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When Potential Isn’t Performing: Coaching, Correcting, or Cutting Ties · The Boujee Multipreneur

• 0:17
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to the Bougie Multipreneur.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: I'm your host, Dr.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Hilary Huschauer.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Today I want to talk about our potential and our employees.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, how many of you have employees and you think this is a struggle?
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: And I just want to let you know that yes, the struggle is real.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: It is uncomfortable to run a business, work in the business perhaps, and train and hire and fire.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: It's hard.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I agree with you.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people and clients that I talk to in my coaching business, it the struggle is real.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just say it.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_00: It's also hard when you have someone on your team who isn't operating at their full potential and you want it for them, but it's still a struggle, right?
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: Um, emotionally, you might be feeling guilt.
• 1:10
  SPEAKER_00: Guilt of hiring them.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_00: Um, maybe you hired them for guilt because you knew them, something like that.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_00: But we hope that they're gonna get better.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_00: When they they're not, then we're like frustrated, right?
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And then some of us have the fear of confronting them and telling them they're not doing a good job and what they need to do to change.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, in this episode, I really want to talk about how we're not going to bash the employee and we're not gonna promote constant turnover, but we need to lead our employees better, clearer, and more fairly.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: So avoiding the conversation doesn't protect them, it just delays the outcome.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_00: I love this because I don't like confrontation personally in anything, business, home, life, personal.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I just don't, I don't love it.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: Not a fan, zero out of ten recommend.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_00: But as a business owner, I have to put my business hat on and do what's best for the business.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_00: So I do confront situations better when I'm at my workplace than I would at home or with a friend or anything like that.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: So, what does it mean to have a like an employee that's not at their full potential?
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_00: Um, sometimes I ask myself, is it are they really performing their SOP like they should, or am I expecting too much?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: Because I also know that I expect a lot from people.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_00: Like I expect a lot more from myself than anyone else.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: But is the are the skills that they're doing, are they in the right place?
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_00: Or they just don't want to?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like, is it a skill issue or a will issue?
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: Were their expectations like clearly laid out at the beginning when we hired them and trained them, or is it just assumed?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Like, did we not train them very well because we are so busy?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: And let's say we just threw them in a front desk position and we're like, here, answer these phones, check out these people.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, is it an inconsistency that they have going on, or is it consistent?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like what's going on in their lives?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_00: I like to ask people, like, is everything okay?
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know for me, like there are certain weeks or days or months that are not okay.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that might be why I'm not performing like 100%.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_00: And I just clearly um tell my staff too, and people that I work with, like, it is not a good day.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not bad 100% today.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm just gonna let you know, right?
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_00: But if someone were to tell me that, I would try to pick up, I would do more than my fair share to make sure that things ran better because I understand what it is to not be able to maybe run at 100% for whatever reason.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many things that could happen in our lives.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_00: So is it a skill issue or a will issue?
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So signs to look for.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: Are they re repeating their mistakes over and over again?
• 4:10
  SPEAKER_00: Are they missing their deadlines?
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: You said you wanted it done by Friday.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: It's Monday, you come in, it's still not done.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Is it low initiative?
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Are they just sitting there not really wanting to do anything?
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Do they have a negative attitude or are they disengaged from the team themselves?
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_00: And do you feel like the rest of the team has to compensate for them over and over again?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_00: Someone struggling temporarily is different from someone who is unwilling to grow.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so I really need to determine, you know, maybe we have like um a sheet that, you know, is it a is it a will or is it a skill thing?
• 4:51
  SPEAKER_00: And make a make a list of this.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_00: That being said, how often are we retraining?
• 4:59
  SPEAKER_00: Because this is a big value to our offices and our businesses.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: I find that the training never stops.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_00: Never, ever, ever, ever.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: Even if they're 100%, we're gonna retrain again because people just generally stop doing things or they fall in a bad rut or they think the way they're doing it's easier, better, etc.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: But maybe that's not the right way.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's not the way for your office.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: So retraining without accountability for the training is enabling them to not do their job.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: So, as business owners or as a manager, some someone, the retraining has to keep going on and on.
• 5:40
  SPEAKER_00: It should be structured, they should know when it's gonna happen, a time-bound structure where they know like this week we're doing this and that, or is it every Wednesday in your team meeting that you retrain on one thing?
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: It's something that they know that's going to happen and it's documented.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Do you have all your SOPs on a drive somewhere?
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_00: Is it all electronic where they can look it up?
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Is it paper bound?
• 6:07
  SPEAKER_00: How are they looking up this retraining?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And are we documenting that we did it with the employees?
