The Conversation You Avoid Today Becomes Your Reality Tomorrow!

Every now and then, as a leader, it’s going to be necessary for you to have a corrective action conversation with someone on your team. The very nature of these conversations often makes them difficult. Sadly, for many, the temptation is to avoid them and hope the issues will go away on their own. However, you cannot avoid or sweep corrective action conversations under the rug and hope they will disappear. The truth is that nothing dies under the rug.

I often joke that there is a fully functioning intensive care unit (ICU) under the rug. You may sweep it under the rug and think it’s going to die a natural death, but it never does. Things fester, rumors spread, and unresolved issues come back bigger, stronger, and more toxic. The conversation you avoid today becomes your reality tomorrow!

Like most difficult tasks that we tend to avoid, prior planning and proper preparation often set the stage for success. Below are a few things you may want to consider as you prepare for these must-have conversations.

1. Were my expectations clearly articulated to the employee? It is easy to assume that expectations have been clearly articulated. After all, doesn’t the job description clearly state what is expected? While this may be true, sitting down with an employee to go over expectations will serve you much better and position you for success than if you do not. This is especially true if the employee is new or is being given a new assignment.
2. Could this conversation result in an employment claim? This is not a scare-tactic, it’s a reality. We are living in a highly litigious society where people can sue for almost anything and everything. Because of this, you want to make sure that you follow established procedures, and that you have your facts and documentation in order, especially if you are dealing with something you have addressed before. Get your HR department or support involved quickly.
3. What exactly are my goals and objectives for this conversation? Do you have a real game plan? In his book entitled, “Seven Habits of Highly Effect People,” Steven Covey says, highly effective people begin with the end in mind. What do you hope to achieve and how do you want this conversation to end? What information do you want the employee to know and comprehend? How do you want the employee feeling when they leave your office? You may want to take a few minutes and write down some bullet points that you definitely want to cover during your time together. The primary reason for this is so that you can stay on track and not be manipulated by the employee into talking about something else while they are in your office. It happens.
4. What kinds of consequences are available and appropriate as a corrective action measure? Even though consequences are not one size fits all, they are a major motivator, and every leader must have a bag of those handy at any given time – no consequences, no incentive to change. Preempt the guess work and sit down with your HR representative to brainstorm appropriate consequences and to determine what you can and cannot effectively use as consequence. Tapping into your HR department as a resource will yield results that can save your company or organizations a lot of money in compliance and violation fines.

These questions are by no means exhaustive; however, they will get you started in the right direction. Remember that the conversation you avoid today will become your reality tomorrow. Do you have a plan or a strategy to ensure that you have productive corrective action conversations when warranted? If so, we would love to hear some of your ideas. Please share below.