Counseling Sessions to Improve Employee Performance

As Ken Blanchard outlines in his book, One Minute Manager, “working without feedback is like playing golf at night.” How would you know whether you are doing well, or performing poorly if you can’t tell whether you hit the ball in the right direction? Counseling your employees is key to providing feedback on whether they are on track.

Holding recurring counseling sessions with your employees allows for a venue that provides feedback to your employees. Counseling sessions force you to carve out dedicated time to discuss the employee’s performance, both the organization’s and employee’s goals, and discuss a plan to attain those goals. Providing feedback to your employees will let them know where they are hitting the mark and where they need to make adjustments.

Counseling Parameters

• Counseling should be specific. Whether you are commending an employee’s performance or identifying an area for improvement, it is preferable to use specific examples in your feedback. Speaking in broad terms makes the conversation abstract and theoretical. Generalities won’t connect with your employees. Specific examples tend to make the conversation more concrete.

• Stick to the Facts. Avoid inserting your opinion or adding conjecture to counseling sessions. Sticking to the facts tends to keep the conversation more objectively and removes emotion form the conversation. Emotion and speculation are not your friends when providing feedback in counseling.

• In Private. Counseling sessions should be done in a private area, away form distraction, and others. Information discussed in the counseling session should be kept in confidence as well. If it comes to light that you are making information discussed in counseling sessions public, you will erode the trust that your employees have in you. When kept in confidence, counseling is a tool that increases trust between boss and employee.

• Done in Writing. I highly recommend putting counseling sessions in writing prior to the actual session. The counseling session should be a conversation between both parties, but the written document can serve as a guide to the conversation. Putting a counseling statement in writing also provides a sense of formality, which the employee and supervisor will take more seriously.

• Signatures. I also encourage both parties to sign the document. Signing the document not only maintains a sense of formality but also instills employee ownership.

• Care. The most important factor in counseling is empathy. Care for your employees. We must not only care about their performance and behavior in the workplace but also care about their goals and overall well-being. Your employees will be able to tell immediately if you are not genuine.

Types of Counseling

Counseling sessions are typically placed into one of two categories; formal and informal counseling. Informal counseling is defined as impromptu or opportunity sessions that involve advice or coaching. Formal counseling, on the other hand, is a more deliberate discussion that is well thought out, prepared, scheduled ahead of time, and done in writing.

Informal Counseling

Informal counseling is nothing more than having a discussion with your direct reports on their development or their future with the organization. This form of counseling is generally a target of opportunity, however, the conversational should be intentional. This can be a 15- minute conversation over coffee or on the ramp of a Stryker vehicle over an MRE (field ration).

Types of Formal Counseling

I tend to categorize formal counseling into three categories:

• Initial Counseling
• Performance Counseling
• Event Counseling

Initial Counseling to Establish Clear Expectations

Initial counseling is a venue to make expectations of the job clear. In order for an employee to meet your expectations, they must be aware of them in the first place. People are not mind readers. Therefore, it is imperative to outline expectations clearly at the outset of an employee assuming a new position. I recommend doing this in writing, even if responsibilities are outlined in the employee’s contract. Don’t assume that an employee will understand expectations based on responsibilities listed in a contract. The point is to have an intentional conversation with your team member. I typically cover three areas in initial counseling:

1. Expectations for Performance. This section lays out roles, responsibilities, and expectations associated with each.

2. Expectations for Administrative Matters. This section covers expectations administrative paperwork or additional duties, which are not generally part of the usual day-to-day focus.

3. Goals and Career Advancement. This is where we discuss the employee’s goals, both professional and personal. Supervisors can make recommendations on how to achieve professional goals during the counseling session. Furthermore, the supervisor can help by advocating for his/her employee with his/her own boss.

Performance Counseling 

Performance counseling focuses on how the employee has performed over a given period of time. I generally conduct performance counseling on a quarterly basis. Any longer than 3 months makes it difficult for either party to recall events with clarity and accuracy.

Sustains. This section typically identifies 2-3 areas in which the employee has performed extremely well or attributes that are the employee’s strengths. I try to outline specific examples to make the discussion concrete.

Improves. This section highlights 1-2 areas in which the employee could use improvement.

Questions to Guide Self-Discovery

My former Brigade Commander used a great technique in covering an employee’s areas that needed improvement. Instead of telling people his observations, he merely asked the employee to identify and discuss areas that they saw in themselves that needed improvement.

This technique is much more effective, as the individual self-actualizes their weaknesses. Areas that need improvement are more likely to be acted upon when an individual goes through a process of self-actualization.

Future Focus. This section provides areas for the employee to focus on in the near term (1-3 months). This section also addresses the employee’s next step in his/her career, with advice on how to get there.

Event Counseling 

Event Counseling revolves around a single incidence or event. This type of counseling can be either positive or negative, but not both. While event counseling can revolve around a positive event, I tend to use it as a tool to identify and correct unacceptable behavior. I personally use the organization’s award system to recognize positive outstanding performance. Conduct event counseling as soon as possible after the incident.

Conclusion

Regardless of the type of counseling used, the main point is to have a recurring dialogue with your employees in order to provide them with feedback. Feedback for employees is critical to improving or validating performance. Most employees are craving for feedback on how they are doing. Recurring dialogue with your employees builds trust, especially if you care for them regardless if they are one of your star performers or not.

Question: What counseling tips do you have for others?

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