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over time into real performance problems. Discipline and
confrontation are not favorites of many people. In today’s more
supportive and employee-centered environments, many equate
counseling or correction with the old autocratic, “me boss, you do
as I say” way of running a business.
Opportunities to Counsel ...................................................................................
Knowing when to counsel is as important as knowing when to
move to a coaching or mentoring approach. Many times, it is a
first step in the coaching process, and will evolve to a motivating
and instructing approach. When you can identify situations that
require your expertise for immediate behavior change and you can
act swiftly, you become more effective.
Counseling doesn’t only address behavior that is beyond bad.
It is not the precursor of discipline and termination. Counseling
can sometimes eliminate the need for formal discipline, and
certainly it is a form of disciplining or correcting performance.
Notice the variety of situations where your choice
of counseling, over that of coaching or mentoring, is
more advantageous.
- Reorganization, restructuring of the organization,
department, or work - Layoffs, both for those who leave and those who stay
- Demotions or job reassignments
- Salary freezes, salary decreases or lowered responsibilities
- Associate unhappy with you as the boss
- Associate unhappy with a work assignment
- Associate who has a conflict with a peer
- Associate who feels stressed or burned out
- Associate who is insecure with his abilities to do the job
- Associate who has personal problems that he has shared
with you - Associate with personal problems that are affecting
others’ work
The Counselor Role: Confrontation and Correction