Can We Talk?

What happens when an employee fails to meet the standards for performance?

You have a conversation. You remind the employee what the standards are, how the behaviors you've observed are not in keeping with the standard. You anchor your observations by helping the employee see the impact that the behavior has on customers, on the team, and in the workplace.

What happens when the behavior still doesn't change? Most managers would agree that's the toughest part of the job.

Ameritech wanted a self-paced learning tool to inform managers about the standards for counseling conversations, to provide templates and tools to prepare for those conversations, and to help hone skills for presenting the message and handling employee defensiveness. We produced a 30-minute video to accompany the workbook and templates package designed by Ridge Associates. The video is a `gloves-off' series of vignettes following several different employees and managers through the process. Real life. Real words. Real emotions.