Question for supervisors

[One_Girl]

What do you do to motivate or take action against an employee who is skirting by on doing the bare minimum as slowly as possible to keep their job? It is my first time as a supervisor and I have one employee who I had to write up who upped her performance from to a level where I don't feel like she is doing much but she is not doing anything I can actually pinpoint as unacceptable.

I am a lead teacher in a preschool so it is very draining to have someone not pulling their weight. She does exactly what I ask her to do but no more which is really not typical for someone working in this field for as long as she had been in it, or even for most newcomers and I am not sure how to proceed.

[34me]

I probably would not have initially written her up, I would have put her on a performance improvement plan. You can still do that, though. Examples can be - I would like you to take the lead 3x a week and do X , 1-2 continuing education classes in the next 6 months, plan X every 2 months, etc

I supervise 22 exercise instructors. Most of them are wonderful. Two are not and 1 has actually been dangerous. She has been on a performance improvement plan off and on for the last couple years. Because she is the only one of my instructors that is not certified by a national governing board, one of the things she has needed to do is read a few articles and write a synopsis. Juvenile? Absolutely. But unfortunately sometimes that's what you need to do.

[Subhuti]

I second having expectations in writing and quantifying it. Also taking initiative is an acceptable index to include. Do quarterly evaluations and document everything so if you let her go its easy to explain why.

[tangozulu]

Laws vary by state, policies vary by company, etc. but general advice:

Put together summary of unacceptable behaviors with examples. Add WRITTEN 30/60/90 day goals with consequences for not making progress "up to termination of position".

Do an evaluation at the 30, 60 and 90 day marks. If she doesn't make progress, you could term her at any point. You have to define what acceptable progress is.

Be VERY direct with her. Make sure she understands that if she doesn't make progress she could lose her job. IME, most people are NOT direct enough. You owe it to her and to yourself to make sure she understands her job is on the table. This is probably the most important thing IMO.

Make goals measurable and specific as previously suggested.

It is perfectly reasonable to put things like "independently" and "takes the lead" "with limited supervision" (this is a good ex of progression in your 30/60/90 - at 30 "with some guidance" at 60 "with little guidance" at 90 "independently")

Have weekly coaching sessions and give her feedback

Make sure you have examples of where she is doing well and struggling

Document everything

Good luck..