Improve Employee Performance Idea 90 — May 27, 2009: Redefine Rude and Inconsiderate Behaviors

OK, so you have an employee who is rude and inconsiderate of others.  Training has not helped and neither have your conversations about “playing nice” with others.  Besides firing this employee, what do you do? 

You link the employee’s behavior to performance and only performance.  In other words, don’t talk about how this employee’s behavior causes others to feel hurt or frustrated.  Instead, talk about how this person’s behavior impacts the work that others do. 

Start by converting terms like rude and inconsiderate into tangible outcomes.  Ask the following questions:

• How does this employee’s behavior delay work?
• How does this employee’s behavior impede work?
• How does this employee’s behavior decrease productivity?
• How does this employee’s behavior decrease quality?

Once you have your answers, start linking those answers to the employee’s behavior.  Tell this person, “When you do ABC, you cause XYZ to happen.” 

The point—you are here to work and your behavior is having a negative impact on work.

KEY REMINDER:  To improve employee performance, you have to conduct effective performance discussions, give effective performance feedback, reinforce employee performance, and use effective performance phrases to write effective performance appraisals. 
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Barbara Brown, PhD shows managers how to improve employee performance by linking performance to results. She publishes handbooks that contain phrases for discussing performance and for writing appraisals. Dr. Brown also provides training and consulting. Visit www.LinkToResults.net.