#hr #writeups Counselling is like [[Coaching]] in that it's a way to address a behavioral or performance issues at work. The difference is that [[Counselling]] focuses primarily on the past. The goal is to understand the "why" of the behavior, and then decide what next steps should be taken to prevent the behavior in the future or mitigate any problems it may cause. ## When to use Counselling In general, counselling should be used in the following situations. ### Requested by an employee Sometimes employees may request counselling without being in trouble because they want to discuss something that could end up causing a problem if it's not addressed. Here are some examples of that: - An employee has a personal issue they're afraid will negatively impact their work, and they want to see what can be done before it causes any problems. - An employee is confused about workplace rules or policies, or they see some reason they'll have trouble following the rules. They ask for counselling before they get in trouble. - An employee doesn't understand what they need to do in order to be promoted or qualify for a raise. They might ask for counseling to uncover anything holding them back. ### Repeat problems after coaching When an employee has already been [[Coaching|coached]] about the same type of infraction, but it continues to happen counselling should be used to figure out why it's still occuring. For instance, an employee was coached about arriving late to work. That improved, but now they're coming back late from lunch. Counselling may help uncover what is causing the employee to have fundamental problems with attendance. ### Widespread minor issues (bad culture fit) In some cases an employee isn't doing any one particular thing habitually that would trigger more than verbal or written warnings, but there is some new and different issue involving the person really often. There isn't really a pattern to one particular thing, there are just lots of different things. For example, the employee gets into an argument about stuff in the refrigerator. Next, they leave early for lunch without telling anybody. Another time they stop working and just read a book because they have a question and the supervisor's not immediately available. None of these things are related or repeating. The pattern is just that there always seems to be something irritating or frustrating going on with the employee. Counselling may uncover why the employee has a hard time fitting into our work culture and whether anything can be done to fix that. ### Toxic Performance [[Toxic Performance]] is when an employee's high performance is causing unecessary problems for other people working around them. Put another way, the employee feels like they don't need to follow rules or be mindful of coworkers because their performance is so high. If this isn't caught and handled it confuses and frustrates other staff who don't understand why the toxic performer is permitted to continue what they're doing. It quickly leads to morale issues, attendance problems, mistakes, and other issues. The article about [[Toxic Performance]] should be read by every supervisor and the concept explained to other staff on some regular basis, much like we might perform annual training about lifting safety. ### Extreme uncharacteristic behavior Sometimes, an emplyee does something so crazy, uncharacteristic, or strange we can't fathom why they would think it's appropriate behavior. Whatever happened is so shocking or alarming even one instance of the situation is worth figuring out why it happened. For example, an employee shows up to work drunk and falls asleep in the middle of the warehouse. Another example might be an employee who's usually well-known for their work habits explodes into a shouting match with someone. Other situations might be an employee suddenly fails to show up at work and doesn't notify anybody or explain themselves. Counselling makes sense in these kinds of situations to discover what unusual or odd set of circumstances triggered the behavior. From there, we might be able to identify some way to help the employee. ## What to expect from counselling Often, counselling will uncover one or more underlying reasons the employee isn't behaving or performing appropriately at the job, such as: 1. Problems with the work environment that make it difficult to do their job. Examples might be malfunctioning equipment, distracting coworkers, safety concerns, or receiving conflicting instructions. 2. Personal issues that are effecting the employee such as financial stress, mental health, substance abuse, or domestic problems. 3. A misalignment or misunderstanding about priorities. For instance, the employee does understand what's expected, but they are choosing to focus on something else they think is more important. Once we identify what's causing the behavior we need to evaluate practical solutions. The goal is identifying practical solutions the employee agrees will stop or mitigate the behavior. Then, document what those solutions are and put them in place. It's generally a good idea to agree to a follow-up conversation at some later date to touch base about whether the agreed solutions are working or if something needs to be adjusted. In the unfortunate event no solutions can be found or agreed upon the employee should be clearly warned that further repeats of the behavior will have consequences, and those consequences should be