FEATURE STORY positive consequences of future actions if the employee sticks to the plan, as well as negative actions should the employee deviate from the plan, resulting in suspension or termination. When the employee signs the form, they commit to the process and promise a positive outcome, with their job as collateral. When it comes to the actual performance improvement plan, you can pick from several formats, as long as you are methodical about the process. It’s critical to gather data, accurately define the job and its key goals, meet all deadlines, and follow up on the positive and negative consequences of any actions taken by the employee. Be sure to do what you say you are going to do to guarantee the integrity of the process. This is serious business and must be taken seriously by you and the employee. Be sure to do what you say you are going to do to guarantee the integrity of the process. The beauty of this process is it forces the employee to examine their own behavior and decide if it is going to change or not. When you ask an employee to take off a couple of days (with or without pay) to think about their future with the company, you will see one of the following outcomes: 1. The employee agrees and comes up with a plan. The employee does some soul-searching, acknowledges that their behavior needs to change, and outlines a plan how that will be accomplished. You should then discuss why the employee reached that conclusion to make sure it is authentic and that they are not just saying what you want to hear. The plan must be viable and have precise and agreed upon goals with periodic milestones. You must be convinced that this plan has a reasonable degree of success before you agree to it. As we always say, it is important “trust but verify.” This is the start – not the finish line. There is a lot left to do and details to observe. Diligence is required, or this will go off the rails quickly. Don’t be afraid to modify as you go to keep the plan on track. 2. The employee agrees but doesn’t have a plan. The employee recognizes the need for behavioral change but doesn’t have the wherewithal to figure out what to do next. In this case, you should assist the employee in creating a plan by discussing possible changes to specific behavior and possible outcomes. If you see a reasonable chance of a positive change, you should continue the process and get agreement and sign-off on the start of the plan. Again, keep to the details and follow the plan. 3. The employee doesn’t agree. The employee comes back without acknowledging a need for behavioral change. You must now have a soul-searching meeting to get the employee to acknowledge their behavior was inappropriate. If that cannot be agreed to, then you’re done. If the employee doesn’t think they did anything wrong – whether it’s saying the wrong thing, not following policy, or not knowing they made a serious error in their work – it is safe to assume the bad behavior will be repeated. We can’t have that. Your option now will be to give the employee a couple more days to think about it (unpaid) and try again. Or, you thank them for their service and start the termination process. (You can probably guess which I think is the more fruitful option.) 4. The employee quits or fails to show up for the meeting. When the employee makes the choice for you, it can certainly simplify the process. Accept the employee’s resignation and move on. Figure out what went wrong in the hiring process so you can improve your chances next time. Note: don’t try to get the employee back or find out why the employee gave up. It can be a fool’s errand. Regardless of the outcome, you can always trace back to the hiring process and the job interview. The interview is where you figure out if the employee not only can do the job but will do the job for you – and in a way that works for everyone else in the organization. If you are having a problem with an employee, you need to think about what you could have done better in finding out about this behavior before it happened, and not after. Never waste a teaching moment, especially when it is for yourself. Does It Really Work? Over the years, I’ve been asked: “But, does it really work?” Supervisors and managers are often looking for a magic bullet – a positive outcome that guarantees a positive payback for spending the extra THE JOURNAL OF THE HEALTHCARE BILLING AND MANAGEMENT ASSOCIATION 21
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