Communicating Bad News Effectively...

Being a manager of a department comes with responsibilities, whether the department is big or small.  Approaching an employee with bad news is always a difficult thing to do, especially when the employee is known to have an attitude or angry problem.  I would set up a meeting with HR and explain the situation, which in most cases they are already aware of.  After discussing the employee’s work performance and attitude towards other employees in company, options will be drafted for the employee in question will be asked to improve on or if no improvement is made within the deadline or timeline presented, then he will be demote to another position if available or dismissed from the company.  In most cases the employee will be able to bounce back after being warn about the work performance being low, but there are those cases where they can react against the company and/or employees, that why it is important to be very tactful and respectful to all employees regardless of the status they have within the company.

I would have HR set up a meeting with all parties to meet, employee in question, manager, and HR representative.  HR will not only regulate the meeting, but also serve as a witness to prevent any type of misunderstandings between the manager and employee.  I would greet the employee politely and start by telling the employee in question that the company appreciates his loyalty to the company for the past two years.  Then, the HR representative can say that they are trying to evaluate all employees and see where they stand in regards to performance in each position.  I, as a manager, will provide the copies of the past two evaluations and recommendations made at that time.  I feel that by this point the employee has been told what he or she was lacking at the time the evaluation was completed.  Once we have gone over the documents and reviewed where he stand at that time, we can turn and say that they feel he has not improved any in the recommendations made at the time and allow him or her to express the reason as to why they feel they haven’t done so.  If one of the reasons is that they feel proper training has not been provided, HR can ask the employee why he or she hasn’t approached the manager to ask for such training.  The HR representative can also say that they feel he has had ample time to request it and at this time the lack of training should not be the cause of his continuing fall outs.  Usually when an employee has the first fallout, they will ask for help to help them be successful and not drown.  The company will then make arrangement for all team training or if needed individual help as well. 

At this time, I would provide the employee with a copy of the timeline or deadline per say that he or she will be allowed to show improvement or otherwise the following consequences will be taken, from demotion from the current position to a position that is available, or dismissal from the company, due to lack of improvements and failure to meet company requirements as mention in the meeting today.  If the employee shows any sign of resistance to understand what is being said in the meeting, maybe at that time the HR Director can be involved and termination of company might be necessary. 

If the employees’ attitude deteriorates after the meeting and shows disrespect to manager or other employees, then immediate action might be necessary to ensure the safety of all employees.  Hopefully it won’t be necessary to involve the law enforcement, but all precautions need to be taken.  With so many stories we here in the news lately about employees acting against the company and employees after they are warn or dismissed from company, no one can be too carefully in making sure everyone is safe within the company.

But I really hope I will never have to encounter an employee or situation like this in my career.  I want all my employees to feel like a family, yet professional.