last updated: Thursday, February 10, 2005
Counseling
is a private supervisory conference between a supervisor or other administrative
officer and a subordinate employee at which the employee's performance deficiencies
are discussed. The motivation for such counseling session is to improve the
employee's performance, eliminate the performance deficiencies, and make certain
that the employee understands work rules and expectations. The emphasis
in counseling is prospective.
The counseling session may mention performance problems and deficiencies but
should not dwell on them. Instead counseling should dwell on future performance
expectations and the special efforts the supervisor will be taking to make
the employee accountable. A "counseling memorandum" is a written follow-up
to an employee following a face-to-face counseling session which confirms the
reason for the counseling, a summary of the effect of the employee's deficiencies,
a summary of the employee's response to the counseling, and a statement of the
corrective actions expected. Counseling memoranda normally should not be written
without the actual face-to-face counseling session that allows the subordinate
to respond and describe any special problems in his/her life or in the work
environment that might be contributing to his/her poor performance. If such
information is shared, it should be noted and the employee should advised to
see appropriate help, where necessary (such as a referral to the Employee Assistance
Program), to eliminate the problems that are adversely affecting the workplace.
[ It is important to set a date for review of progress even where the employee's health or personal problems are interfering with work. Be sure that the employee understands that you are sympathetic to such problems but that they must be eliminated in order for the employee to meet the fitness requirements of the job --- to be ready, willing, and able to work.]
Counseling Memoranda should not include language that would cause them to be interpreted as disciplinary reprimands. For example, they should not include language such as "...you are charged with misconduct…, "you are guilty of…", etc. Instead, they should include language such as:
"At {time} on {date}, I met with you to discuss problems relating to your performance and the fact that you are not currently living up to my performance expectations. As we discussed, your {attitude}/{attendance}/{quality of work}/{quantity of work}/{etc.} are well below expected standards {provide specific incidents of unacceptable performance and/or behavior} and if it does not improve immediately you can expect to receive an unsatisfactory performance evaluation and I may also be compelled to recommend disciplinary action. Specifically, I expect you to {stop}/{start} doing {whatever} immediately. I believe you can be an effective employee if you desire to be. I am willing to assist you, but you also have to be willing to change/{learn} if you expect to be successful in this job."
Once an employee has been notified in writing of their performance deficiencies and provided both the time and resources to improve, no additional counseling should be undertaken -- repeated counseling for the same offense or behavior only tends to suggest to the employee that you do not mean business. Instead, when performance failures for which the employee has already been counseled occur, the supervisor should recommend or take disciplinary action depending on the protocols at her/his campus.
Reference(s):
Counseling and Discipline provided by Governor's Office of Employee Relations
Counseling
to Improve Employee Performance - on-line training from the Governor's Office
of Employee Relations (GOER)
http://www.goer.state.ny.us/Train/onlinelearning/EC/intro.html