About
About
If managers are not careful they can spend a disproportionate amount of time dealing with poor performers and this often comes at the expense of spending time and encouraging good performers
Learn how to recognise when people are displaying early signs of performance problems and strategies and skills that reduce the likelihood of the problems actually developing. Or if it’s too late – how to effectively manage and overcome performance problems once they have occurred.
Key Learning Objectives:
- Identify early warning signs of situations where performance problems could become an issue and have strategies for ensuring that they do not develop
- Know why it’s essential to give feedback to reduce the likelihood of performance problems
- Implement a strategy that ensures they have the time to give staff feedback and results in them becoming more efficient at the same time
- Know what factors are essential to consider before addressing performance issues with an individual
- Understand why it’s essential to move the focus from problems to solutions when discussing performance issues
- Have specific strategies for dealing with people who claim they are stressed and go on stress leave when performance issues are raised
Who Should Attend?
Anyone who is responsible for staff and their performance in an organisation including:
- General Managers
- Operations Managers
- Team Leaders
- HR Managers
- Supervisors
While the majority of situations focussed on relate to situations where a manager has direct ‘line authority’ over the person with the performance problems, some examples are also given as to how managers can positively influence the performance of people in other sections/divisions whom they need to interact with.
Training Methodology
The format includes formal presentation of the skills, discussion exercises and practice of the skills taught. To assist with the practice session participants would be asked to share real examples of situations that they either need to deal with, or past situations that they would have liked to have dealt with differently.
Outline
Early warning signs
- Factors related to interactions with the public
- Concerns raised by others in the organisation
- Small drops in performance standards that are not an issue in themselves
Becoming sensitive to negative Paralanguage
- The concept of Paralanguage compared to body language
- How negative Paralanguage serves as early warning of forthcoming performance problems
Avoiding conflict and performance problems through feedback
- The highly predictable outcomes of no feedback
- Why others start doing ‘their own thing’ and become difficult to manage
- How to create the time to give staff feedback and become more efficient at the same time
Exercise: Developing a ‘Preventative Maintenance Plan’ for Each of Your Direct Reports
In this segment participants would rate (on a simple overview scale) the levels of motivation and performance of each of their direct reports. They would then develop a brief ‘preventative maintenance plan’ for each of them. As part of this it is possible that some participants may identify individuals that they need to immediately apply the managing poor performance skills with.
Factors that may be causing poor performance
In this segment participants would be shown a checklist that they should use before discussing performance issues with a staff member. This checklist includes things such as – how to tell if the individual has a skills or a motivational problem, and whether or not the person has unintentionally been ‘punished’ for doing the job correctly
Dealing with personal life issues influence performance issues
- The concept of keeping separate ‘your problem’ as the manager (i.e. it is the impact the performance problem is having) and ‘their problem’ (i.e. the personal life factors that may be causing the performance problems)
- Why it is essential to make carefully considered decisions before assisting people with ‘their problem’
- Appropriate times to refer people on to other specialists
- The crucial difference between a referral for counselling support and a referral for an assessment
Focussing on solutions rather than problems
- A brief explanation of the process by which our subconscious ensures that when we focus on problems, the problems occur
- Why performance discussions that draw attention to what the person or group is doing incorrectly actually increase the likelihood of the problem continuing
- How to move individuals and groups from a problem to a solution focus
- The art of giving messages that result in people responding with the correct as opposed to the incorrect behaviour
- Exercise: Participants work in small groups to reword performance related statements that are phrased as problem messages into solution messages
Starting with the resolution and working backwards
- The rationale for starting with the resolution and working backwards
- How can this increase the likelihood of a successful outcome
- Exercise: Participants work in groups of three and role play the application of the technique for addressing work related performance issues
Five step process for raising and resolving performance problems
- Learn how to apply a five step process for resolving performance issues
- The importance of consistency and follow up
What happens when you need to manage a person out of the organisation?
- Why is it essential to gain specialist HR input and/or legal input before embarking on this process?
- Why is it essential to follow the correct process and to keep detailed notes?
- Dealing with situations where the person’s performance improves while final written warnings are active and then relapses once they have expired
Dealing with stress related performance issues
- The importance of gaining good HR, legal and medical input – as soon as the issue is raised
- The advantages of seeking input from a psychiatrist instead of a psychologist – even though the psychologist may have considerable expertise in the stress field
- Why it’s important to have processes in place that are appropriate for identifying stress related hazards and the management of these before a staff member ends up raising stress issues – and what to do if your organisation has overlooked this OSH legislative requirement!
- Exercise: Group discussion related to examples of performance issues that turned into stress cases that have then come before the courts. Participants would also be encouraged to share situations that they are aware of that have been ‘settled’ without going through the Court process
Facilitator
Ross Gilmour
Ross Gilmour is a qualified and registeredNew Zealandpsychologist. Ross is the Managing Director of Gilmour Consulting, an organisational psychology consultancy based inLower Hutt.
Prior to going into private practice in 1981 Ross spent four years working in the personnel area and six and a half years as a psychologist with the Department of Justice. In the first few years of private practice Ross provided clinical/counselling services for individuals and small groups. This included working with people who were experiencing stress and anxiety disorders, sleep problems, depression, relationship problems, etc.
Ross then moved his focus to Organisational Psychology and now spends the majority of his time conducting training seminars in the ‘people skills’ area. These include stress management, time management, team building, self-motivation, supervisory and management skills, managing change, and interviewing skills. Ross also regularly provides service to organisations in the areas of managing organisational stress, conflict management, change management, shift work and its impact on performance and other specialist areas such as safety and sleep management. His clients include many government departments, multi-national corporations and a range ofNew Zealandand international businesses both large and small.
Ross Gilmour is also facilitating:
In-house Training
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