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CMA’s February Quick Poll is complete. How do our members spend the majority of their workday? Put on that oxygen mask, over 33% of us spend the majority of our work day putting out fires. Including all the write-ins for “all of the above”, we would work our way into the 40% category.
It is a sure sign of the stress the Credit Department has been put under. Shrinking staff and increasing responsibilities make for a “fire inducing” work environment.
What are your thoughts?
by Colleen Kettenhofen
“When managing difficult people, if it isn’t written down, it’s as if it didn’t happen.”
Many managers and supervisors are promoted to management positions based on their hard skills. Yet few of them have had training in the area of managing people. Especially managing difficult people. In conducting seminars on managing people, one challenge I hear managers and supervisors face nowadays is how to manage a difficult employee. You can’t control them, but you can control their environment in the hopes of coaching the employee to better performance.
Here are 10 Management Tips for Managing Difficult People:
1. Document, document, document. As far as the courts are concerned, if it isn’t written down it’s as if it didn’t happen. Even if you have a prospective employee sign a form saying they know they can be terminated at any time, without cause, and without warning or reason. You never want to terminate without proper documentation. Terminating an employee without cause, reason, or prior warning, can make it easier for the difficult person to win a wrongful termination lawsuit.
2. Document training and coaching. Any type of training you provide for your difficult employee is considered coaching. In managing difficult people, many managers assume the documentation is to build a case for termination. It is not! It’s really to show everything you did to try and salvage the difficult employee. This includes any and all training. Whether you trained the employee, someone else trained them, or you sent them to a seminar to be coached to better performance.
3. Avoid the word “attitude.” In managing difficult people, why would you want to avoid saying something like, “Pat, I don’t like your attitude?” Because it’s too subjective. It’s not specific enough.
4. Focus instead on specific behaviors or the quality of their work. For example, what should you do if every time you delegate a special project to the difficult person, they fold their arms, exhale loudly, roll their eyes, and sarcastically mutter under their breath, “Okay, whatever?!” You would want to say in a low controlled tone something like, “Pat, every time I delegate a special project to you, the arms are folded, you’re rolling your eyes, muttering under your breath, ‘Okay, whatever.’ What seems to be the cause of this?” Notice I listed specific behaviors. So focus on facts.
5. Be objective, not subjective. As mentioned, when managing difficult people, be objective by mentioning specific behaviors, or specific declines in the quality of their work. For example, when documenting the employee’s “attitude,” you might document the following: “Every time I delegated a special project to Pat so-and-so, he/she would fold their arms, exhale loudly, roll their eyes, and mutter under their breath, “Okay, whatever!” Now, if this were ever read by a jury, or your H. R. department if you have one, or your manager, they would have a clear picture of this person’s attitude.
“When managing difficult people, it’s imperative that you make their goals and objectives measurable, specific, quantifiable, and in writing for accountability.”
6. Provide specific examples of the behavior or quality of work you want. Put it in writing for accountability. When managing difficult people, it’s imperative that as their manager or supervisor, you’re making their goals and objectives clear. For example, if they’re doing clerical work, they are to, “Correct and proofread all required reports for the quality control department.” Or if they’re in customer service, an example of a measurable, quantifiable, specific goal would be that they are to, “Respond to all customer complaints within 48 hours of receiving them.” If they’re in manufacturing, they are to, “Produce 35% more wingbats by December 15 of this year. ”
7. Be aware of how you present yourself. When managing difficult people, remember, you are their role model. Be aware of your eye contact. Typically look at the person for two to five seconds. You don’t want to stare at them bug eyed! But you also don’t want to avoid looking at them because you’ll come across as too passive, too wishy-washy. They’ll sense you’re fear of confrontation.
Having lots of eye contact can be difficult for some people because in some cultures, children are brought up that it’s disrespectful to have eye contact with their elders. It can be difficult to unlearn these habits. Also, watch your tone of voice. Use a low controlled tone. Be aware of your body language, too. Study after study shows that fully 93% of what people notice and believe about you in face-to-face communication is based on your tone and body language.
