One on One with the Boss

Most management conversations happen during group meetings, emails. Over the phone or when a problem arises.

However, it is good practice to meet with your boss one on one more frequently to get a little advice, support and motivation.

The main goal of a one on one meeting with your boss is communicating with them about the work you are carrying out for them.

• Before you go into a meeting with your boss ask yourself the following: 
• Are there problems that haven’t been spotted yet? 
• Problems that need to be solved? 
• Resources that need to be obtained? 
• Are any instructions or goals not clear? 
• Has anything happened since we last talked that the boss should know about? 
• Are there questions the boss needs to answer? 

Here are a few tips for making the most of a one on one session with your boss.

• Be prepared – make notes about what you would like to discuss with your boss ahead of time. If you have a problem to discuss bring your recommended solution, likewise if you have a decision to be made, make your recommended decision known.
• Keep your boss informed of all the key things you have been working on. This is a good opportunity to highlight your accomplishments and get some guidance and coaching from your boss.
• Own up to your mistakes. If you are having a meeting due to a mistake you have made, don’t be afraid to own up to it and make yourself accountable. Do not try and pass the blame or point the finger at your colleagues. 
• Always try to have a positive attitude in meetings with management. It is not productive or helpful to go into a meeting with a negative state of mind and you will cover more ground in your meeting if you stay upbeat.
• Include career development as a regular agenda item in your meetings. This will help you determine and achieve your goals as well as demonstrate to your boss that you are ambitious and have a desire to improve.
• Ask for feedback. Many bosses find giving feedback uncomfortable but by asking for it you are opening the lines of communication and making them feel more comfortable. 
• Let your boss know what you need in order to be successful. If you let your boss know in a constructive way how they can support you, most will do what they can to help.

4 simple steps to HR success in 2014

1.  Make sure Everyone has a Clear Job Description

Make sure everyone is aware of what their specific roles and duties are within the work place. People generally perform better when they know what is expected of them.

Having a clear role or job description allows your employees to be accountable for their work.

Having specific tasks for each employee allows staff to take pride in their work. Jobs may get overlooked if they are not assigned to one person as everyone will assume that someone else is doing it.

2.  Be Clear when Communicating

Be careful to clarify directives. Miscommunication can lead to confusion and hostility in the workplace. Pay close attention to how your staff communicate with each other and take steps to improve communication where needed. This can save you time, money and give you a more harmonious workplace.

Ensure that all staff are aware of the importance of each members contribution and demonstrate how everyone’s roles work together to achieve their goals.

Communication is the single most important factor in successful teamwork.

3.  Have Clear Workplace Policies

Have clear policies in place that cover important issues such as:

• Bullying
• Sexual harassment
• Drug and alcohol abuse
• Workplace behaviour
• Health and safety

Having clear policies in place allow staff to know what is acceptable in the workplace and what is not. Make sure your staff are aware of the consequences of straying from these policies.
Be fair and consistent when dealing with staff that have gone against company policies.
Having policies in place can make it more difficult for staff to bring claims against you.
Lawsuits fines and penalties affect the financial health of your business.
Create employee manuals that outline appropriate behaviour in the workplace.

4.  Keep employee contracts up to date

Make sure that all your employees have a legally compliant contract of employment.
Signed contracts can avoid conflict regarding a person’s employment status, wage and benefits.
Small businesses usually create formal, written employment contracts that dictate the specific terms of their employment agreements.

An employment contract helps protect the long-term interests and well-being of both parties. An employment contract provides a formal (and legal) record of both parties' expectations and agreements at the time of hire.

Employment contracts don't have to be overly long and complicated; in fact, the clearer and briefer the contract, the better. A standard contract can be created for all employees and customised for specific jobs.

Effectively managing employee underperformance

What do you do with an employee who is not performing?  What options do you have in this area? 

You have a responsibility as an employer to ensure that they have been given sufficient opportunity to improve their performance before you resort to disciplinary action.  After all, they may be having a hard time outside of work or any number of other factors may be affecting their performance and this should be addressed with fairness.

Counselling the under performing employee is vital and entails advising them that their performance needs improving and setting out a plan for improvement.

Workplace Bulletin provides a good suggested couselling scenario for an underperforming employee:

1. Investigate the matter further

Investigate the issues before meeting with the employee so you can be sure of the facts. This may mean that you speak to other managers, employees and witnesses.

