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Now that I've told you about five of the
toughest issues managers struggle with,

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let me tell you about three
straightforward actions

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you can take to avoid problems
with discipline and termination.

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Action number one -
be sure you discipline consistently.

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Regardless of the person's status
or your personal relationship,

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if you've got a performance
issue, deal with it immediately...

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and keep at it until
the situation is resolved.

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Make sure that you don't
discriminate by giving some people

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more favorable
treatment than others.

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You must treat like cases alike.

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One way to make sure you are
consistent is by using a checklist

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and following all of your
organization's policies and procedures.

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Action #2: Keep your focus on behavior.

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This is a very critical point - you
must always focus your discipline efforts

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on employee behavior and failure to
meet the expectations of the job.

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It may seem obvious, but a lot
of managers fall into the trap

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of arguing about personality or attitude.

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Instead, you should focus the
discussions on clearly identifying

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what the employee needs to do to improve,
the timeline for seeing improvement,

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the consequences for
failing to meet expectations,

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and how you will help them
become successful.

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Here's a good guideline...

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No one should be surprised
when they're fired.

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They should see it's coming, because
you went through all these steps.

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And finally, action number three -

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Be specific when you're
documenting performance issues.

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You should focus on the specific facts...

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The who, what, where,
when and how of the situation.

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And avoid opinions about
an employee's motives or attitude.

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In my experience,
if you make a good faith effort

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to take those three actions -
discipline consistently,

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focus on behavior,
and be specific when documenting -

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you'll not only help keep you and
your organization out of court,

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but you'll also be in a much better
position to help your employees

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improve their performance.

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And after all, that's a big part
of what being a good manager

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is all about helping people succeed.