8. Be very clear and concise in spelling out the consequences of what could happen if they don’t improve. For example, if this is a verbal warning, you might say to the employee, “You know our policy here, and right now this is a verbal warning. As it says in our handbook, if there isn’t sustainable and maintained improvement including and beyond the next thirty days, it could result in further disciplinary action. Or, it could even result in termination.” In managing difficult people, one of the golden rules is you don’t want the employee to ever be able to say that they “weren’t warned.” Or, “I didn’t know. You didn’t tell me that.”
9. Get at the root cause of what is causing the employee to be difficult. For example, do they simply not like their job? Would they rather be in a different department? Are there personal issues going on with the difficult person that you need to know about? While it’s not your business to know what they do outside of work, it is your business if it’s something that’s affecting their work performance.
You can simply say to the difficult person, “Is everything okay? Is there anything going on that I need to know about? Because this drop in performance just doesn’t seem like you. As your manager/supervisor I want to see you succeed. And I’ve noticed a real decline in the quality of your work, for example….” Then, give very specific examples. Remember, be objective not subjective. Focus on facts. Attack the problem not the difficult person. Attack the behavior not the person.
In managing difficult people, a lot of this is common-sense. Yet, as mentioned earlier, most managers, supervisors and team leaders are promoted to leadership positions based on the fact that they were doing a great job. But that doesn’t mean they know how to manage difficult people.
10. In managing difficult people, have follow up performance-related meetings with the difficult employee. For two reasons: First, it’s what the courts want to see. Second, it does the employee a great disservice if they make a big turn-around and you don’t acknowledge it. Have a date and a time in writing for when you and the difficult person are going to meet again. And do meet! According to research one of the main reasons employee improvement plans fail is lack of follow-up on the part of the manager.
“When managing difficult people, most of us know what to do. We just don’t always ‘do’ with what we know.”
About the Author: Colleen Kettenhofen is an Arizona motivational speaker, author and workplace expert. She is co-author of The Masters of Success, featured on NBC’s Today Show. For free video clips, articles, e-newsletter visit http://www.ColleenSpeaks.com. Colleen is available for keynotes, breakout sessions and seminars by calling (800)323-0683.colleen@colleenspeaks.com
The growth manifested in January has been interrupted. However, the drop in activity in February was not enough to plunge the Credit Managers’ Index (CMI) back into negative territory. In fact, a marginal gain moved the combined index from 55.1 to 55.2 and was somewhat anticipated due to the inspiring recent expansion in the manufacturing sector. Still, it feels more like a decline when compared to the big gains made in January.
“Starting in the latter part of 2009, manufacturing sector businesses began rebuilding inventories back to respectable levels; a process the CMI predicted,” said Chris Kuehl, Ph.D., economist for the National Association of Credit Management, which issues the CMI report each month. During the depths of this recession, most businesses did everything possible to reduce costs and protect cash flow. For several months, the CMI illustrated this point with reports of worsening unfavorable factors: more disputes, rejections of credit applications and dollars beyond terms. By the end of 2009, the CMI began to show a shift—businesses that owed money started the process of paying down debt in anticipation of needing access to credit in the near future. This shift in attitude has historically shown that expansion begins within a month or two, which is what started to transpire in December 2009 and January of this year.
“The development in manufacturing was matched to a lesser extent by similar movement in the service sector, and other economic indicators added to the notion that something was stirring in the economy,” said Kuehl. Fourth quarter GDP numbers for 2009 were up 5.9%, and the Purchasing Managers Index climbed to the mid-50s with new orders all the way up to the mid-60s. “There now appears to be a reversal under way, but it may be more accurate to refer to this as a breather,” Kuehl said.
“The first phase in an economic recovery is the replenishment of reduced inventory and there can’t be growth without the supply to meet expected demand,” said Kuehl. “If there had been no effort to bolster inventory levels, the arrival of demand would have provoked massive shortages, bottlenecks and ultimately inflation. For now, businesses are looking at low interest rates, commodity prices and labor costs. This is the safest time to build that base, but now they have to wait for the second phase—consumer confidence, which remains in the doldrums to an extent.”
Conference Board reports show a big drop in consumer confidence because of concerns about the employment situation. At the same time, there are reports coming in from big retailers such as Lowe’s and The Home Depot suggesting that consumers are shopping again. The consumer has yet to commit and until that happens, the economy remains in a waiting position.
