CLICK BELOW TO REDISCOVER HUMANITY
A DECADE+ OF STORYTELLING POWERED BY THE BEST WRITERS ON THE PLANET

Mentoring Matters: Help Yourself by Helping Others

by Steve DiGioia, Featured Contributor

[su_dropcap style=”flat”]M[/su_dropcap]OST OF US HAVE NOT HAD the luxury of a mentor; someone that “takes us under his/her wing” and patiently shares their years of experience with us in the hopes of setting us straight on the road to success.

mentoringFrankly, there are not even enough people that are willing to undertake this task in the first place. This is one of the reasons why finding a mentor is very difficult.

Just think of the benefits you would have received from a brief private session with an industry leader in your chosen field, the senior college professor that all look up to or the author who has set the market ablaze with his roadmap to success.

But we all can be a mentor to those who look towards us for advice. We don’t need to be famous or published in academia. We don’t need the throngs of people clamoring to one of our paid seminars to prove our worth and ability to help others.

We can all help those who seek us out. There mustn’t be a formal mentoring session or final written plan of action for your time and experience to make a difference in someone’s life. That is the benefit of helping others, by making a difference.

Recently I was contacted from a colleague with an all-too-frequent issue that he wanted help with. Here is his inquiry:

Steve; I have a question for you. With all your experience and knowledge in customer service and dealing with your employees, the question I have is employee based. How do or would you deal with an employee that constantly complains about everyday operations within their job description? I know it may sound like an odd question but the reason I ask is because I have a full time employee who does exactly that. I’m an assistant manager in a store, and my problem is that, the employee mentioned above is the sibling of the owner, so it makes it a little more difficult for me to show authority. How can I go about dealing with the employee without putting my own job on the line?”

Here is my response:

[message type=”custom” width=”100%” start_color=”#F0F0F0 ” end_color=”#F0F0F0 ” border=”#BBBBBB” color=”#333333″]

Hi ________,

Thank you very much for reaching out to me with this issue you face. I appreciate the trust you have placed in me in the hopes I may have an answer to this question. I hope to not let you down.

One of the most challenging aspects of management is when one must deal with an employee that is failing or refuses to perform tasks that fall within his/her expected duties (job description). If a manager is not able to turn this employee around, the manager’s supervisor/owner is well within his right to discipline the manager based on that poor performance.

So, based on your fear that your job may be put on the line, it already is!

Without a noticeable improvement in service, performance, revenue, morale, etc. any manager may be put in a position where they are asked to leave and not the underperforming hourly employee.

With this in mind, do you have any other choice but to fix this issue before it’s too late? I don’t think so.

Your first step should be to request a brief, and private, meeting with your owner to discuss the issue. If you have already done this, then it must be done again to reinforce its importance.

I would start with clarifying YOUR job description and the performance expectations from your owner/manager. If you have no responsibility or oversight of this specific employee, the owner’s sibling, then he/she is of no concern of yours.

But if this employee truly is your responsibility then you must be put in a situation (allow to do your job) where you can set the same high expectations from him as you do others. There can be no other option.

If your owner will not allow you, or give you, the authority to hold ALL employees accountable then your position there will not be fruitful and will never be what you expect.

Once the owner correctly identifies that the sibling employee must follow all policies, procedures, and expectations as all other employees then you have an appropriate and realistic base to start from.

If not, then your tenure there should be brief and it’s time to look for work elsewhere.

Assuming the owner is “on your side” you must sit the sibling down and clearly identify his role and performance expectations within the company and inform him that there cannot and will not be any preferential treatment just because of his relationship with the owner.

Next step is to consider the sibling’s complaints. Are they valid or just steam coming from his frustrations at work? If the complaints are valid then it may be time to consider some of the complaints.

Many times we managers think we have all the answers, we know it all and our way is the one correct way to do things. That is not the case. The employees that do the job each day usually have a better understanding of what works and how to perform the task than the boss who sits in the office thinking up procedures.

If the sibling can come up with a better way to do things versus what you presently are doing then it becomes management’s, and ownership’s, responsibility to take this into consideration.

If an employee has a better idea on how to do things, and management is NOT open to the viewpoint of their staff, then it is very hard to get the best performance out of your employees and yes, the complaints will come.

The average employee needs just a few things to make them want to come to work each day and perform at their best. They are:

  • Clean & safe working conditions
  • A sincere show of appreciation from management/ownership
  • An open forum for ideas to be expressed and considered
  • A decent pay wage based on work performed

Assuming these conditions are in place and the sibling still complains, then the sibling needs to modify his behavior to acceptable norms. If not, the same disciplinary actions should be taken as you would with any other employee.

Remember _________, YOUR performance is judged by the actions of others. That is a difficult pill to swallow and leads to many sleepless nights.

Don’t allow your job security to be affected by those who answer to you. Without the support from ownership, as it relates to the siblings performance, your security is already in jeopardy.

So what do you have to lose?

Keep in touch and let me know the outcome. Hope this helps.[/message]


Steve DiGioia
Steve DiGioiahttp://stevedigioia.com/blog/
With 20+ years in the hospitality industry and a lifetime of customer service experience, Steve DiGioia shares real-world tips and tactics to improve your customer service, increase employee morale, and provide the experience your customers desire. As a certified trainer, author & speaker, Steve has been recognized as a 4-time “World’s Top 30 Customer Service Professional” by Global Gurus.org and a “Top Customer Service Influencer” by multiple industry-leading sources. He is also a featured contributor to the leading hospitality and customer service websites. With a tagline of “Finding Ways to WOW Your Customer”, Steve continues his pursuit of excellence on his award-winning blog sharing his best strategies on customer service, management, and leadership. Follow Steve on Twitter @Steve DiGioia.

DO YOU HAVE THE "WRITE" STUFF? If you’re ready to share your wisdom of experience, we’re ready to share it with our massive global audience – by giving you the opportunity to become a published Contributor on our award-winning Site with (your own byline). And who knows? – it may be your first step in discovering your “hidden Hemmingway”. LEARN MORE HERE


TAKE STROLL INSIDE 360° NATION

TIME FOR A "JUST BE." MOMENT?

ENJOY OUR FREE EVENTS

BECAUSE WE'RE BETTER TOGETHER