i hate this part of the job… taking corrective and disciplinary action

I hate this part of the job…

Taking Corrective and Disciplinary Action

What was I supposed to do?!?!

Life and personnel issues is about…

Finesse

Finesse Opposite of coarseness or crudeness Light touch…not heavy-handedness It's spirituality, subtlety, and intelligence,

that leads to a deeper understanding It’s perceptiveness combined with a great

deal of sensitivity to feelings It’s not a flourish, or an add-on but rather

something fundamental about who we are

Elements of CookingMichael Ruhlman

Finesse is about…

–Context

–Humility

–Courage

–Doing the right thing at the right time

Context

Context is the key to understanding everything

What’s the context of your office?

We “game” performance measures We give up thinking we can do better Managers are seen as powerless with no

solutions Use shortcuts forget they are compromises Conflict as units prevent cases from

coming in or “dump” cases on othersDee Wilson

Presentation to the LegislatureJanuary 18, 2008

What’s the context of your office?

Transfers from tough units/programs to less demanding units

Social workers leave the work

Multiple vacancies put unit into crisis Increase in sick leave Few care about quality

Dee WilsonPresentation to the Legislature

January 18, 2008

“The truth will set you free! …but first, it will piss you off”

Gloria Steinem 

Humility

Humility

Aware of your feelings and behaviors

Honor others Feelings / Context / Dignity

Reality of the situation

Humility is accepting the message sent by your actions…

Cheap? Always bring that $1 bottle of soda pop / rarely pay your share

Don’t Care? Forget special days / meetings / conversations / names

You have rules I don’t! Set rules you don’t follow? (Come late to work - Leave early)

Complain and Gossip? Vent frustrations with staff

Humility

Survey says!...Supervisors fail when they:

Show anger easily Can’t handle stress Awkward with your own emotions & emotions of

others Lack the ability to understand / sympathize Unaware and/or don’t care if your emotions affect

others

Emotional Intelligence & Evidence based practice!

So what?

How does this help with personnel issues?

– Understand the problem

– Manage the fallout with others

– Take care of yourself

Let’s talk…

Restaurants

All great restaurants are alike…

Create a dining experience Fresh IngredientsGreat ChefGreat ServiceRespects the Customer

All great Chef’s are alike…

Know great food

Details matter

Takes charge

Handles stress

Thick skin

You are the… Owner Chef Servers Customers

Caution!From the outside it may seem funny…

but from the inside there is nothing funny about it

Context: Everyone knows the truth

Food is lousy Chef can’t do the job Owner does not know what she’s doing

System of cooking – Microwave old food Attitude of Owner

Chef is the Owner’s favorite Rescues / Shames / Treats Chef as a child Value System - “Family”

Owners style of feedback – Hit and Run Anxiety of the Owner over HR issues more important than:

Customers / Her Debt / Other Staff having a job

Owner

Debt $2 Million – No customers

You have already let go of 33 staff

You know the food is poor

What’s holding you back?

Chef

You did not create the cooking system

You hear the complaints – how does that feel?

Do you like how the Owner treats you?

As the job changes can you do the job?

Servers

What’s it feel like when customers complain?

What do you think about the Chef?

What do you think about how the Owner treats the Chef?

Why can’t you be honest with the Owner about the Chef?

Are your customers leaving a tip?

Customers

Do you care if the Restaurant closes?

How does it feel to complain about the food?

Are you coming back?

What could the Owner do?

What changes can you make to address HR decisions in the future?

If the TV cameras were not there would you have replaced the chef?

So…

What are you going to do?

Find your Courage

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage

Anais Nin

Courage to be…

Honest with yourself

Honest with others

Misunderstood

Honest with ourselves

We may not be as good or as bad as we think . . .

?

Honest with ourselves

“There are many people who think they want to be matadors, only to find

themselves in the ring with two thousand pounds of bull bearing down on them, and

then discover that what they really wanted was to wear tight pants and hear

the crowd roar.”

Terry PearceLeadership coaching …A Contact Sport

Honest with others…

The Jerk (attacks / insults / belittles - offers nothing)

The Slacker (does little or nothing to help)

The Depressive Pessimist (Life sucks… give up)

30% - 40% drop in group performance

Now what?

The proper use of power and authority is to bring peace

Leadership through Compassion

“I’ve learned to at least attempt compassion with everyone that I deal with. And if compassion doesn’t work to calm the

person down, then I have to have compassion for myself and not blame

myself when people make the choice to still have anger towards me. I have to

treat myself well when I get home so I can still be a good person on the job.”

Police officer – Madison , Wisconsin

“

“Perhaps I can find new ways to motivate them…”

Darth Vader

What are we looking at?

What cannot changeMotivation (Attitude & Drive )Thought pattern (How they think )Personal style (Who they are)

What can changeSkills (Within limits)Knowledge (Content)

So what are you going to do?

Disciplinary Action

Know your audience

Know what do we do and why do we do it?

What policy supports this? What does the data say about the person,

unit or office?

What are the faces behind the numbers?

Know the Rules . . .

This is an evaluation… or performance feedback session… or reprimand… not a negotiation

A personnel file is a file about the employee; not the employee’s file

Screaming at your supervisor is not protected under the Bill of Rights

(Administrative Policy 18.64)

B U T . . . But… what about all the good things I’ve done?

But… I need more training!

But… I won’t sign the evaluation, performance feedback memo, etc…

But… I need more supervision! (I can’t believe how much time this guy takes!)

But… others are not evaluated like this!

Is there something you need to tell me?

Do you need a Reasonable Accommodation?

Is there something else going on?

It’s hard work…keep going…

“If you are going through hell, keep going”

~Winston Churchill~

Leadership is not safe

Pursue the

OSM!

OSM!“The first time I went down that run, I was going way too fast, and I realized

I’d just made the biggest mistake of my life. When I got to the bottom I

couldn’t wait to get back up and do it again”

Jimmy Shea Olympic Gold medalist

Skeleton event

Salt Lake City Winter Olympics

Pursuing the OSM is not safe…

You are going to make mistakes!

Some things are just bad luck…

Some things are just not a great idea…

You are not alone…

The inventor Thomas Edison was asked why he needed a team of 21 assistants?

“If I could solve all the problems by myself, I would”