Employee needs to improve.

Q As a new manager who moved up from assistant laboratory coordinator, I just issued a verbal warning for one of my employees. This follows discussions we have had in the past regarding some of the issues in my verbal warning. I was able to give her a few examples--inappropriately responding to STAT lab tests, needing constant direction from other staff employees, and being easily distracted from her work by other employees--but she could not remember the incidents. She stated she needed more examples of this behavior. The verbal warning indicated that she needs to improve within the next three months, and she did sign a copy of my report. I do not believe that she has really bought into the improvement plan, and I suspect that she thinks I have a personal grudge against her. How do I get her (and myself) through this situation to help her improve? Unfortunately, we are a rural hospital and do not have the luxury of assigning her to a specific bench. Thus, her position is called the "float" because she is in charge of benches that do not need to be staffed full time (e.g., coagulation, blood banking, and serology). After more than two years in this position, she still seems to struggle. If I cannot improve the situation, where can I go from here?

A Alton Sturtevant recommends, "It is too bad that she thinks that you have a grudge against her. I believe that you should develop a performance improvement plan (PIP) for this individual. The steps to developing a PIP include:

1. A performance analysis of the individual's outcomes in the job through a two-way discussion with the individual. List the performance deficiencies with specifics (i.e., poor response to STAT orders). This process will define what is causing the deficiency (i.e., not following procedure), and this also describes the negative effect on the organization.

2. Define what outcomes are expected through the written PIP. Each outcome is defined in writing. This is not a two-way discussion other than to ensure that the person understands each defined goal.

3. The individual is usually given a 90-day time period to comply with the PIP.

4. Meet with the individual during the time frame to ensure that there are no questions or other needs that are required to make the employee successful in this endeavor.

"The PIP spells out her deficiencies, and she should not be able to argue with the facts. If she does not accept them, then improvement on her part will be difficult. The PIP is not made a part of the HR record at this point. Should the employee fail to resolve the issues listed in the PIP, then you must make a decision as to your next step. The next step is typically a formal written reprimand that is made a part of the HR record along with the PIP. Should the employee continue to fail at her job, then termination is usually the next step."

Marti Bailey opines, "I am not saying that I cannot see the problem with this employee's performance, but the examples you cite are less than compelling. The first example of inappropriate response to a STAT test should be very straightforward--how she handled it vs. how she should have handled it--and there seems little room for dispute. You tell her how you expect her to handle STATs, and then she either conforms to the expectation or not.

"Your other examples are a little more problematic. I think you need to learn why she needs constant direction from other staff members. Is it because she does not know how to coordinate the various tasks of her float position, or is it because co-workers think she needs their direction? Or is it that she is a person who truly is not capable of handling a variety of tasks where she has to establish correct priorities? If you do not have anything documented for her position, it needs to happen. Both of you need to be clear on how she is expected to handle her job. As long as her co-workers continue to redirect her, there is little opportunity for her to grow and become competent in her position.

Ms. Bailey adds, "While I am not denying that being easily distracted from one's work is a performance problem, that particular behavior implies involvement by more than one person. If this employee is the distractee (if you will), who or what are the distractors? If it is other employees who are distracting this person, then there is shared responsibility for the behavior.

"You have done a good job of identifying examples of what you feel are deficiencies, but without understanding how and why some of these things are happening and correcting any underlying problems, I am afraid the chances of this employee's success in meeting the requirements of the improvement plan are not great. I believe this may very well be the reason that she does not appear to have bought in."

Larry Crolla points out, "Where you go from here depends upon your hospital's policies. You have to follow your written protocols from human resources. You might want to document date and time of incidences and relate these back to her soon after they have occurred." Bottom line. Consult with HR on how to accomplish an improvement plan for this employee so you do not get accused of harassment or of harboring a grudge. You may want to consider one-on-one retraining of this individual either by yourself or by someone you can trust to believe in this employee and to give her the fair chance to succeed. She deserves that.

Christopher S. Frings, PhD, is an internationally known consultant and speaker on the topics of leadership, managing change, time management, reaching goals, and stress management. His consulting firm, Chris Frings & Associates, (www.chrisfrings.com) is in Birmingham, AL.

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