The CMI shows that sales were flat in February after a major jump in January, but slight increases in new credit applications and the amount of credit extended indicate that credit remains somewhat accessible. Among the negative factors, the biggest changes took place in disputes and bankruptcies. Neither was unexpected: more companies are struggling with debt and will be maneuvering for more time, and the end of a recession is often harder on companies than the recession itself as they start to see pressure from competitors and may not have the ability to respond.
Special CMA Note: Dr. Chris Kuehl, quoted in this press release, will be the keynote speaker at CMA’s Annual Meeting April 14, 2010 in Montebello, CA. Click here for more info.
The Commercial Collection Agency Association (CCAA) reported that its members received a record volume of business-to-business accounts for collection in 2009.
Emil Hartleb, Executive Director of CCAA reported that in 2009 CCAA members received $17, 762,139,514 in accounts placed for collection.
This represents an increase of 33.4 percent over 2008. Account placement in 2008 held the previous record, $13,311,932,553.
Hartleb pointed out that the gain in placement for the Fourth Quarter of 2009 compared to the same quarter in 2008 was particularly strong registering a gain of over 48 percent. He indicated that the problems in the economy’s business sector are not behind us yet, particularly for small and medium sized businesses.
In addition to reporting their account placement statistics, members are surveyed quarterly on their outlook for account placement and the collectability of that placement. Hartleb stated that in the survey conducted for the Fourth Quarter of 2009, 70 percent of CCAA’s membership believed that a lackluster economy, marked by high levels of account placement and declining collectability, will continue for at least the next six months. This is an increase of approximately 27 percent from the Third Quarter Survey where 55 percent of the CCAA membership believed that account placement would continue to rise and collectability decline.
The Commercial Collection Agency Association (CCAA) reported that its members received a record volume of business-to-business accounts for collection in 2009.Emil Hartleb, Executive Director of CCAA reported that in 2009 CCAA members received $17, 762,139,514 in accounts placed for collection.This represents an increase of 33.4 percent over 2008. Account placement in 2008 held the previous record, $13,311,932,553.Hartleb pointed out that the gain in placement for the Fourth Quarter of 2009 compared to the same quarter in 2008 was particularly strong registering a gain of over 48 percent.He indicated that the problems in the economy’s business sector are not behind us yet, particularly for small and medium sized businesses.In addition to reporting their account placement statistics, members are surveyed quarterly on their outlook for account placement and the collectability of that placement. Hartleb stated that in the survey conducted for the Fourth Quarter of 2009, 70 percent of CCAA’s membership believed that a lackluster economy, marked by high levels of account placement and declining collectability, will continue for at least the next six months. This is an increase of approximately 27 percent from the Third Quarter Survey where 55 percent of the CCAA membership believed that account placement would continue to rise and collectability decline.
In January, American Check Management (ACM) merged with its long-time competitor National Check Trust, Inc. (NCT) forming a new financial services company known as: United Tranz*Actions, LLC (UTA).
This will provide NACM members with an expanded product line, as well as a strengthened infrastructure to support continued growth and expansion of products.
“This is a powerhouse solution. We are truly a one-stop, fully loaded billing and payment solution,” said Dean Middleton, president of United Tranz*Actions. “Our competitive advantage is that we are able to distribute your statement and invoicing as your customers want it; make those same documents available online; and, accept payment – all with the click of a mouse.”
NCT has historically specialized in marketing its Check Guarantee services to both the automotive industry and the building and materials industry. They have been very successful in both industry segments and their Check Guarantee product has proven to be an industry leader.
Now, as UTA, we can offer NACM members the best of both Check Guarantee programs. In addition to its leading Check Guarantee service, ACM has been making great strides in the development of its electronic services portfolio. The current offering includes:
• Credit Card Processing;
• Remote Check Deposit-with no NSF’s;
• Electronic Bill Presentment and Payment;
• Online Bill Pay;
• EFT/ACH-Check by Phone; and,
• E-mmediatesm-Check by Phone with no NSF’s.
NACM members can purchase these services as a complete benefits package, or opt for ala carte services. Together, this merger can only mean positive things for NACM members.
For the time being, current customers will see no changes in existing services.“There’s no rush to make change,” he said. “We’ll roll out a logo when we decide on one, but after that, the only changes will be for the benefit of our customers.”
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