explained clearly. If it seems like the behavior will probably repeat anyway, the employee should be asked to resign voluntarily. ### Further actions from counselling The goal of counselling is discovering what caused the situation and finding solutions so it won't happen anymore. The kinds of solutions that might be used are wide and variable, depending on what caused the situation. #### Reasonable accomodations Sometimes an employee will ask the business to make some kind of changes or special exceptions for the employee. If an employee requests something like this it should be granted if it's practical, especially if the employee brought it up proactively before there was a problem. However, the employee should be cautioned that it's their responsibility to be honest about how the accomodations will help the situation, and warned that if the accomodations don't stop the behavior further action will be taken. If the employee thinks the accomodations made aren't working it is their responsibility to tell us about it before they're in trouble again. When making accomodations we have to consider whether it might cause a morale issue in the workplace because of perceived unfair treatment. We also have to consider the cost and practicality of the accomodation. Take for example, an employee claims their attendance issues are being caused by extremely sore feet from standing for long periods of time. The employee asks if we can provide a stool for them to sit while they work. We have to evaluate several things about this: 1. What does the stool cost? Is it affordable? 2. Will other employees become upset because this person gets a stool? If they will, does that mean we need to buy a stool for everybody? Does that instead mean any employee can request a stool, but they have to provide a note from a doctor explaining that they need one? 3. Can the work itself actually be done at an exceptable level of performance while seated? Depending on the answers to those questions, we might determine providing a stool isn't practical, even though it seems like such a simple solution. We also might determine stools are a great idea and decide to buy stools for everyone. ##### When to require proof an accomodation is needed A requested accomodation should be honored without proof of the problem as long as it's simple and inexpensive to implement. For example, if an employee requests a stool because their feet hurt we don't need to look at their foot to check if it's sore. One situation where we should request proof or a professional opinion are where the same underlying problem seems to be the cause of several different issues or requires multiple different accomodations. For example, if an employee claims to have a medical or mental health issue and is requesting multiple different accomodations, we may need a professional recommendation. We don't need to know what condition the employee has, and we can't force them to tell us. However, we can ask them to have their doctor or other professional write a letter confirming the requested accomodations actually make sense for their patient. ##### Types of accomodations that can be offered Generally speaking, requested accomodations usually revolve around buying something for the employee, making an exception to a rule, or adjusting the expectations around the work. The minimal, least complicated accomodation that seems feasible should be tried first. The reason is making sure the correct problem has been identified and matched with a reasonable solution. The point is getting a quick improvement with minimal effort, even if it doesn't completely solve the problem. If it seems like something other employees may also benefit from, a survey of some kind might be a good idea after an initial, minimal test has been performed. If the minimal solution solves the problem to a sufficient standard, then nothing else should need to be done. If it causes only minimal improvement but the problem is still worse than acceptable, it can then make sense to look at more complicated or expensive solutions if it's determined the short-term resource use is worth it in the long-term. For example, an employee complains their performance and attendance is below standard because of heat in the warehouse. We get them a water bottle, a fan, and an ice pack for their neck. It improves the issue enough that the employee's attendance and performance are within acceptable ranges. As time goes on, we start to find out other employees have the same kind of issue sometimes. We then make it standard to issue every employee a water bottle, fan, and ice pack. #### Retraining It might be determined the employee fundamentally misunderstands something about what's expected. In some situations like that, [[Retraining]] may be the solution, where the employee's training about one or more job tasks is repeated like they're a new hire. Kind of like when someone has to take a remedial driving class to reinstate their driver's license. #### Personal Improvement Plan A [[Personal Improvement Plan]] makes sense when the employee would be eligible for promotion if not for the problem we're having with their behavior. For example, a person has an amazing work ethic but their punctuality issues make it unthinkable to have them supervise other people. Generally speaking, a Personal Improvement Plan establishes a way to measure how often the unwanted behavior is occuring and then puts the employee