2. Hold a private meeting with the employee

Hold the session in private and retain a record of the discussions (this could be recorded in a diary).

Do not make the discussion a casual conversation. Counselling is a focused discussion that is meant to clearly show the nature of your expectations

Be specific in your comments, e.g. 'It is not appropriate to clean the roller on a machine while it is moving', rather than general, e.g. 'You need to clean the rollers properly'.

Allow the employee to respond, and take their comments into account.

Focus your recorded comments on the employee's conduct, rather than the employee as a person.

3. Develop a performance management plan

A performance management plan (sometimes called a performance improvement plan) is a document that outlines the performance goals an employer expects their employee to achieve. These can include health and safety objectives.

The purpose of a performance management plan is to:

• set out the goals or 'key performance objectives' that reflect the employee's role in the business; and
• provide measurable benchmarks for assessing the employee's performance.

Develop the plan with the employee and keep a copy in the employee's file.

If employee performance is handled correctly, problems are recognised and solved early and the need for disciplinary action is eliminated or reduced.

4. Set a review date for following up

Your performance management plan should identify further dates for reviewing the employee's progress.


Source Workplace Bulletin

7 signs that bullying is occurring in your workplace

Workplace bullying is a big issue and it’s also very bad for your business!

Employees who are at the receiving end of workplace bullying can suffer a number of emotional and physical consequences such as stress, absenteeism, low self esteem or depression, anxiety, digestive upsets, high blood pressure, relationship problems etc.

If workplace bullying is not dealt with it can results in expensive hits to your business such as high staff turnover, low productivity, difficulty in hiring, lost innovation, bad reputation etc.

7 SIGNS THAT BULLYING IS OCCURRING IN YOUR WORKPLACE

Source: Workplace Bulletin

1. Patterns of absenteeism or excessive sick leave.
2. High staff turnover.     
3. A high number of grievances, injury reports or WorkCover claims.
4. A workplace culture that accepts or promotes a ‘tough guy’, ‘dog eat dog’ or ‘harden up’ attitude to interpersonal relationships, performance management and distribution of work.
5. Leadership styles that are particularly forceful, rude or aggressive, demanding, aloof, overbearing or micromanaging.
6. Systems of work in which there is: uneven or unfair distribution of work; excessive intervention in a person’s work; excessive amounts of work; or provision of menial or tedious tasks, or failure to provide any (or any meaningful) work.
7. Workplace relationships in which one or more people are excluded from a larger group or social activities.

What Gets You Out Of Bed In The Morning?

Who is really responsible for the development of my career?
With statistics reporting more than 35% of people waking up wondering how on earth they ‘got here’, it seems that we live in a world, of which a large proportion of people tend to fall into their careers based on circumstances rather than a passion or dream.

According to research from Right Management; over 90% of HR managers feel their organisations are under performing and that almost half of all employees are wrongly fitted in their careers. It’s no wonder employees are left uninspired to perform at their optimum capacity in their career of, well, chance.

Career management practice leader of Right Management, Tim Roche, recently stated that half of the 146 000 participants in his survey, aiming to challenge and bring awareness to their true career motivators, effectively made some career change.

 No longer in the age where an employee would spend their lives in one occupation and/or in one company, there are a few grey areas regarding who’s responsibility it is to motivate and develop an employee’s career.

 It is unfortunately not yet typical of a business to integrate both career development and business strategies, although doing so might increase the company’s performance, productivity and overall focus from employees, whilst decreasing turnover.

There is a need for managers to be bold and courageous enough to tackle career management, so that employees are not only strategically motivated and empowered in the present, but also for the years to come. Managers must learn to seek and embrace friendly, personal conversations with employees about the direction of their careers.

 Common misconceptions prohibiting managers from stepping up in this area, rather than avoiding completely or redirecting matters to the company board, are that such conversations will be an expense or that employees may be unrealistic in their expectations or capabilities. In order to engage employees in a positive way, managers must be secure in their own understanding of what drives and motivates both themselves and their fellow employees, and how to implement principles and strategies to encourage this.

 Lizzy Allen of Right Management, adds that career management should involve tripartite commitment, in which the individual, the leader and the organisation equally commit to enable, discuss and promote career development. It is the tripartite commitment that allows active and personal relationships to ensure the success of all parties.

