Supervision: Enhancing Supervisees Clinical Skills

Any performance or behavior problem can be separated into one of three categories: attendance, performance, and conduct.

Start by determining which of the three types of problems is the primary concern. While an individual may have a need for improvement in several areas (an unacceptable attendance record may be combined with a failure to submit scheduled progress reports on time), keeping unrelated issues separated increases the chances of getting each problem solved. Moreover, if the discussion is a formal disciplinary transaction, the procedural aspects of the discipline system will be easier to manage when every disciplinary discussion focuses only on one of the three problem categories. In other words: Got two problems? Hold two discussions.

At early stages, when the probability of correction and commitment are highest, there is no absolute prohibition against talking about several performance concerns in the course of an informal discussion about performance. But when concerns about performance have grown to the point where the supervisor has decided to schedule a specific meeting with the supervisee to discuss the need for change, restricting the discussion to the top-priority issue will increase the odds that the supervisee will agree to change and return to fully acceptable performance. Dumping a gunnysack of problems will suggest to the individual that the real issue is not his own poor performance but some personal failing on the supervisor's part. The supervisee will discount all of the unconnected deficiencies about which the supervisor is complaining as merely additional proof of the supervisor's tendency to nitpick and relieve pressure by taking out his frustrations on his supervisees. Quick and unconvincing agreement will probably be forthcoming, as the supervisee, eager to get the meeting over with and get back to the job at hand, simply concurs and harmonizes with whatever the boss puts forth.

Supervisors can increase their effectiveness by starting a meeting with a multi-troubled supervisee by saying, "Jack, there are probably a number of things that we should be talking about. In the last few weeks I've expressed my concern at various times about the number of customer contacts you're making, about your reluctance to get involved with the trade association to make new contacts, even about your being away from your desk too often to catch a smoke. But those things are really secondary. Today I want to concentrate on talking about one key issue with you. That is, your total sales have fallen by 16 percent in the last three months. . .

Now the supervisee knows that while all those other infractions have not been forgotten, they are secondary. The supervisor can concentrate on the most significant issue and then, once agreement to solve the critical problem has been gained, can mention the need for a total commitment to acceptable performance as the meeting is wrapping up.
It's usually a fairly easy matter to determine the category into which a problem falls. Being specific about desired and actual performance is much more difficult.

Determining Actual and Desired Performance
Instead of concentrating on the precise change needed in the supervisee's performance, most supervisors tend to talk in vague and general terms. Since the supervisor himself has not taken the time to determine exactly what acceptable performance is-and what it is not-it is almost impossible for the supervisee to know exactly what is expected.
Why is it so important to be so specific? Consider what happens in a restaurant when we experience an evening of enjoyable food but wretched service. To communicate our unhappiness with the waiter's service, we leave a nickel tip.
When the waiter discovers our paltry tip, our unhappiness will instantly be communicated. But in the absence of any data about the cause of our unhappiness, the waiter's immediate assumption will be that the problem resides, not with the service he provided, but with us as the customer.

Consider all the explanations the waiter is likely to come up with to explain the insulting tip:
o The customer made a mistake-the tiny tip was inadvertent.
o There was something wrong with the food.
o There was something wrong with the restaurant-too warm, too cold, too smoky.
o The customer had run out of money and left everything that he had.

In each case, the waiter's explanation of the lousy tip acknowledged the fact that a problem existed, but denied the possibility that he himself was the cause. The waiter will tell himself that whatever the reason may have been for the meager tip, it certainly had nothing to do with poor service.

The same situation happens in organizations when supervisors fail to be specific about the problem and the resolution required. If the supervisor only communicates a general feeling of unhappiness, the supervisee will understand that the supervisor is upset. But the supervisee will explain away the supervisor's unhappiness in the same way the waiter did:
o He's picking on me because his boss chewed him out this morning.
o She's disappointed she didn't get appointed to the steering committee.
o He must have had a fight with his wife.
o It must be her time of the month.
o She's one day away from vacation and she's just trying to get us all to work hard while she's gone.
o He just doesn't like us elderly, black, female, Spanish-surnamed, handicapped homosexuals.