in charge of monitoring it. They're required to show improvement over a period of time, and check in with their manager on a regular basis to discuss progress. If there is no progress, it should be clearly explained the employee has no path for advancement at the company, and may want to consider finding a different job. #### Reassignment [[Reassignment]] can make sense where the employee's actions or behaviors might not be a problem if they worked in a different department, position, location, or shift. Here are some examples where reassignment could make sense. In one case, an employee has habitual attendance issues because of a personal problem that prevents them from waking up refreshed in the morning. They tell us if they worked 2nd shift instead it wouldn't be a problem anymore. Another case might be where two employees simply can't get along for personal reasons. It might make sense to reassign the employee to a different area where they don't need to work alongside the coworker they dislike. In that kind of situation, the person who is being counselled should accept any undesirable tradeoffs, not the person they dislike. For example, an employee says their quality of work issues are caused because they don't get along with Bob. However, Bob isn't the one being counselled. If the employee insists the best solution is not working with Bob anymore, we're not going to reassign Bob. #### Disciplinary Suspension [[Suspensions#Disciplinary Suspension|Disciplinary Suspension]] can be used when no solution can be agreed to, particularly if the employee is insisting on unrealistic solutions, deflections or blame games, or is generally unwilling to admit the issue is even a problem. The goal is to give the employee time to cool down and think about their actions and behaviors or pay more serious attention to underlying personal issues. For example, imagine an employee is having terrible attendance issues and they tell us it's because they can't afford an Uber. That doesn't logically make sense because the price of getting an Uber to work is less than the losses from missing an entire day's pay. Even after pointing this out, the employee still can't agree to an actual solution. In a case like that, we might use a Disciplinary Suspension, where they are taken off the schedule and banned from the workplace for a period of time. In another example, an employee has been having angry outburts at work and disrespecting coworkers. They tell us it's because they're going through a lot in their personal life and it's bleeding over into work. After discussing possible solutions with them, they can't agree to anything. We might place them on suspension until they take a class on conflict resolution or anger management. #### Termination for cause In some circumstances we may learn something during counselling that triggers us to immediately fire the employee. For example, the unwanted behavior was intentional, planned, and the employee isn't even apologetic about it. Another example would be lying to us during the counselling. This option should be reserved for situations where it's obvious the employee did something wrong intentionally or carelessly and it's pretty clear they take no responsibility for it, especially if some kind of irreperable harm was caused. An example might be an employee who starts a fight with somebody else and punches them in the face. When we counsel the employee about it, they're proud of what they did, or they justify it by saying something like "I warned him I was going to do it" or "he shouldn't have been talking about my mom like that". It's pretty clear, in that sort of situation, the person *will* do the same thing again if something triggers them. #### Administrative Suspension An [[Suspensions#Administrative suspension / leave|Administrative Suspension]] might be applicable if the employee says they need extended time off to deal with a personal issue that is causing problems at work. There is a small, but important distinction between a disciplinary suspension and an administrative suspenion. The difference is the employee is *asking* for time off to enact personal life changes or deal with an issue. Take for instance, an employee admits they're having performance problems because of substance abuse. They might ask for time off to seek treatment or rehabilitation. An Administrative Suspension can be used in this situation (and use of PTO to cover it), if the employee is otherwise in good standing and we believe the short-term challenges it causes are neglibible compared to the long term benefits of retaining the employee. In these situations, the following things should be in place: - The employee understands they are required to work towards resolving the personal problem. They won't be allowed to return to work if they don't. - If the employee will still receive pay while suspended, there needs to be a written agreement about it. It should include a requirement that to continue receiving pay the employee must report in regularly showing progress towards resolving the situation. Take for example, it's identified that Bob is suffering from professional burn-out. Lately, his attendance has been awful and he's making mistakes in his work. However, both of those things are uncharacteristic for Bob. He's worked with us for several years and normally has great attendance and performance. We might offer Bob a two-week suspension during which he will still