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Studio
Misfits
By Rhee
Gold
Employee problems and how to handle them
All
dance-school owners eventually encounter a problem employee.
It’s not easy to deal with, and if the problem can’t be
resolved it can put you in the difficult position of having to
dismiss that employee or teacher. These situations are
frustrating because when you hired that person, she seemed to
be full of enthusiasm and promise. So what could have happened
that would cause her to not turn out to be what you thought
she was?
Reasons
for employee problems
More than
likely, before you make the decision to dismiss an employee,
you will have spoken with her about some of the issues you’re
facing. Communication is the first step to solving any
problem. Perhaps the employee was unsure of how to do a job,
or lacked the skills and knowledge necessary to be a good
teacher or office person. Believe it or not, some people won’t
admit that they don’t know how to do something. They don’t
want to appear incompetent, which is understandable; but their
refusal to admit the truth can lead to long-term, more serious
problems. One way to combat this behavior is to make yourself
as accessible as possible to your faculty and staff. Encourage
them to ask questions and don’t hesitate to offer direction.
If you are asked for help, try to be patient and
understanding.
One
frequently encountered dilemma is how to deal with employees
who lack motivation or have a poor attitude. This problem must
lead to a pointed discussion about what changes the employee
needs to make to ensure her continued employment with your
school. A bad attitude can be contagious among other faculty
and staff members —and even your students. If you sense that
you’ve got a problem, then you probably do. In some cases
you’ll need to simply eliminate the problem quickly and
quietly.
Handling
bad habits
If, on the
other hand, you have an otherwise good employee who has a bad
habit—for example, being late on a regular basis—you might
consider employing the following strategy.
Invite her
into your office for a talk. Explain that you have an employee
who does not show up for class on time. This throws the timing
of the day’s classes off, and the parents are starting to
rumble. You’ve spoken with this employee several times about
her punctuality problem, yet it continues. If she were this
person’s boss, what would she do?
It won’t be
but a few seconds before she figures out that you’re really
talking about her. You might get “I have no idea” in response.
However, if you continue to press her for an answer, she’ll
probably suggest that you have to let this person go. Your
response would then be: “I’m afraid that’s the way I’m going
to handle it, if it happens again.” Hopefully, you’ll have
scared her enough that it won’t happen again. But be prepared,
because if it does, you have to follow through.
Preparation and aftermath
If you’re
lucky, the actual dismissal will be uneventful. However, it
pays to prepare for it before letting your employee know what
your intentions are. Be sure to protect yourself from someone
who could hurt your business in the future. An unhappy
employee can leave your school with student contact
information, syllabuses, business secrets, attendance records,
and more. Collect all those studio-related materials either
before you let the person go or at the time you do. Also, if
she had signed a contract when you hired her, make sure she
has a copy of that when she leaves as a reminder of the
policies she agreed to (for instance, a non-compete clause for
teachers) when she was hired.
During
talks with troublesome employees and especially when letting
someone go, it is best not to get into a rip-roaring argument
with them. Keep your cool and act like the professional you
are. A good way to explain your action is to simply state that
she just wasn’t a good match for your school. Then send her
out the door with your good wishes and a couple of weeks of
severance pay.
Have you
had a positive experience in handling problem employees?
Dance Studio Life would like to hear about effective or
creative ways school owners have come up with to resolve staff
members’ problem behaviors or attitudes. Or, if you have a
funny or too-wild-to-be-believed story about an erratic
employee, we’d like to hear about that too. Email your stories
to Cheryl@rheegold.com or mail them to Theresa Grenier, Rhee
Gold Company,
10 South
Washington St., Norton, MA 02766.
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