Every company that hires a new employee has expectations about what that employee will do for the company, how they will improve the company, and that they will be capable of carrying out the duties that they were hired to do. However, not every hire lives up to those expectations and some even fall far enough beneath expectations to be a disappointment.
What do you do when you hire someone who can't do the things you thought they could when you decided to take them on? Obviously, if they're incompetent, you can let them go for failure to carry out their duties and move on to the next person. These are the easy decisions for an employer to make, but what about the ones that aren't so cut and dry?
If you hire an employee with high expectations and they just become a "middle of the road" employee? You can't fire them for failure to do their work if they're able to do their job well enough to not be a drag on the company. Do you realize that at least part of the blame has to fall on you for expecting too much from them? How much of your expectations came from the interview and how they presented themselves? What responsibility do they bear for not living up to the expectations? Is it just a question of motivation? Is there something you could be doing to get them to that point? Is there something they should be doing that they're not? Do you just have to accept the fact that they aren't who you thought they were and just go back to making sure they do their job as well as everyone else? Finally, how do you find a way to treat them right without being too hard on them for failing to live up to the employee that you thought they could be?
Many times, a potential employee will present themselves incorrectly in an interview. This can lead to an incorrect expectation level for the potential employer.
ReplyDeleteThere can also be traces of poor performance that can be traced back to managers. If a manager is not able to motivate its employees enough to a level where the employee feels challenged and needed within a company, that employee may submit sub-par work and therefore, the company suffers. I think a strong management team can solve alot, not all, but alot of these problems. This includes being able to interview well, and detect what employees need guideance during work.
I liked the post because it poses a lot of questions. The interesting bit is, many managers will fail to ask these questions of themselves, the employee, or the organization. Managing an employee is a two way street, so in adult way, you are responsible for the social/educational development of employees you manage. The hope is they have enough education and drive to know what they need to improve and as a manager you can remove many of the barriers.
ReplyDeleteFor instance, knowing that John Doe is great at numbers, but doesn't have training on the statistics software your company uses is a short gap to cross. As a manager you can ask, would they like like to learn the stats package and you as supervisor will take care of preparing/helping with all the bureaucratic hurdles such as sign-offs, scheduling, and budge items.
Rather than writing off John Doe as an employee with potential, realize that the 2-3 hours of work you put in to help get the training can help John Doe realize the type of work he is best at. Now only will he be glad you helped educate him more, he's likely to get side projects directly meeting his niche with the new statics software training.
Getting employees the right toolbox, the right training, and removing hurdles can be the best way to manage. If the employee has the proper enthusiasm, they should look forward to the opportunities. It takes the same amount of time to grind productivity out of someone as paving the right path for progress.
If the employee has truly mis-represented their skillset at an interview, explaining that matter of factly, with a plan to fix it will hopefully make them realize the difference between what they advertised on a resume and where they actually stand. It doesn't berate them, but offers a chance to cure the skill gap. The burden then shifts to the employee to self-select "I will improve to the level I said I am" or "I lied and will look for someone else to believe me". The choice is then in the employees hands. The burden of performing/improving shifts to the employee.