Speaker 1: One of my viewers here has asked me to share my approach on investigations and difficult conversations to have with employees. So as you navigate your human resources career, you're going to encounter a lot of scenarios, a lot of issues, and you have to be prepared for those difficult conversations that you'll be having with your staff. So in this video, I'm going to be breaking it down. Coming up. Hey there, my name is Yannicka and I am here to help you navigate the HR space. And in this video, we're talking about those heavy, difficult conversations that really everyone wants to avoid, but someone has to address it. Let's talk about like managers with piss poor behavior, talk about coworkers who like to sexually harass. We can talk about those who are very sweet people in the workplace, but for the sake of them, they can not get their work done. They are poor performers and you hate to be the bad guy to have that conversation, but it's one of those conversations that has to be had. So how do you approach these discussions? And even some of these discussions can be very personal. Maybe someone is going through a divorce. Maybe they're having domestic violence issues. Maybe they are just burnt out, overwhelmed with the job. How do you get into these conversations and how do you make it a little easier on yourself and on those parties to actually launch the conversation? Let's start off with the easy topics that we know that we should be addressing in the workplace. And that is ill behavior. We're talking about harassment, racism, all of those heavy topics, but they're easy in a sense that you know, for sure, you have a problem with it and you're going to have to deal with it. But they're easy in a sense that you know, for sure, you have to address the issue. These types of things can not fly underneath the radar. These topics are not to be ignored and allowed to fester for a very long period of time. So how do you get to the point to where you're ready to sit down and have a conversation with the offender, with the person, with the bad behavior? Let's talk about the setting and timing. We want to make sure that the setting is right and the timing is right. Whether that person is fresh in the morning or fresh during lunchtime, they're a little bit more relaxed and less tense, or maybe towards the end of the day. Ideally, what you want to do is have these conversations one-on-one and at this, this point, before you even sit down and have the conversation with the person, you have already done all of your research. More than likely the offender has received complaints, whether it's through their direct manager, HR department or CEO or someone, someone within the organization is aware of this behavior. They have reported it on numerous occasions, more than one employee. So we have up to a handful of employees and beyond who has reported ill behavior from a particular individual within the organization. You want to collect all of that data, all of the incidents, all of the facts, any witnesses. You want to make sure that you have a solid portfolio of information to present to this person. And the reason why I'm telling you that it is important for you to do your research is that you don't want to sit this person down and have a conversation with them with no facts, no backup information, no resources, and no witnesses. You're just shooting at the hip and you're just coming at this person to say, blah, I know that you've been harassing so-and-so. I know that you did something very sexist. I know that you did something very racist, and this is something that the company will not tolerate. Well, that's not the approach at all that you want to take. You have to be very matter of fact and very ethical when it comes to this. So when I say ethical, this means that you don't have room to add in your bias and add in your opinion of what's going on. You have to stay the course with the facts. It is important to not get your emotions involved with this. And especially if you are a victim yourself of sexual harassment or something like that in the workplace or, or in your personal life. And it is easy to get very caught up in the emotional aspect of the conversation that you will be having with the accused person. So you have to stay very matter of fact and on task with this. You want to also understand what the company's policies are in regards to that particular type of behavior, whether or not the company has a policy in place or they have been kind of skirting the issue and not really addressing the issue and coming up with a concrete policy. You want to get to the bottom of that before you present this person with all of these artifacts. That being said, after you have gathered all of your facts, you're going to have the conversation with the person and you're going to need to listen to what it is that they have to say. What is it that they have been dealing with in their day to day? What are some of the conflicts that they have had to deal with either at home or in the workplace? What type of pressure are they under? What is their workload like? You want to exercise a little bit of empathy in this regard because you never know from which angle that person is coming from. And maybe that person, maybe this goes all the way back to this person's, um, the way that this person was raised. This is deeper and beyond the workplace. Maybe they picked up racism and bigotry and just ill regard towards females and minorities, or maybe they just don't know how to speak eloquently and communicate clearly with other people who aren't like them or who share the same background as themselves. So you want to get to the bottom of that and just open up the dialogue. Hey, how's your day going? Is there anything that we can assist you with in regards to certain matters that is on your workload right now? And you want to lead straight into the conversation and say, we have received some complaints regarding some behavior that has been exhibited by you in the past. And we're going to share a few of those incidents with you. And we want to hear some of your feedback. We want to know exactly what it is that was going on at that time that caused you to react or behave in that manner at that time. And it is important to present one incident at a time, because if you throw into the mix all 10 incidents that have been reported, then immediately they're going to hit on the defense and they're going to bam, bam, bam. It's your fault. It's the employee's fault. It's everyone else's fault. I hate this company, blah, blah, blah, blah. And you will get nowhere with it once the emotions have been triggered. So yes, I am saying, give them the opportunity to talk about these incidents and to understand the severity of their actions on this. After they are done speaking, then you want to let them know what the company's policies are and where the company stands with those and that you will be following up with him or her in the future in the near future in regards to getting some sort of resolution to the issue that is at hand. If disciplinary action is something that has to follow, then let the employee know that that is possibility that