Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo / gajdamak
In the last few years, I have frequently had uncomfortable conversations about performance and job status with individuals who had previously been thought of as stellar employees. Unfortunately, in each instance, a single incident made these conversations necessary and at times impossible for my team to retain the individual. In reflecting on each situation, I recognize there are several key steps that—when followed—yield decisions that are both fair to the employee and also in the best interest of the organization.
Stop
If you take nothing else from this column, please remember that, except for life/well-being-threatening situations, you should always take the time to STOP and think before acting when a situation arises in a youth program. In each of those situations where we had to part ways with an employee, I am convinced that if the team had simply taken 10 minutes to really think about the conflict, the outcome would have been wildly different.
To illustrate this point, imagine a relatively common scenario in youth-serving programs in which a child with a known food allergy is mistakenly provided a food that contains the allergen. And further imagine that the child does not have a severe reaction that requires an Epi-Pen or other life-saving treatment, but instead develops an uncomfortable rash and hives.