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Painless Performance Conversations
Book

Painless Performance Conversations

A Practical Approach to Critical Day-to-Day Workplace Discussions

Marnie E. Green
Wiley, 2013
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Editorial Rating

8

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  • Applicable

Recommendation

Most managers dislike having critical conversations with the employees they supervise. If not handled well, these “performance conversations” can be painful for employee and manager alike. Leadership consultant Marnie E. Green explains how to make these sometimes wrenching conversations painless and productive. Using the tools that she provides, you can turn performance conversations into positive experiences for both you and your staff members. Such discussions can become spark plugs that enhance your employees’ productivity and engage them more fully in their work. Though some of her sample dialogues seem a bit contrived, Green writes in a pleasing conversational tone. A lot of checklists, charts, pointers to remember, and the like will make it easier for you to put her suggestions into practice. Therefore, getAbstract recommends her insights and advice to all supervisors who dread day-to-day performance discussions.

Summary

You Just Hired Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde

You recruit and hire a new manager: a respected leader with terrific credentials and great recommendations. She begins with a bang, bringing solid staffers onto her project team and providing members with a well-developed strategic plan. But she quickly runs into trouble by ignoring well-established company procedures, fighting with other managers and failing to support her team members when mistakes occur. She doesn’t seem to hesitate pushing them under the bus in the face of problems.

You know you should do something about her, but other challenges demand your time and attention. Because of the new manager’s stellar record, you give her the benefit of the doubt. Also, you don’t look forward to bringing any of this up by starting a conversation with her that is bound to be painful and unpleasant; you fear that the necessary follow-up discussions will be even worse. So you look the other way, hoping the situation will somehow resolve itself.

The next time you check, you learn that everyone on the manager’s team is miserable. Some of the company’s best people became totally frustrated and unhappy, and they quit. At this point...

About the Author

Marnie E. Green, the principal consultant for the Management Education Group, blogs on Jobing.com and presents webinars on HR.com.

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