Hard Conversations

As an employer, there are bound to be issues in the workplace that will need to be addressed. How you address them can make or break your relationship with your employees, their responsiveness, and the overall culture of your workplace. Whether it is a seemingly small issue such as an employee not washing their own dishes or a larger issue regarding dress code or professionalism in the office, being passive and skirting around the issue will only serve to frustrate you as an employer, cause others on staff to question their own behavior and your lack of assertiveness, and not result in the target employee taking heed or making the desired change. If, for example, there is an employee that doesn’t do their dishes and everyone knows who it is, but you put a sign in the break room that indicates everyone is responsible for doing their own dishes, people who are already complying will get more vigilant about their own obedience, everyone will know who it is targeting and they will know that you are avoiding addressing it directly, and the culprit will remain oblivious or apathetic. When it comes to dress code and professionalism, if you feel that standards are not being upheld there are a few things that need to be considered. First, do you have a written policy so that the standards are clear? If it is just one or a few people that are not dressing/acting appropriately, don’t make a broad sweeping announcement or email to “remind or educate” everyone. As a manager or HR representative, privately and respectfully speak with the employee about their attire or behavior and give them the benefit of responding positively. You can’t take disciplinary action or penalize someone who is unaware of what they have done wrong, and you need to keep a record of conversations for their employee file in case of a future dispute. Part of being in management is having hard conversations. People are more likely to respect and respond to an employer who is clear in their expectations and consistent in their delivery. Everyone wants to be treated fairly and feel safe in the workplace. As an employer, be proactive by having clear policies and follow up on expectations by having discreet conversations to keep employees on board and allow opportunity to comply before further action needs to be taken.