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_00: And it maybe they sign off.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe they say that yes, they feel 100% on this.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_00: So there should be like when doing research on this topic, there should be like one to two formal retraining cycles.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_00: So one to two times a year, maybe we are doing like a full cycle of retraining with clear benchmarks and deadlines.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: So for me, what that looks like in my office is we take our SOP manual and we go through it from page one all the way to the end.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: And that's different like categories, there's different positions in the office.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_00: And so we do different trainings, maybe with different people, but I just start from the beginning and work my way through it.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_00: And then maybe after that's done, maybe that took a couple months, then maybe I take a breather, but then we start back again because you have to keep doing it over and over.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_00: We, and including myself, we fall off and we start doing things a little maybe half-assed, if you will.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: And you can tell, you can tell in the numbers too.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_00: And I can always tell when my team has been training because we have really great stats for those months and we're on it, and they know what to expect.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_00: So also think about are you following your SOP manual?
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_00: And it's okay if you change it, and when you do these formal retraining cycles, that's a great time to change it, and maybe you tell so-and-so to update it while you're doing this.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: But are you changing these expectations midstream where they're not sure like what to do?
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: Because we used to do it this way last month, but now you've changed it to this way this month, and there's nothing written down.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: So make sure that you, as the business owner or a manager or someone isn't changing these expectations midstream and it's more like chaotic, they just don't know what to do.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: Are your systems broken?
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe it's not the employee.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_00: Another good thing would be to have your business coach look at your systems, read through your SOPs to make sure it's clear.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Like, I should be able to pick up your SOP binder, and I should be able to run a certain segment in your office, whether it be like front desk, back desk, billing, something.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: I should be able to pick up your binder and run it and like clearly follow it.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_00: If not, then that might be like the system problem.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: And let's fix the system.
• 8:42
  SPEAKER_00: Not a big deal.
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's not the employee.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: Also think about is the role that you have them in right for them?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_00: Is this are they capable of like completing all the tasks the way that you want?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Do they want to do it?
• 8:56
  SPEAKER_00: So they want it, they're capable, and are they willing to do it?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: These are things to look and at and even ask them too, you know, what about this position is difficult for you?
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: Do you even want to be here?
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: What would you rather be doing if you given in a perfect situation?
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: What would you rather be doing in the office?
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe you can't change them right then and there to a different position, but maybe that's something you grow towards because if they're a good employee, you'll want to keep them and make them happy because they will make you happy too.
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_00: So, what can we do today after listening to this podcast to turn things around?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_00: What are some actionable steps to look into?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: I have three great ideas that the leaders could do in the office.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: So if the if you are the main leader, then I'm talking to you.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_00: If this is your uh office manager, employee, et cetera, maybe send this podcast to them.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_00: But number one, let's have like an honest conversation.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_00: Let's not sugarcoat it, let's not be afraid to talk and give you know feedback.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_00: Don't make it too vague where we don't know what we're talking about in clear examples.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_00: So you have an employee that's not working to their 100%.
• 10:07
  SPEAKER_00: Let's sit them down and talk to them about it and give examples.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_00: Because as I know in the past, I've had people ask examples and I'm like, I don't know.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's just every time you every time you answer the phone, right?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: It's they want clear examples.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So write it down.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I have found too, this happened to me last year.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_00: I kept saying I wanted emails to be professional, and they were not.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, if you send an email, I want your name on it.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_00: Like these are just like basic things, right?
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: We're in a professional setting.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_00: I want a professional email or reply that's professional.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: So I went back in the sent emails and I printed them out.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: All of the ones that were not professional.
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_00: That way, when I had this conversation for the third time with the employee, these are again what I'm talking about.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: There's so many AI tools you could have used to make a correct email, right?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And that might not be a big deal to you, but it was for me looking professional in the office.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I have clear examples printed out or written out with dates and examples or times or a patient that they maybe had a mess up with.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: Have the honest conversation.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: At that point with that employee, have a set, like a 60, excuse me, 30, do 30, 60, 90 day performance plan with set goals, measurable outcomes, and weekly check-ins.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: The weekly check-in is key because you are like keeping them accountable.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're thinking to yourself, like, I don't know what to do in the 30, 60, 90 day performance plan, you know what?
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_00: Use Chat GPT, guys.
• 11:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that hard anymore.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: Just put it into an AI, spit out what you want, give this scenario, and have them create a 30, 60, 90-day performance plan in like less than a minute.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, boom, done.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_00: In that, have them create specific goals, measurable outcomes, and then what to use in your weekly check-ins.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like maybe I use a um template on a piece of paper.
• 12:11
  SPEAKER_00: I'm old school.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: I like to have the format, and then I like to write it in because again, I'm old school, and then I scan it in to the employees chart on my computer, and that way I have it and I know that I've done my my weekly check-in.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_00: Again, all this stuff can be done with AI, not a big deal, won't take you that long.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_00: You're just gonna have to take the initiative to do it and not be afraid to have honest talk and conversation with them.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: And the third thing to do is to really remove remove excuses, whether that be their excuses that they don't have something they need to do their position, they didn't get enough training, they didn't know that their schedule was certain days and certain times, and there they didn't know what to do.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_00: So the SOP binder, whether it's in paper or electronic, remove the excuses by clearing that up.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: What tools do they need?
