Problem solved: How do you handle a staffer who isn’t cutting it?

Be an investigatorFirst, define the issue, and understand that there are several sides to each story! As a physician, I might think that the office worker isn’t pulling their weight, but it might be that my expectations or asks aren’t clear enough. Am I communicating my needs? Is there a rule or process that perhaps they don’t understand or know? There are workers who are careless, repeat mistakes and refuse to do better. There are also workers who don’t realize they are making mistakes, are willing to be mentored and are invested in the clinic and their team. It is important not to jump to conclusions. Explain the issue, why you are concerned and the impact their actions have. Then, be curious—in a respectful way. What do they see is the issue, and what is contributing to this? Are there external or internal factors at play (often it is both!)? What steps do they see being helpful in remedying the situation? In most cases, steps can be taken to work towards a resolution—be it more training, extra support or a different task. However, there are times when workers refuse to work towards improvement and remediation. More serious conversations about possible termination may have to take place. Consider involving human resources or legal counsel if things cannot be solved otherwise.—DR. MARINA MALAKNo rash decisionsYou should meet with them and discuss your concerns. There might be other issues affecting their performance, so it’s always a good idea to hear them out before making a rash decision. Discuss what needs to be done to remain under your employment. If it happens again, I would do the same approach but after a third time and no improvement, it would be reasonable to terminate the employment. I always try to remember that sometimes employees are not a good fit for you but flourish with others.—DR. BORYS HOSHOWSKY Patience and hopeI think the first thing to do is figure out if there is some way to improve their performance. If they have a supervisor, it might be best to go through them first or let your supervisor know so they can discuss it with their supervisor. Try to have patience and hope their work can improve, but if not, it might be good to see if there is another position more suited for them. Overall, it is great to try to support co-workers as much as possible, but sometimes it means finding them a workplace better suited for them.—DR. RYAN CHUANGRehabilitateIt first depends on whether the employee has never reached the level of productivity and accuracy that you require or whether they previously met your job standards and their work has deteriorated. If they have deteriorated, it’s much less costly to rehabilitate them than to replace them, so that’s where to start. However, if they have never adequately fulfilled their job description then you should initiate “progressive discipline” and if they don’t improve, you should terminate them.—DR. MARK DERMER

Problem solved: How do you handle a staffer who isn’t cutting it?

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