Real Life Case Study - End2end Health Check

In this month’s real life case study, we are talking about how the End2end Health Check can have measurable benefits to your business. I have recently been working with an event company who wanted to ensure that its’ staff are motivated to go above and beyond to deliver large event jobs.    

The first step in the process was to complete an ‘End2end Health Check’ to identify what was currently in place, what was missing and what needed to be done.  

The business has cycles where it is quiet early in the year, with its busy period covering July to December, and has recently had a number of key staff poached by a larger event company at a critical time.   Additionally, through our Health Check, we have discovered that there is a perception within the business that one employee is viewed as a ‘superstar’, however , with closer assessment of this employee’s bottom line, it became evident that the net profit this employee was bringing in to the business certainly did not warrant this status.    

After analysis of the Health Check results, it was evident that the business wasn’t properly calculating and charging for all areas of labour required in planning and delivering an event. So, we began by working with the employer to identify a complete labour cost rate incorporating all facets of planning an event.  Then we consulted each team member, and gathered feedback to accurately determine how they spent their time, and identify any previously unaccounted or incidental expenses that should in future be included in the total event cost.   

Next, we met with each event manager to review their past performance and achievements, and discuss and agree on KPI’s  for the year ahead.   Additionally, incentives were reviewed and slightly modified to reflect the new format.   

In the course of this process, the employer raised the suggestion of creating a team manager position to oversee and run the team, however, our analysis reflected that the cost wouldn’t justify the increased savings and sales.  We then considered if the use of interns could be a cost effective tool to allow the event managers time to not only deliver on their jobs, but also to gain new business. This will be further investigated and trialled, in the coming months.

We have instigated a quarterly review meeting where each event manager meets with the employer to track their performance against budgets and KPI’s,  and to discuss and identify how they can gain more time to do their roles.  Each team member brings to the meeting details of their workflows for the past quarter and in their upcoming pipeline, and additionally is asked to compile a list of the top 5 things they wish to discuss with the management, so that the conversations are two way rather than just one way.  

As a result of our process, the event managers are now able to identify where they need to spend more time and how to use their time, and the new interns, effectively.     The net profit margins are starting to improve, as the staff are more cost conscious of exactly what is involved in delivering an event, and are ensuring that this is appropriately passed on to the clients.     

All of the above has helped the employer gain a great measure of clarity and take back control of the business and staff, rather than the business controlling the employer.   The clearer you are about what is expected from your staff, the better they will understand ‘the big picture’ which will flow on to create an engaged work force who will deliver the profit expectations.

If you would like to find out more about our End2end Health Checks for your business, please contact Annette today on 02 8977 4002

Employee handbooks: what are they and does my business need one?

Employee handbooks: what are they and does my business need one? - See more at: http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/small-business-resources/managing/employee-handbooks-what-are-they-and-does-my-business-need-one-18092013.html?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=19466889&utm_campaign=Revolutionary%2520plan%2520to%2520rid%2520Oz%2520of%2520asbestos%2520%257C%2520Fierce%2520competition%2520in%2520taxi%2520apps#sthash.rDAvQS3E.dpuf

Employee handbooks: what are they and does my business need one? - See more at: http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/small-business-resources/managing/employee-handbooks-what-are-they-and-does-my-business-need-one-18092013.html?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=19466889&utm_campaign=Revolutionary%2520plan%2520to%2520rid%2520Oz%2520of%2520asbestos%2520%257C%2520Fierce%2520competition%2520in%2520taxi%2520apps#sthash.rDAvQS3E.dpuf

A recent article by Lachlan McKnight at Dynamic Business discusses Employment Handbooks and explains why you should have them!

Every business owner with employees knows they need an employment contract for each employee. Many of the same business owners don’t, however, realise that they also need an employee handbook.

An employee handbook sets out all the standards of behaviour expected of a company’s employees and the policies that apply to the company’s employees. An employer should provide a prospective employee with the employee handbook as part of their induction pack upon commencement of employment.

This article sets out some of the important issues an employee handbook should cover, explain why every business needs one and discusses how an employee handbook interacts with an employment contract.

Why do I need an employee handbook?

