Empoyee Performance and Employee Documentation

Are you a supervisor who keeps struggling with employee documentation of employee performance? When an employee is slow, appears tired, and acts sad, do you call this “depressed”? It seems more to the point and descriptive doesn't it. It just feels right, right?

Well, unfortunately you are wrong. It's not right. It's trouble! Your documentation, at best, will be criticized, and at worst will jeopardize your employer if you make these kinds of notations. Not using labels is difficult, I know, but let's discuss it and then send you on your way.

You don't learn documentation overnight. There is a little bit of an art to it. Documentation can be tricky because you must convey what you see and hear but omit what you feel and conclude. This takes practice because it is tempting to focus on other factors that are subjective and emotional. The key is to avoid drawing conclusions about personal problems, stating how you feel about the employee’s behavior, conveying diagnostic impressions, or filling your documentation with drama. These things sabotage the usefulness of your documentation for administrative purposes. To improve your documentation, consider whether it describes what is measurable or observable. Depression (a medical term to avoid using in documentation) can’t be “seen” but slow talking, days missed, lack of work progress, crying, and sad looks are observable.

Manager Skills: Giving Feedback to Employees Is Hard for Me

Is it difficult for you to give feedback to employees about their work performance? Perhaps you think that they will take it personally? Maybe you are afraid of their defensiveness or perhaps ignore you and leave you in the difficult position of confronting them again or deciding to forget the whole matter.

Well, you're not alone in your concern about giving feedback. To make manager skills easier, try what is known as the "sandwiching technique." You won't find too manager supervisor training course modules that teach it.

This technique of providing constructive feedback or correction of an employee's performance allows the message your sending to be received more easily by "sandwiching" the unfavorable comments between favorable comments. For example, say: "Nancy, I've been pleased with the way you've stepped up the speed of assembling the monthly reports. You've made real improvement there. I am concerned, however, about the quality. There are frequently mistakes in the charts that need to be corrected. I hope you'll work to improve the quality as well as speed. I feel good about your attitude toward the schedule we are trying to keep, so I know you'll do fine." Notice how the message you wanted to communicate was placed between two true but positive statements. This technique reduces defensiveness and makes your feedback more acceptable, particularly with employees who are more sensitive toward constructive criticism. This manager skill will serve you well and reduce your stress