is on the table as well, regardless of who this individual is in the organization. A lot of times we see where excuses are made for managers, top salesmen, those who are bringing in the bread and the dough for the organization and their numbers are great and their performance is great. It's just that they suck as individuals and they really suck with their ability to interact in a pleasant way with their coworkers and in some cases when it's the manager, they don't know how to interact with employees in the proper fashion. We will see in some cases also that these people are aware of their actions and the way in which they behave affects other people. It's just that some behaviors have been left unchecked. And so with silence comes acceptance in so many cases in the workplace. And when this person has never been called out the first or second time and never reported and they've never spoken to anyone in regards to it in the past and this behavior could go on for months and years and left unchecked, they believe that it's okay and this person has never been called out for this is something that really needs to be addressed and it has to be something that you as a human resources professional has to be prepared to say maybe it's been tolerated in the past, but moving forward, this is not what our organization stands for. You can offer training and assistance and extra support to them to get them to the place where they are behaving very civil in the workplace. So I want to talk a little bit about some of the more difficult conversations and that is with good employees, the ones that are very cordial. Those are very nice and sweet in the workplace. They get along with everyone. They don't step on anyone's toes. They're not the ones stealing work from others and taking credit. The ones who are the non-tyrants of the workplace. These conversations tend to get a little bit more difficult because they're not doing the obvious. They're not doing the blatant disregard for company policies. These individuals at times will struggle with performance. They may struggle with showing up to work on time. They may struggle with comprehending certain things that are associated with their daily task and they have a tendency to fall behind quite a bit to the point where you have to exercise disciplinary actions. Maybe you've had them on a performance improvement plan. Maybe you've had coaching set up for them. Maybe a lot of things have been implemented for them to help them improve, but there hasn't been a whole lot of improvement. And so now it's time to pivot. Now it's time to change the course of action as far as the next steps that need to be done in order to get the employee back on track. And so you would start off these conversations in the same way. You would sit them down after you've already gathered all of your facts from their coworkers, from their immediate supervisor, and just talk to them, have an open conversation with them and ask them how they're doing, how they feeling, how, how do they feel as if their performance has been doing and whether or not they have any questions, if they need any additional support, you would have a conversation like that with them. Give them an opportunity to speak openly. Maybe they are distracted by other things. Maybe they are distracted by what's going on in their personal life. Maybe they're stressed out about bills, their children, the pandemic that's going on. Maybe they're just having a lot of things and it's flowing over into the workplace and they just can't seem to get it together. Well, in these instances, it is important to offer them some level of support and guidance. If you have an EAP program, if you have a wellness program, if you have an opportunity for them to speak with a licensed therapist, those types of resources are available to them. And if you find yourself in a place to where you have you have to provide further guidance towards further disciplinary actions, that's where it makes it a little bit tough because you need to have that conversation with them because either way is going to be jarring for them. And you don't want to get their emotions worked up either. We've seen time and time again where people's emotions get boiled over and worked up to where we end up with workplace violence and mass murders that at the root of it are issues that stemmed from workplace issues. And you want to also reassure that person that this is the same standards and procedures that are being followed with everyone else within the organization. And it is so easy for some individuals to feel as if they are the only ones who are being treated that way. And in a lot of cases, yes, that is the case. And that's why it is important for you to do your research prior to approaching either of these two employees that I have mentioned, either of these two scenarios that we've spoken about, the one who is blatantly just out there, being a tyrant at work, and then the one who is more subtle and not trying to cause any harm to anyone in the workplace. And in both of them, you have to approach the topic with facts and with an action plan. After these conversations are over, you may find yourself having to do follow-up meetings with them to see how they are doing. And that's perfectly okay. You want to make sure that you're making some progress on these topics and not allowing them to lie stagnant and be swept underneath the rug for another duration of time. And also towards the end of the conversation, you want to allow either or of these scenarios that I've shared, allow them the opportunity to share with you what they would like to be done, how they themselves will be able to improve. And that gives them the accountability for themselves to say, yes, you know, at this point the company is aware of my behavior and how it affects other people. How am I going to get better? How am I going to seek the help that I need to get better? And how can the company help me to do that? So you want to put the ball back in their court and hold them accountable for the things that they say and do. They may choose to create their own checklist of things that they want to do in order to improve their behavior or to improve their performance within the organization. So give them the opportunity to outline their own path towards their own successes within the organization. So say like the one with the offensive behavior, he may choose to seek therapy or seek some sort of aggressive solution to their issues and how they interact with people. And the other one who is having just some personal issues just may choose to be more cognizant of their time and their focus on the various tasks that they have to do within a given day. Either way, the ball is in their court and it's completely up to them. Also word of caution when it comes to this, make sure that they are aware that they are not exempt, even though they create a plan of action for themselves, they are not exempt from further investigation and further disciplinary action. If there are any other topics that you would like for me to discuss in any of the future videos, feel free to leave some comments below and I will see you in the next video.