Managers occasionally discover an employee telling untruths, cheating or stealing, confront them and discover more issues.  In most of these cases, unless there are credible mitigating circumstances, the employee is fired.  In some, the manager has given the person yet another chance, unfortunately most of these second chances result in further problems.

There is an important principle here:

The best predictor of future behavior is past behavior.

When people engage in the above actions they are far out on the continuum of inappropriate behavior and have probably been doing these things for some time.

Another key idea:

“Habits are cobwebs and grow into cables”

In this situation the manger must make a difficult decision.  Second chances occasionally work, but do they work if the behavior is practiced and how can you assess this?  Three important questions:

1. How long has this been occurring?

2. What is the magnitude of the issue?

3. Has this had an effect on customers?

In this situation you have to balance the needs of the company against the needs of the individual who has transgressed in a serious manner.  Next week – how to strike this balance.

Research shows there are three broad predictors of success in the workplace:

• Competence

• People skills

• Integrity

Put more explicitly, problem employees:

• Are incapable of carrying out their basic job

• Treat others (co-workers, customers, vendors) badly

• Lie, cheat, steal

Let’s review tactics to address each of these issues one at a time.

This issue of poor performance in the technical aspects of the job is probably the easiest of the three.  If your hiring practices are satisfactory, sometimes people do not master a job.  A reasonable assumption is they need training/coaching.  You should begin with intensive coaching.  Most people rapidly respond favorably to this type of attention.  If six weeks of this doesn’t show progress then you may have to consider finding a better job fit for the person or releasing them from employment.  More about this later in this series.  Next week, what about integrity problems?

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Most managers spend lots of time chasing problems.  I once was involved in a difficult personnel issue that continued for nearly a year before it was resolved.  It consumed a third of my time and was very unpleasant.

As I look back on that problem I am fairly sure that had I been more proactive the solution, which resulted in a resignation, would have been faster and better for everyone.  But, my hindsight is 20/20.

When we have people problems, especially in small organizations, they can quickly become major issues.  This blog begins a series on ways to prevent or if the problem occurs when we are not noticing, act in an effective manner.

Let’s begin with the reasonable assumption that you will have a problem employees so there is little gained by reviewing prevention. Save this topic for later.

Next week we will define the three general types of people problems you will experience as a manager.  One of these is probably impossible to solve.  However, the other two are manageable if you have the appropriate tools.

Last week I sent you to a link on coaching in a team setting.  But what about working with a “newbee” or someone who is struggling to master a new job?  For this the definitive protocol exists in a book entitled Zapp! The lightening of empowerment.  Develop excellent performance in “7” simple steps.  Please remember that these are principles, not rules.  Thus, you must practice and fit them to your style.  The critical elements are:

1. Explain the purpose and importance of what you are trying to teach.

2. Explain the process to be used.

3. Demonstrate how it’s done.

4. Observe as the other person practices the process.

5. Provide immediate and specific feedback.

6. Express confidence in the person’s ability.

7. Agree on follow-up actions.

This process is skill- and time- intensive.  When practiced effectively it almost always works.  If it doesn’t, you have identified yet another issue (motivation, ability).  Many companies use this tool in a “buddy system” where an experienced person, usually not a manager, is paired up with a “newbie.”

More on Happiness and productivity.  See the January-February issue of the Harvard Business Review.

Several recent blogs have focused on the importance of developing an effective feedback style in building managerial and leadership competence.  A frequently used synonym for feedback is counseling.  Progressive counseling is a change tool for working with non-performing employees.  Some employee handbooks also label this progressive discipline, this is a harsh term and implies punishment.  Punishment doesn’t usually improve performance, it just makes people angry and stupid.

Counseling/feedback blend into another important tool in the capable manager’s repertory: coaching.  My fellow “Owl,” Gale has written a lively article that clearly illustrates this blend.  Go to this article first.

More about coaching and progressive counseling in the next weeks.

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Happiness is interesting.  Many of you may want to do more reading and/or watching on this topic. Try these in order of my preference for:

• An interesting, amusing and charming TED video entitled “The Surprising Science of Happiness”:

http://langhorne.wordpress.com/2010/10/13/the-science-of-happiness-2/

• A daily update on the happiness of the USA from Gallup:

http://www.gallup.com/home.aspx

and scroll left for a statistical overview of twelve measures.

• A picture of the distribution of happiness in the USA:

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/03/06/weekinreview/20110306-happiness.html

and click on the happiness button on the left sidebar.  Seems as if those of us who live in the upper Midwest are the happiest people in the USA.

• A short interesting read on the distribution of happiness across the world:

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/science-fiction-news.asp?newsnum=893

• If you who want a good read, 300 pages, on the philosophical, moral and scientific history of happiness:

http://www.amazon.com/Exploring-Happiness-Aristotle-Brain-Science/productreviews/0300178107/ref=sr_1_1_cm_cr_acr_txt?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1

Recently I did a blog on happiness because a colleague sent an article from a foreign student who wrote “all Americans think about is money so we are not happy.”  The blog showed Americans are among the happiest people in the world.

This is the season when some people experience happiness and others become depressed.  Perhaps a review of what is known about happiness is appropriate. Also as the year ends we may want to reflect on our level of happiness and work on some private goals to improve ours and others around us levels of happiness.

For a empirically validated self-test and a overview of what researchers know about happiness go to:  Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of….

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The light dims.  When I ask audiences “Have you ever worked for the manager from hell?” about 40% raise their hands, with entrepreneurs the number is usually closer to 90%.

Try this management development tool on yourself or with some others.  Review your career and identify your best and worst boss.  Jot a brief paragraph (2 – 3 lines) about each.  I do this with management development groups.  With more than five persons’ input summarized in a T chart, the answer is obvious: How They Make You Feel.

For the past several months the Sunday NYTimes has been running a column in the Biz section entitled The Corner Office.  Go to “No Ranting and Raving Permitted” for a great article on the power of emotion and entrepreneurial culture.

There are a couple of ways that people can subscribe to this blog. Click the “+ Follow” link on the bottom right section of the site and enter your email address. This is a very easy way to receive the newest post as an email. The other way is via RSS (Really Simple Syndication) feed. The RSS Feed link is located on the right sidebar of the site, directly above the Categories section. Click on “RSS – Posts” to receive your posts in their favorite RSS reader. The RSS reader that many prefer is Google Reader (http://reader.google.com). It is free, well organized, and easy to use.

“Rules are for the obedience of fools and the guidance of wise men”

- Douglas Bader

I was wise in my choice of parents, my mother and father complemented each other in a manner that allowed me to experience two different styles of living. My mother taught me: Always say “thank you.” I use it often and it has served me well. My father taught me, through his actions, to “always show respect for people.” This is a principle for living that I am still working on perfecting.

This is an example of the difference between a rule and a principle. A rule is basically an algorithm, a logical step-by-step set of procedures that if followed produces exactly the same set of results every time. Principles are heuristics, informal methods for solving problems or making decisions based on experience and often using iteration, a form of trial and error.

To be a manager you must understand this distinction.  Too many organizations are becoming rule-bound.  Rule-bound behavior stifles motivation and innovation.  Principles invite the exercise of good judgment and common sense.  For more on this go to: On principles and rules: heuristics and algorithms.