Are Healthcare Managers Killing Themselves With Kindness?

When dealing with a difficult adversary, sage advice suggests that one should consider "killing them with kindness." That advice does not work out well, however, when healthcare managers are too kind when addressing (or ignoring) employee performance shortcomings.

While management's documentation is almost always pivotal in employment cases, it's the content of that documentation that can tip the scales in either direction. In many situations, managers can inadvertently kill their own best interests by employing a brand of kindness. Stated another way, if you do not communicate clearly and directly enough when addressing an employee's performance problems, you only hand plaintiff's lawyers an effective weapon to use in bludgeoning your own credibility.

The Importance Of Being Honest

There is no doubt that managers should always strive to demonstrate respect for their employees. It is also important to be generous with praise, when appropriate. When criticism or counseling is needed, leaders should present the message in a constructive manner. It is not effective or even respectful, however, when managers soft-sell criticism, especially when the soft-selling makes the intended message almost unrecognizable. Specifically, managers cannot bury their message with mild or indirect suggestions.

Whether the issue is poor job performance or violations of policies, managers must identify the shortcomings and clearly state what they expect the employee to do. Otherwise, a disgruntled former employee may be able to testify credibly that they were not even aware that management expected them to change behavior.

In a recent situation, for example, rather than telling the employee that five recent unscheduled absences were excessive and that the employee must demonstrate immediate, sustained improvement, the manager described the purpose of the meeting by writing, "Management notes that Ms. Jones has recently been absent from work an unusual number of times. She has an opportunity to improve her attendance."

When Ms. Jones was subsequently terminated for excessive unscheduled absences, she claimed that she had no idea that her attendance was that bad or that her job was in jeopardy. The employer's documentation did not convincingly refute Jones' contention.

Defense of employment discrimination and retaliation claims almost always hinges heavily upon performance evaluations and corrective action forms from employee personnel files. Vague comments, or...