Productivity / Performance

Be wary of hitting employee with sudden criticism after FMLA request

06/14/2012

Here’s something to watch out for when approving a supervisor’s recommendation to discipline or discharge an employee. If the employee has requested FMLA leave and was previously performing well, be suspicious of claims that she’s now performing poorly.

Back ‘gut’ decisions with objective criteria

05/30/2012

Most managers want to choose the best candidate for the job. But assessing what constitutes “best” can often feel a bit subjective. That’s OK. Just make sure you can point to some objective factor that backs up your choice.

How to Establish an Employee Mentoring Program

05/25/2012

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Poor performer? Give examples during review

05/25/2012

Not every new hire works out. Chances are, you’ll realize early on that you made a hiring mistake. You’ll want to give the employee a chance to improve, but you’ll also want to protect the company in the event of a lawsuit. To do that, provide a detailed and thorough performance review that includes specific examples and suggestions.

Patience, careful documentation pay off when disciplining underperforming employees

05/21/2012

Reasonable employers always fare better in court than unreasonable ones. That’s one reason to keep careful disciplinary records showing everything you did to help an employee perform well despite obvious problems. If he’s ultimately terminated, the court probably won’t second-guess the decision.

Beware warnings that could limit future pay

05/14/2012

Most HR professionals assume that a warning letter isn’t an adverse employment action and therefore can’t be the basis for a lawsuit. And that’s largely true. But if the warning letter also mentions restrictions on how well the employee will be rated at evaluation time, there may be trouble.

Setting performance goals: Easy as A, B, C

05/08/2012

For each employee’s performance expectations, set A, B and C goals, suggests the SmartBlog on Leadershop. “C” goals are Comfortable; “B” goals are Believable; “A” goals are Awesome.

Before approving discipline, check last review

05/07/2012

When a supervisor recommends discipline or anything else that could be viewed as an adverse employment action, be sure to check the employee’s latest evaluation before you approve it. If what the boss says is currently going on appears inconsistent with the evaluation, find out why.

Focus on poor performance when terminating

05/01/2012

Sometimes, it’s obvious that an employee will not work out. If that employee belongs to a protected class, you may be tempted to treat her with kid gloves. Don’t. Instead, keep the focus on performance deficiencies.

Job descriptions are works in progress … Stay on top of them!

04/30/2012

There’s a good chance that what your employees actually do every day has little in common with what’s written in their job descriptions. That’s a problem. Inaccurate or incomplete job descriptions can cause legal liability for employers, especially if the EEOC or the DOL comes calling.