• 13:10
  SPEAKER_00: You need this or that, you need a three-hole punch, whatever.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: Here, here it is.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_00: Amazon, boom, next day.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: You don't you didn't get trained on that, you don't feel like you know what you're doing.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_00: Great, let's schedule training tomorrow at this time for an hour, and then you should be good with that.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: They don't know their schedule, they don't know when to do something due to the schedule, or if they were coming in late, they didn't know they needed to be there at a certain time.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: Just clear it up.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_00: Now you have it, let's move on from here.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And SOP, that might take a while, but again, the great thing with AI these days is you can just talk it out, go step by step what you would do, and have them create the SOP for that.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_00: Not a big deal.
• 13:52
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say a front desk position didn't know how to again send emails or the correct way to send emails, make an SOP for that.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_00: Not a big deal.
• 14:03
  SPEAKER_00: Put examples in there of what the wording looks like for an email.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you could have some scripts pre-typed out and they just copy and paste it.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Boom, done.
• 14:14
  SPEAKER_00: That'll take you like an hour to train them on it, to make the SOP, they understand it, sign off on it.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_00: So remove the excuses, have them work on their 30, 60, 90-day performance plan, but keep having the conversations, give the feedback, the once-a-week weekly check-ins.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: Don't sugarcoat it, don't give them vague feedback because they probably want to do a good job too.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's not that they don't want to, maybe they just are unclear.
• 14:44
  SPEAKER_00: So, a key reminder if someone fails after clarity, support, and accountability, that's information, not failure.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: So let's say we do all this.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: When do we let them go?
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is the part that people need permission to hear.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_00: Signs that it might be time to let them go.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_00: They have the same issues after multiple conversations.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_00: There's no ownership or improvement scene.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: The energy that they have is draining your entire team.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: In fact, you dread managing them, and you're coaching them on the same thing repeatedly.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_00: You'll know, you can look back at your notes of your weekly check-ins.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_00: It's over and over and over again, right?
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: Um let's reframe what it means to let someone go.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: It's not a punishment, it's an alignment.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: It gives both you and that person the freedom to move on.
• 15:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is a sign that they were meant to be somewhere else, and you are meant to have someone else.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: So I know you put in a lot of effort into training them, and you know, you like that person, let's say, but you have to do what's best for your business.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then also remember, maybe them being there isn't best for them.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe the universe really needs them somewhere else, and by you keeping them there doesn't allow them to like fully develop to.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: So keeping the wrong person too long hurts the right people on your team.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: I have found that out several times, and that is one of my big non-negotiables anymore for um letting someone go, is that if I feel like they are draining my team, I will I will cut it quick because I've seen what it does to a team, and I've lost great employees over a bad egg and regretted it every single time.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I have to learn and stop doing it, right?
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: Doesn't matter how much I like that person, if they are draining the team, no, it's not worth losing your whole team over it.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: It's your business, it's your company.
• 16:56
  SPEAKER_00: You have to do what's right for them and you and the company, and maybe it's not right for that one individual person.
• 17:04
  SPEAKER_00: So something to ask yourself Um, did you hire for skills, but you ignored their values?
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_00: Do they have everything on paper, but uh they just weren't a great person, right?
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: Did you onboard thoroughly?
• 17:22
  SPEAKER_00: Or did you have to rush because you had to fill the position and you just needed a warm body in the seat?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_00: Did you avoid conversations early, like the hard conversations?
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: Is there something you should have said to them earlier on when you're training them and you didn't?
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're too busy, maybe you had other things going on in your personal life.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Also, are you leading or are you hoping?
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_00: Are you leading them with the examples?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: Are you setting down and training?
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: You know, how often are you meeting with everyone?
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_00: Strong leaders don't avoid decisions, they make them with integrity.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_00: That is a pretty powerful statement right there.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: So understand that I know how this feels because I have been in business over 18 years, I've had multiple businesses, and as a small business coach, I get it.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm on the phone every week with someone about how hard this is.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_00: And I agree, it is.
• 18:26
  SPEAKER_00: I've been there, I've felt everything that you felt too.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_00: But you don't have to do it alone.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_00: That's why you have a business coach.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: So that's why I'm here.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: If you are stuck managing your people and your whether it's the hiring, the firing, the retraining, or even building a better system, that's exactly what I help business owners work through.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: Sometimes you don't need a new employee, you just need a new approach.
• 18:53
  SPEAKER_00: So, as I've mentioned before on several podcasts, I coach not only the business owner, but their supporting staff because that's what we need sometimes, you know.
• 19:05
  SPEAKER_00: Um, leadership isn't about being nice or being harsh, it's about being clear.
• 19:11
  SPEAKER_00: So, what I'd like to say is lead with clarity, coach with intention, and don't be afraid to make the hard call.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_00: Reach out to me if you need help.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: I am here.
• 19:23
  SPEAKER_00: I hope you make this a wonderful, wonderful day and do your weekly check ins.