To solve problems effectively we must be able to describe what it is that we want and what it is that we get in the individual's performance. It is the supervisee's responsibility to close the gap between desired and actual performance. Our responsibility is to specify exactly what the gap is.

For some problems, it's easy. Problems that fall into the attendance category are the easiest to identify specifically, because the gap between desired and actual performance is always clear: "Between June 16 and July 23, Jane Edmondson was absent from work on three occasions for a total of five days. In that same period she reported to work late by more than ten minutes on two separate occasions."

Note that the problem statement says nothing about the cause of Jane's absence. It does not say that Jane was ill or called in sick or abused her sick-leave privileges or did anything other than simply fail to report to work every day on time. That is all that the supervisor knows for sure. The cause of Jane's absences may be considered at some other more appropriate time. But at this point, when our only task is to identify the difference between desired and actual performance, we restrict ourselves to writing down the answers to two straightforward questions:
1. What is the desired performance? (What do I want?)
2. What is the actual performance? (What do I get?)

Here are some examples of various problems stated in terms of actual and desired performance:

Desired Performance Employees are to smoke only in designated smoking areas or outside the building.

Actual Performance George Adamson was seen smoking in the cafeteria.

Desired Performance Upon being given an instruction by any member of management, employees are to perform the task assigned. If they believe that the supervisor giving the instruction is in error, they are to complete the task assigned and then question the appropriateness of the assignment.

Actual Performance Upon being told by the department supervisor to stop what she was doing and assist two other employees finish a complicated customer order, Julie Sonnenberg stated, "You're not my boss. You can't tell me to do." She continued to work at the task she had been assigned by her immediate supervisor earlier.

Desired Performance All drivers are expected to operate their vehicles courteously.

Actual Performance On May 17 a woman called the 800 number posted on the back of company trucks to complain about the erratic driving and speeding of a company truck that was being driven at the time by Danny Di Sabatino.

Desired Performance All nurses are expected to respond to any patient call within three minutes on the 11 P.M. to 7 A.M. shift.

Actual Performance On the evening of March 16, patient Claudia Gonzales complained to the day nurse that the night nurse hadn't responded to her call button the night before.

Desired Performance All employees of the corporation are prohibited from engaging in any unwanted or inappropriate behavior of a sexual nature, whether physical, verbal, nonverbal, or any other type, expressed toward any employee, customer, applicant, vendor, supplier, or other individual having a relationship with the organization.

Actual Performance On September 5, Joe McKenna approached Sharon Peterman at the copy machine and said, "You sure make that sweater look good." When Peterman turned away without responding, McKenna said, "The package sure is pretty . . . I'd sure like to get my hands on the contents."

Conducting the Performance Improvement Discussion
Whether the discussion with the employee is a nondisciplinary Performance Improvement Discussion or a formal step of the Discipline Without Punishment system, the goal is the same: to get the employee to agree to solve the problem and return to fully acceptable performance. By securing the supervisee's agreement to correct the situation, the odds go up that an actual correction will result. If the correction does not follow and the problem continues, the next discussion will concentrate not only on the continuing problem but also on the supervisee's failure to live up to the agreement that she has made.

Before initiating the discussion, it is important to prepare fully, anticipate any difficulties that may arise, and create the conditions that will assure the highest probability of success.

In order to be fully prepared for the discussion, create a short written summary of the essential information that will be needed in the meeting. This information is simply the data that the supervisor collected in the previous step. The written summary should include brief statements of the following:

1. The Category the Problem Falls Into: Performance, Attendance, or Conduct. Noting the category at the top of the page will help get the conversation back on track if irrelevant issues take the discussion astray. This will also help the supervisor communicate that there is one specific area of performance that the supervisor is concerned with.

