SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/575944
FIELD SCIENCE 24 SportsTurf | October 2015 www.sportsturfonline.com What are the big priorities for our team for the next 6 months? What are any major roadblocks that could we may face/ overcome? What did your previous supervisor do that made you feel appreciated and effective in your job? What do you think is a TRUE description (not what was written by someone else for you) of your job currently? What would you like your job description to be if you could make changes to it? At the conclusion of the meeting let them know you would like to talk with them again next week or maybe the week after, just to keep in touch and see how things are going. Maybe even assign them a "thinking" task, e.g., "I've read a lot lately about water conservation. Maybe by our next meeting you can pro- vide me with some of your thoughts on how we can improve water conservation in our department." This lets them know you value their insight and starts off by letting them take own- ership of a possible upcoming task or solution. Often "buy-in" comes just from getting employees involved in a solution- oriented task. When they become part of the solution they feel more invested in what they are doing. It would be great if the story ended here with continued positive, productive departmental meetings and individual staff discussions. Sometimes personalities, histories, or even attitudes just get in the way and a negative scenario is where we may be with one or more employees. As a supervisor, you want to expect the best from employees but be prepared to address negative issues quickly, consistently and decisively if necessary. Let's look at our potential issues individually: The disgruntled department assistant may never be your big- gest fan, and in fact may go about openly or behind the scenes trying to sabotage your authority or success in your job. He is in a protected group so we must tread carefully, but with proper documentation we can address issues as necessary. It may involve informal discussions in the beginning, where we address the display of disrespectful or negative attitudes. But it is important that we start documenting even "verbal" reprimands or discus- sions as part of a documented, progressive discipline program. If issues continue or deteriorate, we may need to involve human resources (HR) and let them know of the recurring problems. If possible, have HR help in writing formal reprimands to address the employee's unacceptable behavior. Remember, you can't stop someone from being a jerk but you can require that they treat you and others with respect, and you can define what successful behavior in their job is and your expectations for change. Schedule follow-up meetings to let the employee know where they are meeting and not meeting