One thing that has always been important to me is assisting my clients whenever they need me. I try to create that “always there” feeling, while I may not answer the phone/email right away I do return calls and emails within hours. Why? When you have a question, you are looking for an answer now…not tomorrow.  More concerning is the question you don’t ask could be the one that costs you. This is why I’ve created the HR Help Line – a resource to get the right answers when you need them. (details here).

I thought it would be fun and insightful to share the top 3 questions I get on the help line. My experience has always been if one person is asking, there are more who aren’t and need to know the answer.  Here’s a sneak peak into my brain and the advice I give.

How do I talk to someone about their poor performance?

The best answer requires me to understand the situation and the person. This should get you started.  To start, it needs to be specific to a situation and not a general “you don’t read your emails”.  Specificity allows the person to understand the situation and where you are coming from. Second, relate the information in terms of expectations and what did or didn’t happen.  For example: When handling the order for customer John Doe, you are responsible to read and act on all emails received from the customer.  “In this particular situation John Doe asked for several options as they were not sure how best to handle a situation.  You did not read the details in the email, did not provide the options and John Doe decided to go with another company for this order.” If that was all you had to do, it would be easy. The next part of this conversation is where it becomes difficult.  You now need to say “How will ensure this doesn’t happen again.” and you will have to wait for the person to answer.  This is the hardest since you will want to provide the guidance and know how to make sure it doesn’t repeat. You CAN’T.  The person needs to take responsibility for their future actions and that will only happen if they come up with the solution.

Do I have to give performance reviews?

The short answer is NO. The long answer is, it depends on what other methods you are using to ensure the employee knows where they stand and if they are heading in the right direction. I’m sure that answer frustrated you – nothing like an “it depends” answer. Traditional performance reviews are antiquated and focus too much time on the past, a past an employee or you cannot correct. Instead try to have more regular conversations, at least one a quarter, to discuss their career and objectives, accomplishments and challenges and goals. These shorter and more frequent conversations will have a more positive effect going forward. Now, the typical follow up is – but what if something goes wrong. You shouldn’t be waiting for a performance review to discuss this. It should be discussed when it happens and if it serious enough have a productive conversation that is documented.

I let someone go and it was done legally, why do I have to pay for unemployment?

This is the number one question I get, and the answer is that it is two different sets of laws. Even though you have followed the process and procedures to terminate an employee they are still eligible for unemployment. There are basically only three ways a person is not eligible to receive unemployment. One, they didn’t work for you long enough to collect. Two, they resigned and three, the behavior which caused the termination is considered “gross misconduct”.  Gross misconduct is when an employee either steals, commits/threatens physical violence, costs you clients/money or another behavior along those lines. Lets be honest, these situations don’t come up very often.

What questions do you have? Who do you ask for your answers?

Check out our HR Help Line to see how it can benefit you.