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BLUF:

if I have multiple department heads (peers), and the head of HR telling me all three members of one of my departments has significant behavioral/attitude issues, can I provide feedback to the whole group and is there a way to work with them as a whole to fix their behaviors (sort of like a team PIP)? I would follow this up with individual coaching/1:1s.

 

details:

I am a Director with three teams reporting to me, two Managers and one team of three ICs with no Manager between us.

When I joined the organization, I was told this third team was difficult and set in their ways. Two of them have been at the business for 30+ years and can be fairly abrasive and sometimes unprofessional to their colleagues. Since I joined, I have come to believe their intention is pure, but they can be downright rude to people. My predecessor was their manager for 20+ years, non-confrontational, no feedback, etc. When I speak with HR, the examples provided apply to individuals, but there is a common thread that applies to the whole team.

I was taking a slow approach with addressing the behavioral gaps, as I have rarely witnessed the unprofessional behavior firsthand. when I do, I provide feedback.

in parallel, I am spending a lot of time trying to build trust and accountability in our organization. 

my thought is to put the entire team including me on a PIP as a symbolic gesture, but also to reinforce the severity of the situation. follow this up with 360 reviews for them, continue one on ones, recommended reading, etc. I want to get the point across that WE are going to work through this TOGETHER.

Am I heading in the wrong direction?

 

Breanna_Ileen's picture

It depends on the feedback, if the issue points out to one person, then it woud be better if you talk to to him/her personally. 

SETM22's picture

I would be hesitant to do a group "beat-down". Continue addressing these people individually. Unless you've been doing O3s for the requisite time, don't move into MT feedback.

This is a long-running problem. You're likely not going to fix it with a 30 or 60 day PIP. In reality, if these folks are *that* disruptive, you need to fire them. Mark says the two things that are firing offenses are lack of productivity and disruption of the team. You can consider firing the worst offender after giving that person some time to turn things around. I wouldn't give it more than 30 days. Maybe that will send the message to the rest of the group.

Yea, I know... that person probably has super valuable knowledge and the company will collapse without them. Been there many times. However, the cemetary is filled with irreplacable people. Good luck.