An employment contract sets out the most important terms under which an employee is employed, including pay conditions, leave conditions, non-compete issues and the like. It is, however, impossible to cover absolutely all the policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices of a company in an employment contract.

You would be using an overly cumbersome contract, and every time you wanted to change your company’s internal policies as they related to employment you’d have to change every employment contract in the company. This would obviously waste a lot of time.

A cost effective solution is to provide your employees with an employee handbook, which sets out all of the above mentioned polices, rules, regulations, procedures and practice of the company.

What should be included in an employee handbook?

There’s a wide range of policies and procedures that should be included in your employee handbook. The most important of these are set out below:

    Dress Code and Personal Appearance Policy
    Attendance and Punctuality Policy
    Annual, Personal/Carer, Parental, Jury (or Community Service) and Long Service Leave Policies
    Email and Internet Use Policies
    Equal Opportunity Policy
    Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment Policy
    Complaint Procedures
    Disputes, Complaints and Grievances Policy
    Workplace Health and Safety Policy
    Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking Policies
    Disciplinary Policy

Each individual business should also include further company or industry specific policies in its employee handbook. A good contract or employment lawyer will be able to advise on the insertion of additional clauses.

How should an employment contract and employee handbook work together?

It’s a relatively simple job to make sure your employee handbook works in conjunction with your employment contracts. Simply ensure that each employment contract contains a clause which requires the employee to agree to obey and comply with all the company’s policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices as set out in the employee handbook.

Obeying those policies therefore becomes one of the employee’s employment obligations. This obviously works both ways; as an employer it’s also your responsibility to comply with the policies set out in the employee handbook.

- See more at: the Dynamic Business website

Every business owner with employees knows they need an employment contract for each employee. Many of the same business owners don’t, however, realise that they also need an employee handbook.

An employee handbook sets out all the standards of behaviour expected of a company’s employees and the policies that apply to the company’s employees. An employer should provide a prospective employee with the employee handbook as part of their induction pack upon commencement of employment.

This article sets out some of the important issues an employee handbook should cover, explain why every business needs one and discusses how an employee handbook interacts with an employment contract.

Why do I need an employee handbook?

An employment contract sets out the most important terms under which an employee is employed, including pay conditions, leave conditions, non-compete issues and the like. It is, however, impossible to cover absolutely all the policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices of a company in an employment contract.

You would be using an overly cumbersome contract, and every time you wanted to change your company’s internal policies as they related to employment you’d have to change every employment contract in the company. This would obviously waste a lot of time.

A cost effective solution is to provide your employees with an employee handbook, which sets out all of the above mentioned polices, rules, regulations, procedures and practice of the company.

What should be included in an employee handbook?

There’s a wide range of policies and procedures that should be included in your employee handbook. The most important of these are set out below:

• Dress Code and Personal Appearance Policy
• Attendance and Punctuality Policy
• Annual, Personal/Carer, Parental, Jury (or Community Service) and Long Service Leave Policies
• Email and Internet Use Policies
• Equal Opportunity Policy
• Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment Policy
• Complaint Procedures
• Disputes, Complaints and Grievances Policy
• Workplace Health and Safety Policy
• Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking Policies
• Disciplinary Policy

Each individual business should also include further company or industry specific policies in its employee handbook. A good contract or employment lawyer will be able to advise on the insertion of additional clauses.

How should an employment contract and employee handbook work together?

It’s a relatively simple job to make sure your employee handbook works in conjunction with your employment contracts. Simply ensure that each employment contract contains a clause which requires the employee to agree to obey and comply with all the company’s policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices as set out in the employee handbook.

Obeying those policies therefore becomes one of the employee’s employment obligations. This obviously works both ways; as an employer it’s also your responsibility to comply with the policies set out in the employee handbook.

- See more at: http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/small-business-resources/managing/employee-handbooks-what-are-they-and-does-my-business-need-one-18092013.html?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=19466889&utm_campaign=Revolutionary%2520plan%2520to%2520rid%2520Oz%2520of%2520asbestos%2520%257C%2520Fierce%2520competition%2520in%2520taxi%2520apps#sthash.rDAvQS3E.dpuf

Every business owner with employees knows they need an employment contract for each employee. Many of the same business owners don’t, however, realise that they also need an employee handbook.

