Ask a Business Expert

A: Compassionate management leads to higher morale leads to happier customers. So the first thing to do here is to see if there is a reason behind what seems to be a sudden change in behavior. Is there something temporary going on that you need to know about? If so, perhaps a change in hours or leave of absence would help. If care of an aging parent is involved, does your company have a policy for that? Or, are liquor or drugs involved? If so, by law, that needs to be treated as a medical issue, not a disciplinary one. If, however, the employee just seems to have become overly complacent, then the next step is to create a paper trail. Be sure his behavior is documented and reviewed with him in a timely and frequent manner. Define specific, unsatisfactory behaviors and offer specific, time–dated solutions. If there is a union agreement, be sure to follow all the steps of its warning procedure. Also, share the relevant sections of your company's Employee Handbook, if you have one. In fact, to avoid being accused of unfairly singling out one individual, all employees should be given an employee handbook, and regular reviews should actually be business–wide. This is especially important to avoid any charges of discrimination based on age, race or sexual preference. With such procedures in place, such problems are also far more likely to be nipped in the bud in the future.