Business leaders constantly need to evaluate their employees to determine
whether they are aligned with the company and their role. There is too great of
a risk that misaligned employees will negatively impact productivity, team
chemistry, and the overall health of the company. They cannot be ignored.
The first important step is looking for the following signs of an employee
who is not aligned with their role or the company culture.
- Habitual mistakes in their work
- An uncharacteristic decline in productivity
- Excuses for a decline in work or productivity
- Not getting along with their teammates
- Absenteeism or consistently late for work or meetings
Good business leaders will discover and document these signs. Then, once you
discover the signs, you need to match up the employee's behavior with your
company's performance management process.
This leads to a key question: does your company have a process for holding
employees accountable for a decline in productivity or overall workplace
behavior? If the employee believes they can miss appointments or put down
teammates without consequences because there is no workplace standard, the
issue of a misaligned employee could grow into a larger problem affecting your
company's overall well-being.
Be sure that your company has a performance management process to hold
employees accountable. Then, be prepared to have a critical conversation to
determine if this employee is capable of realigning with the organization's
standards and processes.
Are You Prepared for a Tough Conversation?
One of the most difficult conversations for a business leader is talking
about workplace performance or misbehavior with an employee. However, this
conversation is critical to keep your company on track toward production and
profitability because misaligned employees could cause irreparable damage to
your company.
The best tool to arm yourself with is an assessment of whether the candidate
is following the performance management process. Without this information, you
are relying on subjective, disputable opinions that could lead to a heightened
sense of discord and misalignment from your employee.
With the assessment, however, you are able to clearly identify areas where
the employee is misaligned, creating an objective measurement that both parties
can discuss to determine the next course of action.
This brings up an important point about the mechanics of this conversation.
Business leaders need to understand the steps of the critical conversation, the
message they need to send, how to stay in control of the conversation, the
attitude of the receiver, and the opportune time to have this conversation.
If this conversation is handled poorly, it could lead to the following
problems.
- An employee trying to take control over the business leader
- Employee spreading misbehavior to other employees
- A breakdown in communication of future important issues
- An unproductive work environment affecting profitability
Then, once business leaders receive guidance on how to address misaligned
employees, they need to be ready to make a decision about the employee's
future in the company.
Make the Decision: Reassign or Release Misaligned Employees?
Let's follow the path. You discovered the signs of a misaligned
employee, you matched up their workplace behavior with your performance
management process, and you had the critical conversation about how to realign
with the company. Now, you need to determine whether this employee should be
reassigned to another role or department or if you should release this employee
from the company.
When to retain and reassign—If the unproductive behavior or
results can be corrected and if the employee shows a willingness to listen to
the assessment, then it's a training or awareness issue. This can be
addressed. The key is finding a different role or assignment for the employee
to utilize their skills and competencies in a more productive manner.
If the employee is misaligned because of a developmental issue, you may
never be able to correct the unproductive behavior. You should consider cutting
bait at this point, using the measurable results of your assessment to ensure
proper handling of the decision to release this employee.
For additional guidance on challenging workforce situations such as
misaligned employees, read more about the benefits of the Clear Direction Team and Developmental
Training Program that will increase engagement, productivity, and
employee accountability to enhance workplace productivity benefiting your
company's bottom line.