Help Get Over Fear – Confronting Employees

I have had managers in the past that many said they were afraid of confrontation. Some would just avoid it all together. Others were more afraid of confronting face to face, so they would use other forms of communication to confront a situation. I even had a manager that would think that he was confronting a situation when he would be talking to the whole team about what should be done, when only one would was not doing what needed to be done. Not confronting the situation only leads to sub-par work, people not following the companies policies or procedures or just plain goofing off.

What are they afraid of? Being label the “mean” boss? Never liked hearing, “can I speak to you in private” message, so using it is hard. Like most fears they can be overcome… You just have to think of these simple ways to overcome it…

1. Think from your employees point of view. How would you like it if you were working day in and day out with the assumption that you were doing fine. No one was telling you anything different. Until the boss comes up and says, “you have been not performing to standard now for months.” Blindsided… Conservative criticism is not easy, but if you go in with the mindset that you want the employee to perform at their best.. You need to help explain what the best means. Give them a chance to perform.
2. Make it regular – so that it becomes a habit. I used to use my 1:1’s with each of my employees to discuss how everything was going from my point of view. Performance, goals met, goals exceeded or anything that was important at that time. I never wanted a surprise! So, I tried my best not to give a surprise to my folks.
3. Have your ducks in a row. Many times a manager is afraid of confrontation due to past experiences. I had an employee once argue with me. Told me I did not know what I was doing. They made that session a living nightmare. I learned from that time on – to have all of my documentation with me when we were discussing everything. It is easy to point to data and communications flow better when you can point to the situation. How it was handled or not. Be prepared.
4. You are not being mean. You owe it to your people to be open and discuss with them anything that needs to be discussed. That is your responsibility to your boss and them. Always discuss what the expectations are, how to get there and what could happen if not met. It is not being mean – it is being fair.

I have never met an employee that wanted to do nothing and just fail. Maybe a few that wanted to just do what was necessary. Set high expectations, provide the training and opportunities, timely feedback and watch them do well. It works!

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