Human Resource & Payroll Services And Solutions - Houston, Dallas, Austin - Texas www.hrp.net. It's easy to understand why most people prefer to avoid confrontation and sometimes that's advisable. However, for supervisors, that is often not an option. Keep reading to learn what an employment attorney has to say about the trouble lenient supervisors can create for their companies.

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Forgiving Bosses Can Set the Stage for
Employee Lawsuits

2. Most people prefer to steer clear of confrontation. But when
supervisors take that approach with respect to under-performing
employees, they may be setting their employers up for litigation. It doesn't
have to be that way. Learn some lessons from a seasoned employment
attorney who has represented hundreds of employers in such cases.
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3. Most supervisors are promoted to that role not on the basis of their
leadership abilities, but because they were good employees, according to
Chad A. Shultz, a partner in the Atlanta Office of FordHarrison, LLP. That
doesn't mean most can't become successful supervisors, merely that they
need to be trained and, naturally, evaluated according to their
performance in that role.
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» "It's easy to manage good employees, but really hard to manage those
that fall short," he says. While that statement will not come as a
revelation to many, the problem arises when supervisors fail to grasp the
legal and employee morale hazards when they, often unconsciously, use
"hope as a strategy" for improving employee performance. They merely
hope underperforming employees will, spontaneously, address their
shortcomings. And when that doesn't happen, such supervisors hope the
employee will quit and take another job elsewhere.

4. Perceiving Lower Expectations
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» What typically happens instead, Shultz says, is that the employee grows
comfortable with perceived lowered expectations, and other employees
observe the lack of consequences for under-performance and begin to
question the necessity of performing at higher levels.
The ultimate result is that the supervisor who fails to directly address the
underperformance usually begins conveying what Shultz calls "under-the-
radar" messages of dissatisfaction to such employees, such as by not
inviting them to meetings or lunch.
The underperformers interpret these signals not as an indication of a
performance issue, but merely that the boss simply does not like them --
possibly for illegal reasons: "He doesn't like me because" of -- fill in the
blank -- my age, religion, race, gender.
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5. Meanwhile, formal performance appraisals of such workers by non-
confrontational supervisors often do not give any serious indication of
under-performance.
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» What's to be done? Shultz and his colleague Sarah P. Wimberly outlined
ten rules for preventing lawsuits in a succinct book titled "Manage
Employees or Get out of the Way," available from Ford Harrison. Here are
some brief highlights, which for some serve as excellent reminders of
proper supervision techniques.

6. Tips for Avoiding Litigation
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Earn respect.
That's the goal, not simply being liked. "If your employees respect you,
they will be more likely to respect the decisions you make and less likely
to think they were treated unfairly or illegally. Respect is earned by
setting a good example, confronting difficult situations head-on and
disciplining appropriately.
No surprises.
If an under-performing employee is terminated, it should not come as a
surprise. When it does, expect the sort of angry reaction that can
prompt the discharged employee to consult an attorney and possibly
sue your company. Preventing surprises involves clearly laying out
expectations, providing constructive feedback, giving honest and
specific performance reviews, and making the consequences of future
poor performance clear.
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7. Communicate performance issues properly.
That includes avoiding generalities like stating only that an employee's
work "needs improvement" or the worker exhibits a "bad attitude."
Instead, give concrete examples of areas that need improvement. Use
objective sources of information. Instead of saying "your productivity is
unsatisfactory," say (if the data is available), for example, "the production
reports show a 20 percent decrease since the last quarter." Also, avoid
beginning sentences with "I" and "you" as in "I'm unhappy with your
production." Doing so may be construed as a personal attack. Stick to the
specifics of the performance issue.
Document, document, document.
Perhaps the best defense in a legal proceeding is having full
documentation that the employee has been made aware of performance
issues, complete with warnings of consequences when performance
issues weren't resolved. You can even use e-mail for the purpose,
including e-mail to yourself that chronicles actions you have taken and
what you have communicated to the employee. The time-stamping of e-
mail adds critical detail to the document trail.
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8. No "BS."
"Sugarcoating the truth" when communicating with underperformers
"by making a problem less severe won't help you or your employee and
can actually put you on the fast track to litigation," according to Shultz.
The same applies to defending yourself in court. "The law allows you to
defend your actions with a legitimate, non-discriminatory reason."
Don't make an ad hoc rationalization of your actions. Courts and juries
will be suspicious.
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Shultz's parting, un-sugarcoated statement that can be relayed to any non-
confrontational supervisors in your organization: "Once you accept the
responsibility associated with being a boss, you need to do it right."
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