Don’t Give Small Employee Performance Problems the Chance to Turn into Big Ones

The majority of managers hate confrontations with employees. They only seem to make things worse. Sometimes, they even result in the termination of an employee. For these reasons, many managers avoid giving employees negative feedback unless it’s absolutely necessary. When it comes to small performance issues, they don’t come down like a ton of bricks; instead, they hint at a problem, making suggestions that will indirectly improve the situation – or so a manager hopes. Sometimes if the problem seems relatively insignificant, a manager will just let it slide. Yes, some employees take advantage of this, but management hesitates to push too hard to avoid ‘making a scene.’

The typical hands-off manager basically avoids performance problems until they can no longer be ignored. But problems always come up. And by the time a problem can no longer be avoided, the dreaded confrontation is inevitable.

When you diagnose a performance problem, start focusing intensely in your regular…