Delivering Bad News Tactfully and Effectively

Conflict is commonly perceived to be a challenge that is negative. Delivering bad news to an employee regarding negative performance is likely one of the worst parts of being a manager. No one likes to be the bearer of bad news, but when a company’s productivity is decreasing due to performance addressing the conflict early on is crucial. Organizations are made of individuals from different cultural backgrounds and leaders must be able to delivery bad news tactfully and effectively. If I were the department manager of a mid-sized company providing support services and I had to address an employee’s poor performance, I would approach the conflict from a positive perspective by using direct honesty and dignity. Conflicts can be an opportunity for growth. And as a good manager I will approach the conflict of my employee’s bad performance as an opportunity to use the win-win conflict approach by confronting the issue and working with my employee to solve it.

Being a manager can be challenging at times; however, handling conflict must be approached from a positive perspective and with an open mind. In order to approach my employee, I would send the employee a meeting invitation on Outlook using a subject line of “Process Improvement” or “Performance Improvement”.  By using a direct subject line for the meeting topic my employee will not be surprised and will know up front that I need to discuss improvements I would like to see happen. Being direct will show my employee that I respect both their time and my own and show courage.  This will display that I am a leader who can approach a difficult topic directly.


Before I meet with my employee I will prepare by considering the possible ways that the employee may react. Since there have been complaints regarding this particular employee from customers, coworkers and since this employee has displayed confrontational behavior, I will address the need for security to be on alert and aware that the meeting could take a wrong turn. I will also consider my body language, tone of voice and word choices when pointing out areas needing improvement.

Although I will consider the negative outcomes, I will place the most focus on the end result: To have a win/win resolution. I will plan to approach the meeting from a positive perspective and make sure I point out some of the employee’s strengths before I transition into discussing the incidents of concern and action plan for performance improvement. By letting my employee know I do see strengths and positive attributes in their work, I will possibly avoid the employee feeling attacked.

As a good manager, it is important to remain humble and consider the fact that my employee may be dealing with personal issues outside of work that may be the underlying reason for their subpar performance and confrontational attitude. If performance has decreased from prior years, it is likely that the employee is aware of the change in performance so I will inquire with the employee on ways they feel I can contribute to helping them improve in performance. I will involve my employee in creating an action plan for performance improvement in order to help them feel engaged and valued. By leaving my personal feelings and emotions outside of my meeting and offering solutions to help improve upon their performance I will show my employee that I value them, believe in their ability to improve their work performance, and that I am here to help encourage them their own desire to improve their performance.

When we share a view that is different than someone else, it does not always have to be a bad thing. To handle conflict positively the individual must take a step back and look at the situation from the other person’s position, being able to do this will usually teach us something new. In order to learn or experience personal growth, our attitude, beliefs and emotional reactions may need to be changed (Cahn & Abigail, 2014). I will ask my employee of we can both be open minded and understand of one another’s positions. From there, I will transition into explaining the consequences involved if they do not improve in performance – which is ultimately dismissal from their current employment position. “The effective conflict manager does not view conflict negatively, but rather sees opportunities to resolve problems and improve relationships with the people who mean the most in conflict situations” (Cahn & Abigail, 2014).

By using the win-win approach to confronting the issue and solving it I am both identifying the concerns of the organization and also trying to create an outcome that will meet the employee’s needs and keep them employed as well. In order for the win-win conflict approach to work, the employee must follow through with their own contribution toward self-improvement. “Give employees hope or they may get lost. However, that hope must be grounded in reality” (Bies, 2012). By setting weekly follow up meetings to mentor/coach my employee I will develop a rapport between us and also show commitment to working with my employee to get past their performance issues. Although I am giving the employee hope and offering to coach them, I will also make the employee aware that reality is if they do not commit to improving their performance, reality is they will be out of a job.


References

Bies, R. (2012). The 10 Commandments for Delivering Bad News. Retrieved from http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesleadershipforum/2012/05/30/10-commandments-for-delivering-bad-news/#4df8f48f1df9

Cahn, D. D., & Abigail, R. A. (2014). Managing Conflict through Communication (5th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson Education, Inc.