It's Much Easier to Polish an Apple

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It's Much Easier To Polish an Apple

Being a manager is simple -- just like losing weight is simple! Of course, anyone who has ever tried either task and done their job well knows that both take hard work. Also (similar to losing weight), managing of people is a skill, one that must be learned. Managers daily face the task of dealing with difficult employees. They must deal with employees who are habitually tardy, absent, unable to perform assigned work, or who display behavioral problems. The Internet article, Problem Employees: How do managers decide how and when to deal with poor employee performance by John Farr, presents problems managers face in the workplace and introduces a six step coaching approach that can eliminate many of these problems. These steps are: 1.Gather and verify performance information, 2.Verify with the employee whether the information gathered is true, 3. Discuss with the employee whether it is a problem caused by the company or himself, 4.Ask the employee for possible solutions, 5.Evaluate these solutions and plan an implementation time schedule, 6.Monitor the employee's progress and give feedback to correct and/or to reinforce the employee's actions.

Other things discussed in the article are human nature and its influence on employee behavior, and how behavioral modification can be used in the workplace.

This article could be useful in handling some workplace situations; the author, however, failed to mention that the intervention model only works if three key principles are followed: 1) take corrective, not punitive, actions; 2) counsel and coach before using discipline; 3) be firm, be fair, and show that you care.

In addition, before exploring how to handle difficult employees, the author should have addressed the key responsibility of a manager. A manager is someone who has to work with others to get the job done and achieve results. In other words, someone who is responsible for the behavior and work produced by each individual employee. Therefore, the first step, before