An employee handbook sets out all the standards of behaviour expected of a company’s employees and the policies that apply to the company’s employees. An employer should provide a prospective employee with the employee handbook as part of their induction pack upon commencement of employment.

This article sets out some of the important issues an employee handbook should cover, explain why every business needs one and discusses how an employee handbook interacts with an employment contract.

Why do I need an employee handbook?

An employment contract sets out the most important terms under which an employee is employed, including pay conditions, leave conditions, non-compete issues and the like. It is, however, impossible to cover absolutely all the policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices of a company in an employment contract.

You would be using an overly cumbersome contract, and every time you wanted to change your company’s internal policies as they related to employment you’d have to change every employment contract in the company. This would obviously waste a lot of time.

A cost effective solution is to provide your employees with an employee handbook, which sets out all of the above mentioned polices, rules, regulations, procedures and practice of the company.

What should be included in an employee handbook?

There’s a wide range of policies and procedures that should be included in your employee handbook. The most important of these are set out below:

• Dress Code and Personal Appearance Policy
• Attendance and Punctuality Policy
• Annual, Personal/Carer, Parental, Jury (or Community Service) and Long Service Leave Policies
• Email and Internet Use Policies
• Equal Opportunity Policy
• Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment Policy
• Complaint Procedures
• Disputes, Complaints and Grievances Policy
• Workplace Health and Safety Policy
• Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking Policies
• Disciplinary Policy

Each individual business should also include further company or industry specific policies in its employee handbook. A good contract or employment lawyer will be able to advise on the insertion of additional clauses.

How should an employment contract and employee handbook work together?

It’s a relatively simple job to make sure your employee handbook works in conjunction with your employment contracts. Simply ensure that each employment contract contains a clause which requires the employee to agree to obey and comply with all the company’s policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices as set out in the employee handbook.

Obeying those policies therefore becomes one of the employee’s employment obligations. This obviously works both ways; as an employer it’s also your responsibility to comply with the policies set out in the employee handbook.

- See more at: http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/small-business-resources/managing/employee-handbooks-what-are-they-and-does-my-business-need-one-18092013.html?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=19466889&utm_campaign=Revolutionary%2520plan%2520to%2520rid%2520Oz%2520of%2520asbestos%2520%257C%2520Fierce%2520competition%2520in%2520taxi%2520apps#sthash.rDAvQS3E.dpuf

Every business owner with employees knows they need an employment contract for each employee. Many of the same business owners don’t, however, realise that they also need an employee handbook.

An employee handbook sets out all the standards of behaviour expected of a company’s employees and the policies that apply to the company’s employees. An employer should provide a prospective employee with the employee handbook as part of their induction pack upon commencement of employment.

This article sets out some of the important issues an employee handbook should cover, explain why every business needs one and discusses how an employee handbook interacts with an employment contract.

Why do I need an employee handbook?

An employment contract sets out the most important terms under which an employee is employed, including pay conditions, leave conditions, non-compete issues and the like. It is, however, impossible to cover absolutely all the policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices of a company in an employment contract.

You would be using an overly cumbersome contract, and every time you wanted to change your company’s internal policies as they related to employment you’d have to change every employment contract in the company. This would obviously waste a lot of time.

A cost effective solution is to provide your employees with an employee handbook, which sets out all of the above mentioned polices, rules, regulations, procedures and practice of the company.

What should be included in an employee handbook?

There’s a wide range of policies and procedures that should be included in your employee handbook. The most important of these are set out below:

• Dress Code and Personal Appearance Policy
• Attendance and Punctuality Policy
• Annual, Personal/Carer, Parental, Jury (or Community Service) and Long Service Leave Policies
• Email and Internet Use Policies
• Equal Opportunity Policy
• Bullying, Discrimination and Harassment Policy
• Complaint Procedures
• Disputes, Complaints and Grievances Policy
• Workplace Health and Safety Policy
• Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking Policies
• Disciplinary Policy

Each individual business should also include further company or industry specific policies in its employee handbook. A good contract or employment lawyer will be able to advise on the insertion of additional clauses.

How should an employment contract and employee handbook work together?

It’s a relatively simple job to make sure your employee handbook works in conjunction with your employment contracts. Simply ensure that each employment contract contains a clause which requires the employee to agree to obey and comply with all the company’s policies, rules, regulations, procedures and practices as set out in the employee handbook.

