Search:

Custom Search
Photo of Bob Gilson

The Best Employee Problem Solving Tool in Your Managerial Toolbox: Part 1

By Bob Gilson

Friday, March 24, 2006

You can have daily headlines from FedSmith.com delivered right to your desktop each business morning. The service is free and you don't get junk e-mail as the price of your subscription. Just visit our newsletter page to sign up!

Bob Gilson is a consultant with a specialty in working with and training Federal agencies to resolve employee problems at all levels. Both before and since retiring, Bob has negotiated on behalf of Federal clients. A retired agency labor and employee relations director, Bob has authored or co-authored a number of books dealing with Federal issues. To contact Bob about this article or about training or assistance at your agency, use this contact form.

General advice on handling personnel problems may not be applicable to specific situations. Be sure to check with your human resources advisors for guidance in your particular personnel situation.

How a fairly simple to use tool can head off (or at least minimize) the time involved in resolving employee problems.


There are no problem employees only employee problems to which managers must figure out workable solutions. I have never seen a manager solve an employee problem without involving the employee unless the manager is willing to fire the person or the person resigns.

If you read Merit Systems Protection Board decisions, a certain sleep-inducing activity, you’ll ask yourself “How could an employee be so dumb as to do that?” when management prevails or “How could management have been so dumb as not to do that?” when the decision is reversed and the employee returns to work.

It often comes down to a bad start in working on a problem with the employee. I’ve never met anyone who started a new job by saying “Let’s see how badly can I fail at this!.” As a result, I often wonder how someone got to be such a big problem that a supervisor wants to fire them without some intermediary steps.

The key is in recognizing what we can and can’t deal with.

You will hear the buzz throughout the Agency when someone is caught at or canned for theft, drug use, taking a bribe, sexually assaulting someone or the like. These are not supervisory problems. Of course they are problems, just not the supervisor’s except to report or provide evidence about.

Trust me, literal hordes of IGs, Internal Affairs types, lawyers, criminal investigators and the like will be thrilled to take possession of these problems away from a supervisor.

The real problems supervisors face are no less troublesome for being mundane. Every supervisor, manager or executive has wrestled with more than one of these:

• Lack of Productivity
• Lack of Planning
• Lack of Focus
• Failure to Follow Procedures
• Lack of Accountability
• Sloppy Writing
• Inadequate Research or Justification/Support
• “Attitude” Problems
• Discourtesy
• Difficulty Taking Direction
• Too Much Phone Time
• Late Assignments
• Attendance Difficulties
• Computer/Internet Abuse


So what is this great tool that addresses the kind of problems that give us ulcers rather than titillation – a simple written “Guidance and Direction Memo”. Well maybe it’s not so simple, but every supervisor has the authority to give an employee direction and to tell employees the rules. With a little work, you can put a number of high power problem solving tools in your manager’s toolbox.

Everyone agrees that a supervisor’s first steps in addressing an employee problem include communicating expectations, providing direction, perhaps retraining but almost always closer supervision.

I have heard it said that a verbal admonition isn’t worth the paper it’s printed on. I think you’ll find that a well crafted written communication can clearly identify the problem, put a person on notice that you’re paying attention and get the employee's attention.

Follow the link to a simple guidance and direction memo addressing telephone use.

In the next parts of this article, we’ll address the key components of guidance and direction memos, how to tailor one for your issues and why this tool is so valuable.

© 2010 Robert J. Gilson. All rights reserved. This article may not be reproduced without express written consent from Robert J. Gilson.

Add a Comment about this Article

** All fields are required.
Note: Your comments will not show up right away. FedSmith.com selects the most insightful comments from our readers for posting. If selected, your comments will show up in the comments section after they have been reviewed and approved. See our terms of use for more information.

Readers' Comments

  • And we wonder why these types of articles must be written.... I thought the article was informational and useful and will reference it as needed. Thanks for taking the time to inform us....
    Posted: February 22, 2007 1:28 PM
  • The concern for spending too much time on the phone is an ongoing, therefore a present, concern. If it were only a past concern, why would you follow-up with addressing a resolved situation? The "you and I" is the polite pronoun use for formal writing, which seems appropriate given the situation. ...
    Posted: March 29, 2006 10:23 AM
  • Also, in the first sentence "spend" should be "spent" as the memo is addressing a specific date....
    Posted: March 28, 2006 10:47 AM

View All Comments »

MORE BY BOB GILSON

Contact Bob Gilson or read more articles on the author's page.