The Punitive Approach to Marginal Performers

MANAGING A MARGINAL PERFORMER: Often a marginal performer, even after therapeutic counseling, may not understand that his or her work is seen as substandard. The manager will have to ask the employee directly how the performance could be improved. If the manager still meets with resistance or avoidance, as a last resort he or she will have to give suggestions.

THE PUNITIVE APPROACH: If the unsatisfactory performer refuses to commit to a self-proposed improvement program, or belligerently denies that a problem exists, the manager has only coercion or intimidation left as options. Although the punitive approach seldom works, situations under which it is the sole recourse do exist. Of the remaining three to five percent who are problem employees, only a very small percent fail to respond to the therapeutic counseling sessions. Perhaps one percent of them creates such serious disciplinary problems that they force their supervisor to use this technique. But, curiously enough, if the manager does not deal effectively with those very few people who continually violate the rules, the employee's dissatisfaction and disrespect will very likely spread and infect others.

SEEKING CORRECTIVE ACTION: The following are general guidelines to apply in seeking corrective action through disciplinary procedures. The manager should? 1. Make instructions simple and understandable. 2. Know the rules. 3. Gather all relevant facts. 4. Move in promptly on violations. 5. Take into account the seriousness of an offense as well as any mitigating circumstances. 6. Give the employee an opportunity to explain his or her position 7. Determine what action to take. 8. Avoid any kind of physical control. 9. Observe all contractual procedures. 10. Keep records of actions taken.

Copyright AE Schwartz & Associates All rights reserved. For additional presentation materials and resources: ReadySetPresent and for a Free listing as a Trainer, Consultant, Speaker, Vendor/Organization: TrainingConsortium

CEO, A.E. Schwartz & Associates, Boston, MA., a comprehensive organization which offers over 40 skills based management training programs. Mr. Schwartz conducts over 150 programs annually for clients in industry, research, technology, government, Fortune 100/500 companies, and nonprofit organizations worldwide. He is often found at conferences as a key note presenter and/or facilitator. His style is fast-paced, participatory, practical, and humorous. He has authored over 65 books and products, and taught/lectured at over a dozen colleges and universities throughout the United States.

In The News:

pen paper and inkwell


cat break through


Empowering Others - Giving Them Some Control

It's been a pretty good weekend around the place -... Read More

The Top Three Problems IT Managers Face and How to Overcome Them

Todays business environment has changed drastically from just a few... Read More

Warning! Meeting In Progress; May Be Hazardous To Your Career

There ought to be a sign posted on every closed... Read More

Unravelling the Data Mining Mystery - The Key to Dramatically Higher Profits

Data mining is the art of extracting nuggets of gold... Read More

Organizing The Information

Putting a piece of paper in a file folder is... Read More

Why Do Managers Create Low Morale? Or Does My Bum Look Big In This?

Why do managers create low morale as a product of... Read More

Uncommon Common Sense ? Know What is the Most Important Thing in Your Business

Over 3 of my meetings with 3 business owners last... Read More

Challenge of ERP Implementation: Q and A with Rick Maurer

Question: ERPs seem like a good idea, so why is... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Personality Testing

Whilst tests measuring the creative or innovative personality exist, there... Read More

CEOs And Boards Are Locked In A Spiral Of Doom

American CEOs are dropping like flies. Boards, armed with new... Read More

Motivation - It Starts with Acknowledgement

Acknowledgement is about recognition or attention from another person. It... Read More

Get Out Of The Stone Age: Give Leadership Talks

160 years ago, the newly invented electric telegraph carried the... Read More

An Honest Look at Your Business

There is a difference between being comfortable and being in... Read More

The Boss Didn?t Understand Why His Staff Wasn?t Reading His Mind

Many people believe that everyone sees the world exactly the... Read More

Top 10 Things Every Business Should Provide for Every Worker - Including the Boss!

Doing business and meeting the needs of workers is increasingly... Read More

Turn Your Speech Into A Leadership Talk

My experience working with thousands of leaders world wide for... Read More

A Tricky Supervision Challenge

Many managers believe that treating their team members as responsible... Read More

A Comprehensive Sarbanes Oxley Act Summary

Individual and corporate security stand in the center of the... Read More

Creativity and Innovation Management ? Idea Progression

Creativity can be defined as problem identification and idea generation... Read More

Leaders Versus Cheerleaders

Everyone wants to describe themselves as a leader. Everyday, new... Read More

5 Steps to Identify Core Processes

Part Two of Creating Well-Defined Processes SeriesNext Week: ImplementationLast week,... Read More

CRM ...The Emperors New Clothes

The story of the emperor's new clothes is a fairy... Read More

5 Interviewing Mistakes That Can Lead To Hiring The Wrong Person

Mistake #1: Going with the flowInexperienced interviewers sometimes fall into... Read More

Inventory Management 101

Inventory management may seem complicated to some, but if one... Read More

Implementation the Catalyst of Change for Management to Reach that Next Level of Success

From the personal and professional experiences of other colleagues and... Read More

Employee Performance - If You Want the Best, Get Personal!

This is a story about a man and three dogs.I... Read More

Creativity Management and Time Pressure

There is a pervasive belief that time pressure stimulates creativity.... Read More

How to Set Up a Conference Call

The methods in which you set up a conference call... Read More

Hows Your Company RQ (Reputation Quotient)?

In light of recent corporate scandals, from Enron and Global... Read More

I Said Pareto Chart? Not Potato Chart!

Does this sound familiar? You were hired for the new... Read More

A Corporate Facelift With Sound Bytes

If Baby Boomers can get botox and tummy tucks, then... Read More

The Truth About Performance Reviews

Now that it is January, many of you are putting... Read More

Finding Proactive Solutions: A Key to Demonstrating Your Management Fitness

In my book Talking Points: 25 Tips for Clear, Credible... Read More