Obeying those policies therefore becomes one of the employee’s employment obligations. This obviously works both ways; as an employer it’s also your responsibility to comply with the policies set out in the employee handbook.

- See more at: http://www.dynamicbusiness.com.au/small-business-resources/managing/employee-handbooks-what-are-they-and-does-my-business-need-one-18092013.html?utm_source=streamsend&utm_medium=email&utm_content=19466889&utm_campaign=Revolutionary%2520plan%2520to%2520rid%2520Oz%2520of%2520asbestos%2520%257C%2520Fierce%2520competition%2520in%2520taxi%2520apps#sthash.rDAvQS3E.dpuf

Difficult conversations in the workplace

Do you need to have a difficult conversation with an employee and aren’t sure how?  As an employer or manager, it is likely that you will need to have a difficult conversation with an employee at some stage. The Fair Work Ombudsman has some excellent tips on how to do this well.

Examples of the types of conversation you may need to have are:
•    communicating tough business decisions, such as denying a leave request or a pay rise to your employees
•    giving bad news, such as ending employment or advising unsuccessful job applicants
•    discussing poor performance or behaviour
•    dealing with complaints and grievances.

In the workplace, the best way to handle an issue is not to ignore it or sweep it under the rug, but to deal with it promptly. If this is handled well, this can have the effect of lifting employee performance and engagement, and improving relationships in your workplace.

Generally, workplace issues will not just disappear. If ignored or avoided, you may find the problem can become worse, can potentially damage the productivity and efficiency of the business, can reduce staff engagement and ultimately lead to higher absenteeism and employee turnover.

Here are a few handy tips if you need to have a difficult conversation in your workplace.

1. Prepare for the conversation.

• Write down the key points you need to cover
• Think about your desired outcome and think about whether it is realistic.
• Check your facts and gather any documents you need, have examples/copies to hand.
• Arrange a time and private place to speak with the employee, and let them know what the conversation will be about so they have time to prepare too.
• Let the employee bring a support person if they want to.

 2. The conversation itself

• Start by explaining the situation clearly, based on the facts. State the problem or issue at the beginning of the conversation.
• Avoid unnecessary small talk.
• Stick to the facts, rather than opinions, and give examples where possible.
• Importantly, ensure you explain the impact that the issue or their behaviour is having on the business or team.
• Focus on the issue, not the person. It helps if you use words like 'the behaviour', 'the situation', rather than 'you'.

 3. Ask the Employee for input

• Invite the employee to share their point of view and listen to what they have to say.
• Even if you're convinced that you're right, try to keep an open mind - there may be other issues or facts you don't know.
• Always acknowledge the employee's feelings and be willing to consider an alternate solution.

4. Manage your emotions and remain calm.

• Be rational and objective. Being angry or defensive won't help to resolve the issue.
• Always ensure that you stay calm, talk slowly, at an even tone and volume, be clear and concise and focus on the issue, not your feelings or the person involved.

 5. Help the employee manage their emotions.

• In these situations, the employee often reacts emotionally. It's important not to make a promise you can't fulfil to diffuse the employee's emotional reaction.
• Listen and show genuine interest in what the employee has to say. This may involve expressing support or reassurance where you can (eg. 'I can see this is hard for you' or 'It's ok to be upset about this'), or apologising if appropriate (eg. 'I'm sorry but I can't grant your request').

 6. Reach an agreement on how to move forward and close the conversation.

• Close the conversation by agreeing on action points and next steps.
• Gain the employee's commitment to the agreed actions. You can do this by asking questions like 'how do you feel about that?' or 'What do you think about this way forward?'
• Set a follow up date. This will allow you to check if the agreed steps have been taken and see whether the employee needs any further support or assistance.
• Thank the employee for listening and openly discussing the issue.

7. Follow up.

• Ensure you fully document the discussion and any agreements you have made.
• Maintain a professional relationship and keep communication lines open with the employee.
• Follow through with the agreed actions and follow up with the employee to make sure the issue has been resolved.

If you or your employees could benefit from coaching on how to successfully hold ‘difficult conversations’ contact Annette at End2End Business Solutions on (02) 8977 4002 or by email. We can structure a program specifically for your workplace to give you and your employees the skills to successfully communicate the difficult conversations.