Question

An employee you manage has been neglecting to dry the dishes correctly, leaving unattractive hard water spots on them. You have repeatedly asked them to dry the dishes correctly and even offered to help, but they refuse to dry the dishes and seem to not really care. What should be done in this situation?

Answer 1

The situation must be dealt with Progressive Disciplinary actions. First and foremost, the expectation of the management must be shared very clearly with the employee and the employee's consent must be taken on the fact that he understands the requirement and is agreed that there is a gap between performance and expectation and is agreed to improve. The employee must be asked whether he needs any kind of support in any form in order to fill the gap between expectation and actual performance. The employee's comments and agreement must be jointly signed and documented for future reference.

Then the activity of the employee should be monitored for few days (say, one week or two). If the employee has the willingness to improve but lacks required skill or competence, the same has to be taken care by upgrading his knowledge (this can be done by associating the employee with a senior employee). On the other hand, if the employee is not ready to improve, then a show cause notice or a warning letter should be given to him to let him explain why should any disciplinary action not to be taken against him. Even after the show-cause notice, if the employee is unwilling to improve, then further disciplinary action can be taken which may include suspension or termination.