be paid as long as he takes an actual vacation or spends time working on a hobby. Bob enjoys outdoor activities like fishing and hiking. We agree Bob can still receive his pay while suspended as long as he takes pictures showing he's fishing or hiking. #### Lay Off In some cases it might be discovered the behavior is caused by something totally beyond the control of the employee. The behavior is so problematic though, that we can't really employ the person anywhere in the company. In a case like this, it could make sense to lay the person off with an option to rehire at a later date. Say for example, an employee is going through a divorce or some other kind of drawn-out legal proceeding. It's causing them to have attendance issues and make lots of mistakes at work. The employee can't do anything to stop the situation, so until it's over the attendance issues and mistakes are unlikely to improve. After evaluating other options like accomodations or reassignment, we can't find any solution. In a case like that, we might lay the person off. We're essentially terminating them, but we're agreeing it's not because of anything they did. Instead, it's because the personal issues outside of their control make it impossible to employ them. We would likely rehire the person in the future if they could demonstrate the issue has been resolved. An employee may feel like this course of action is unfair, and it should be noted that because they were laid off instead of being terminated they can probably collect unemployment. Also, if the employee was otherwise in good standing with us and didn't have any other disciplinary issues, there may be an option to offer a severance package. ## When counselling doesn't surface an actionable underlying problem Counselling will only surface an actionable underlying problem when both the employee and the counsellor are making a genuine effort to discover what's causing the inappropriate behavior. Sometimes, employees will avoid explaining the real problem for a variety of different reasons. If that happens, it's important to document that. It needs to be documented that the employee isn't able to articulate or identify the root cause of the situation so there isn't anything the business can do about it. Then, it should be clearly explained to the employee what will happen next if the behavior repeats. ### Example: mysterious, repeated mistakes An employee keeps making mistakes in their work, like skipping major steps. They've previously been trained and coached about the right way to do the work, but the same kinds of mistakes keep happening. When asked about it the employee says they just need to pay more attention. We ask them what would help them pay more attention, and they don't have any ideas. We probe a little further to see if there is any help we can provide, but they don't ask for anything. In this case, we document that the employee says the problem is unspecified distractions and the employee agrees they don't need any help from us to avoid the distractions. Then, we explain that if more mistakes occur the employee could be terminated. ### Example: air conditioning An employee is frequently absent from work or away from their designated area while at work. They've been talked to about it before, and during counselling they tell us it's because of the extreme heat during the summer. The employee says we need to install air conditioning in the warehouse. Meanwhile, during the conversation we also explore that the employee is not hydrating properly or dressing appropriately for the heat. We also remind the employee that new hires are warned about this ahead of time and told this job might not be suitable for people who are very sensitive to 90F temperatures. We ask if the employee wants to come in earlier to avoid the heat, do they need a water bottle or an extra fan, or other things like that. The employee says they don't want any of those things. They insist the business should install air conditioning. In this case, we would document that the employee is not engaging in appropriate precautions for the heat (hydration and attire), and they refused our assistance. We also document that air conditioning isn't practical to have installed, and the employee is aware it won't happen. Then, we explain that if the employee isn't able to improve their attendance and performance, we may have to terminate them or transfer them to a different position. ### Deflections and blame games Sometimes employees will bring up reasons or excuses that mainly serve to deflect the conversation away from their actions or behaviors. For instance, an employee might say something like "why am I being singled out? Bob just sits at his desk all day and doesn't do any work!" It's important to identify when an employee is doing this and refocus the conversation back to the matter at hand. Unless the employee is stating that another person's actions or behaviors are actually the source of their own inappropriate behavior. For example, if someone said "Bob keeps stealing my tools", that's totally different than "Bob is late all the time, why don't you do something about that?" In other cases, an employee might bring up something that would definitely warrant action if it were true... however, it's not related to the current situation. In that case we need to consider: if the employee knew about something so serious why did they wait to mention it until they are in trouble?