Now that you've delivered all the good news - the ways in which your employee has shone in the past year, the positive expectations you have established together for the coming year, the road map you have outlined for fulfilling those goals - the timing is opportune to raise any and all problematic issues you need to address.  The key is to lay our your case in language that is straightforward yet not withering.

1. Emphasize the positive within the negative
2. Couch your criticism in terms of the shared greater good
3. Enlist your employee as an ally
4. Offer the employee flexible options in resolving the shortcoming

- Beverly Ballaro, Dealing with Difficult People

16 years ago Joseph Pine and James Gilmore wrote an incredibly insightful book called, The Experience Economy.  This book continues to be one of my favorite reference books. You might be thinking, "16 years ago isn't exactly current information and material to reference."  Well, think again because here's a timeless statement from the book, "If societies are to seek continued economic prosperity, they must stage experiences to add sufficient value to their economies to employ the masses (goods and services are no longer enough)." Creating memorable customer experiences must be a business discipline in all organizations who wish to survive and achieve successful longevity.

After you have identified for an employee both a range of goals and the mindset necessary to achieve them, the next logical step is to map out, in a pragmatic fashion and with employee input, different possible paths to success. The idea here is to describe actions, resources, and plans of action in terms as specific as possible...you want to provide your employee with a "nuts and bolts" repertoire of approaches that he or she can draw upon in the coming cycle.

- Beverly Ballaro, Dealing with Difficult People

It’s no coincidence that companies that deliver outstanding customer service are industry leaders and innovators. So why aren’t companies focusing on improving the service that they deliver?  It seems like this is a no-brainer; however, companies get too lazy, caught up in the day-to-day, and/or don’t want to invest the time and money on mandating a focus on service excellence. Don’t be one of these companies- it’s careless and brainless.

We can all agree that training is an essential step in keeping your associates well educated in their jobs, as well as for performing to the needs and expectations of the company.  Companies have high hopes that the associates they invested in will arrive back at their positions with all sorts of new and improved long-term behaviors as a result of the training.  These visions are often inaccurate.  Know that I am not knocking training; I agree and support the need to continually challenge and educate your associates.  Where I believe there is a big disconnect is in this disillusion that, say, just one training class will encourage sustained improvements through the duration of the employees' employment.  What about providing the tools and expectations to your associates to maintain and grow the new training skills?