- Joined
- Oct 22, 2020
- Messages
- 9
Hey I’m a fairly new team lead... how do your coaching conversations go ? As far as attendance or performance.. examples would help. Also do you necessarily have to let someone know you are coaching them ?
Can you please add a few more paragraphs? Just to make it unbearable and more painful to read?“We need to talk about your call off the other day. When we schedule you, it’s because we have work that needs to be done, and when you aren’t here there are things that need to get done that don’t get done. Ok? Here’s your price change.”
Second time:
“hey, we talked about your last call off on September 12th, and you called off again last night. We really need you here when you’re scheduled. Is there something going on? Do we need to change your availability? Am I giving you too many hours?” This shows them that you’re not just getting on their case, you’re showing them trust but also trying to solve the problem without punishing them. Especially if there’s a pattern to their call offs. They’ll be more honest with you if they see you as an ally AND they will try harder to show up. If they have a medical issue talk about intermittent FMLA or going on leave.
Third time is “Hey we talked about call offs on date and date, and you called off again last night. I really need you here. We talked about changing your availability, hours, and/or FMLA and leave. If this pattern continues I’m going to be forced to treat this like a discipline issue and start the write up process. Let me know what you need to keep us from going down that road.”
You can choose to be a hard ass about it, but they will still call off AND they’ll poison your morale by bitching about you to anyone who will listen. If you come at it from trying to help them be at work, they will work harder to fix whatever underlying issue is making it hard for them to come in. Most people WANT to work and WANT to do a good job. Besides true illness, usually they call off because they don’t feel connected to their coworkers, and showing that care makes a HUGE difference in whether they show up and the quality of work they do.
It’s the same script for performance. “Look, I need you to do this thing.” “We talked about doing this thing. Do you need help with how to do this thing? Peter, Paul, and Mary are really good at it so if I’m not here they can show you. Oh, you’re scared of ladders? Can you use the wave instead? It’s easier, I’ll show you.” Find out WHY and overcome the objections like a salesperson.
I think the front row seat at the Short Attention Span Theatre has your name engraved on it.Can you please add a few more paragraphs? Just to make it unbearable and more painful to read?
I totally agree with your approach and I think this is great advice for team leads. With regards to privacy, I vividly remember our ETL-HR absolutely reaming a team member for hitting compliance and she was screaming about how it was unacceptable in front of guests and other team members. That was really off-putting and it made me not trust her and made it difficult for me to approach her with any concerns or issues.Keep in mind I don't work for Target anymore so this approach may not be allowed.
- I tried as much as possible to have the conversation in an open but private area if the discussion wasn't something that warranted privacy. I used the receiving area or the picnic table outside when possible. A discussion with someone in an open area with plenty of ambient noise is a discussion, there are two participants. Isolating someone in a stark, weirdly quiet office with another person there is an assault. It will immediately put the person on the defensive. People on the defensive only hear the words, not the message.