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Steps to Take Before Terminating a Problem Employee

As much as we’d like to expect all our employees to be rock stars, the reality of the situation is that you’ll have top performers and employees who struggle.

Published Mon Aug 23 2021

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As much as we’d like to expect all our employees to be rock stars, the reality of the situation is that you’ll have top performers and employees who struggle. While some of those in the latter group may respond to traditional coaching and performance improvement methods, unfortunately, some workers just aren’t cut out for their positions. However, before termination is on the table, there are several tactics managers can use to correct this. For one, make sure expectations are clear. Oftentimes a problem employee doesn’t know there’s a problem until they are faced with a negative performance review. Although the conversation may be difficult, make sure your troubled employee understands what is expected of them. Once that’s done, it can be helpful to put a 30- or 60-day plan in place for performance improvement with clear, defined goals set for the employee. If they are successful during that period, have follow-up conversations to ensure the success continues and confusion is avoided in the future.

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