2. The Dates of Any Previous Conversations About This or Similar Problems. Having the actual dates available is invaluable, should the employee claim that this is the first time the issue has been raised.

What if the previous conversations were informal and no written record was made of them? The fact that no record was made does not negate the fact that they actually took place. If the employee says that he doesn't recall the conversation, acknowledge the fact that sometimes people do forget things and that's why you went to the trouble of jotting down some notes about the discussion. Then suggest that the supervisee make a note of the fact that the two of you are talking now, because the situation has now become more serious.

What if you can't recall the specific date? Again, just because you can't come up with the precise date that the conversation occurred doesn't discount the fact that it did in fact happen. Simply estimate the date as accurately as possible: "We talked about this around three weeks ago, Walt, and at that time. . .

3. Specific Statements of Desired Performance and Actual Performance. This is the most important part of the written summary. Here the supervisor writes, in simple, clear, and unarguable terms, exactly what the performance expectation is and precisely how the employee is failing to meet that expectation.

In the attendance category both the expectation and the actual performance will be quite easy to specify. The desired performance is for the employee to arrive at work on time every day; the actual performance is that on May 5, 11, 22, and 26, Sally Edwards reported for work more than twenty minutes late.

Similarly, when the problem is in the conduct area, the difference between actual and desired is usually very clear: The desired performance is that supervisors wait until the Personnel Change Notice form is returned by the compensation department before advising an employee that he has been granted a salary increase; the actual performance is that Marilyn Longer told George Schmidt that he would be getting a raise before the paperwork was processed.

In the performance area the difference between what we want and what we get may be murky. It may be difficult to pinpoint one specific behavior, or even a collection of specific shortcomings, that creates the need for a formal discussion. In these cases, the supervisor should continually ask herself: "For example . . . ?" as she attempts to move her generalizations and judgments about the individual into accurate and defensible illustrations of performance deficiencies.

4. A Summary of the Good Business Reasons the Problem Needs to Be Solved. Compiling a list of the effects of the problem helps the employee understand why what he is doing is a problem. It also helps produce the employee's agreement to solve that problem.

To generate a complete list, assume that the individual has said, "I don't really think that what I am doing is a problem. What difference does it make?" How would you respond?

Most supervisors find it fairly easy to generate a list of a half dozen good business reasons why a problem must be solved, particularly when they consider the impact of the situation on fellow employees, customers (both internal and external), the culture of the organization, the perceptions of others, and the effects on the supervisor himself.

5. A List of Likely Consequences if the Individual Chooses Not to Change and Correct the Situation. One consequence that will always appear on the list will be, "Further disciplinary action up to and including discharge."

While supervisors usually view the potential for disciplinary action as a serious consequence for misbehavior, employees frequently discount both the likelihood and severity of the threat. Marginal employees may have heard supervisors thunder, "I'm gonna write you up!" or "I'll fire you if you ever do that again!" so many times that they consider this just one more manipulative game supervisors play to enforce order and get more work out of the troops. Constantly threatened with write-ups and sackings, they become deaf to the warning of further disciplinary action.

Unable to see past the threat of "further disciplinary action," supervisors often overlook responses that may have far more persuasive power with difficult employees. If a person refuses to correct a deficiency once it has been brought to his attention, the likely outcomes- being denied salary increases and promotional opportunities, or being subjected to closer supervision and assigned to less desirable tasks- may be far more persuasive in convincing the employee of the need to change.
- Kernberg Grote, Dick, Discipline Without Punishment, AMACOM: New York, 2006
The article above contains foundational information. Articles below contain optional updates.

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Personal Reflection Exercise #8
The preceding section contained information about assessing and improving supervisee performance. Write three case study examples regarding how you might use the content of this section in your practice.

QUESTION 15
According to Kernberg, to solve problems effectively you must be able to describe what it is that you want and what it is that you get in the supervisee's performance. What two main performance concepts are identified here? Record the letter of the correct answer the Answer Booklet