How to address this

The policy here is HONESTY.

Tell your employee directly that they’re getting a raise because of their performance, not their soft skills.

I want to be really honest, your technical/functional performance is excellent and in recognition of that, the company wants to give you a raise. Keep up the great work in that respect. The truth is that your soft skills around [examples of dysfunctional behavior] are not what we expect. Behavior A, B, and/or C need to be improved. We need to see this improvement in this behavior. What do you think?

Key notes in order to make sure this is successful:

When bringing up examples of their behavior, be really specific and concrete, not general.

Bring written notes with you if needed.

Be concrete and specific about what you need to see from them going forward.

Set up check-in times/points to review progress.

It’s not an ideal situation.

And it might be worth having a larger conversation about the culture your organization wants to set.

Next week, I’ll dive deeper into how to hold people accountable in a collaborative way.

Cheers,

Chris

PS –

If you’re looking for strategies to be better at coaching your employees >>>>> Check out this link to a free 1-hour course on effective performance coaching.

If you are a nonprofit leader stuck in being able to move things ahead in your organization due to people challenges, check out this white paper I just published on overcoming barriers to strategic plan implementation >>>>> Download a free copy here.

I have limited spots available for individual coaching. If you’re a leader struggling to get your team or organization to perform at a high level, reach out and let’s see how I may be able to help.