest ideas on improving performance.

-- STIMULATING SELF-SUGGESTION: Once the employee has begun to make positive suggestions, the manager should encourage exploration of these ideas in detail to determine which ones will be most useful for self-improvement. The manager should interfere as little as possible in the employee's self-evaluation. Offering suggestions to the employee will likely negate the whole process. The employee's defense mechanisms are always lingering in the background, and they may surface the minute the manager begins to press the employee into following a course of action, thereby defeating the purpose of the therapeutic counseling interview.

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium

CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

---

Experiences of Management Coaching (Part 2)

In our experience, we have found that there are several reasons managers fail to get employees to see and acknowledge that they have a problem.They assume. Many... Read More

Is Your Management Style Assisting or Hurting Your Business?

Many times business owners can have significant differences in management styles that can deter the growth of both the employees and the business.Employees can have differing needs... Read More

Cross Cultural Solutions for International Business

Globalisation, the expansion of intercontinental trade, technological advances and the increase in the number of companies dealing on the international stage have brought about a dramatic change... Read More

Gossip And Rumors And Hearsay, Oh Why?

In the Wizard of Oz, it was "Lions and tigers and bears, oh my!" Many organizations today are singing a slightly different tune: "Gossip and rumors and... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management :- Thought Leadership

Leadership is only sustainable when leaders consistently come up with good ideas ? when they are dependable thought leaders. It follows then that leaders would be more... Read More

Management to the Vision-Contribution and the Role of Compliance

As a manager our role is to:1. Establish the vision, or our contribution to the vision.2. Establish the plan and forecast for our management contribution, be it... Read More

Forecasting Support Costs

Did you know that maintenance accounts for 50% to 80% of the overall product cost? Well, it does! And while most project managers are fairly good at... Read More

How to use NLP for Business?

What is Neuro-Linguistic Programming?Neuro-Linguistic programme is nothing but the study of human excellence. It is an art. It teaches you to be at the very best. It... Read More

The 6 Steps to Six Sigma

Step 1Get the proper level of Six Sigma expertise at the executive level of the company. If the top leaders don't understand the advanced six sigma principles,... Read More

How to Build Your Business and Still Take Time Off

We all know people who are like human dynamos. They seem to make an art form of building their business and still enjoy quality time with friends... Read More

Executive ESP: A Pathway to Success!

We all have psychic abilities that we use daily, although most of us don't even realize that. The full study of this issue would take many books,... Read More

Take The Guesswork Out Of Problem Solving

In today's chaotic world and uncertain economic times too many good people are burdened by too many problems that seem insurmountable and too many businesses find it... Read More

Tales from the Corporate Frontlines: Adapting Human Resource Functions

This article relates to the human resource functions competency, commonly evaluated in employee satisfaction surveys. It deals with employee feelings with regard to the quality and implementation... Read More

Effective Ways to Give Performance Feedback

Consequences of Not Giving Effective FeedbackLet's take a look at some typical examples of what goes on in work environments when managers don't give good feedback.Example #1:... Read More

Executive Performance -- Whos to Blame for Incompetent Managers?

A recent article in the Wall Street Journal raised the question: Who's to blame for inept managers?The answer, of course, is the superiors who hire or promote... Read More

Give Yourself a Boss Day Gift, Part 2: Are You the Position or the Person?

Are you the position or the person?Bosses can lose their own identity sometimes. It's easy. It happens a lot. The results are devastating to both the workers... Read More

Innovation Management: The Time Factor

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation whilst innovation can be defined as idea selection, development and commercialisation.There are distinct processes that enhance problem... Read More

Change and Performance - Training May Not Be The Answer

Introducing new products or services, bringing new people on board, developing a new process or procedure, installing new equipment, change seems to be the one constant in... Read More

Do the People in Your Organisation Dress For Success?

What really amazes me, with all the personal and professional development seminars people attend, from executives in corporate world, business owners and employees alike, very little investment... Read More

Knowledge Management - Capturing And Structuring Knowledge Into Reusable Assets

Many organizations have an approach for identifying and recording lessons learned, perhaps as part of a post-project review or similar process. Unfortunately, lessons learned reports have a... Read More

Knowing versus Doing - Execution In The Workplace

Have you ever worked with someone who always seemed to have the answers; who always seemed to know what should be done; who could always quote the... Read More

Performance Evaluations Can Be Beneficial

THE PERFORMANCE REVIEW MEETING: It's a fact - most supervisors and employees have negative feelings toward performance appraisals and appraisal interviews. It's often necessary to shift people's... Read More

Get More Impact From Your Annual Conference

How can you get more attention for your conference and your association? Use some of these Power Marketing? tips and ideas. It won't cost much. It just... Read More

The Seven Essentials of Business Communication

There are seven essential elements to successful business communication:StructureClarityConsistencyMediumRelevancyPrimacy/RecencyPsychological Rule of 7±2If you are going to communicate effectively in business it is essential that you have a... Read More

How to Hold Effective Staff Meetings

Many people believe that they conduct effective meetings, when all they really do is host a party. Or worse, they deliver a monologue. In either case, their... Read More

Outsourcing Quiz: Cheap Vs. Good

Someone can say, 'Why do you oppose this?' So I'd like to prevent such attacks and tell that this article is dedicated mainly to the issue if... Read More