Today’s Veterinary Business provides information and resources designed to help veterinarians and office management improve the financial performance of their practices, allowing them to increase the level of patient care and client service.
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48 Today's Veterinary Business Leadership Step 1 Enter the situation, as a manager, with the appropriate attitude. Make sure you are not making a decision based on angry feelings, and don't rush to judgment. The decision as to whether to discipline an employee must be made carefully. Step 2 Identify the cause of the problem. In general, there are two types: per- formance problems and behavioral problems. It's important to deter- mine which type you are dealing with before you proceed. Performance problems occur when an employee is not meeting minimum job expectations. If you establish metrics and measure them, determining whether an em- ployee is meeting standards if fairly easy. If the answer is no, try to figure out why. Does the employee need more training? Is he or she lacking in a certain skill? If so, then the issue can potentially be addressed by pro- viding additional help to increase the employee's productivity. Behavioral issues, though, typically occur when an employee deliberately decides to not comply with established rules, procedures or policies. This can encompass negligence, insubordination and other misconduct. Actions taken are typically within the employee's control and are the type often cul- minating in disciplinary actions. 6 steps to effective worker discipline Don't rush to judgment, adhere to the employee handbook and be consistent in your follow-through. Step 3 Gather information. For a performance-based issue, statis- tical information is often helpful. If, for example, an employee is tasked with sending 10 postcards weekly to clients but he is sending out an average of eight, that hard data is important to share with the employee. Remember to look deeper at the situation. If Em- ployee A is not meeting postcard requirements, the fact that Em- ployee B has been away from work for the past six weeks for medical reasons may be highly relevant. How did Employee A perform before that time frame? If a problem is behavioral — perhaps an employee does a substandard job of cleaning cages — gather examples of behaviors When you see the term "problem employee," what comes to mind? Perhaps someone in your practice makes negative comments about virtually every situation, whereas someone else may disappear whenever an un- pleasant task needs to be done. Or maybe someone believes she has the correct answer for every situation, and she doesn't follow procedure when it conflicts with what another employee thinks is appropriate. While every practice will have a different version of a problem employee, nearly every practice has to deal with at least one such person. When an employee acts in an inappropriate way, how should the situation be handled? When is disciplinary action warranted? Here is a six-step process. Leadership H.R. HUDDLE By Charlotte Lacroix, DVM, JD