How to help manage employees confidence

[TwittleBee]

One of my team members has stated that they are struggling with confidence and overwhelm which is why they arent performing as expected. I've asked them to identify what they think has caused these issues and they have said that they are struggling with the amount of work and having the required knowledge and skill set.

They have been in this business for 25 years and so have plenty of experience and the workload is less than their counterparts (as have already identified that workload was a struggle last year).

They have their appraisal coming up and I am hoping for some positive suggestions I can make to them to help with confidence and to manage overwhelm, perhaps any courses people can recommend? Or any recommendations on how I should be viewing their workload or what questions to ask to help understand the struggles.

As way of background, I have already sought and paid for courses for them to attend that align with previous requests to expand knowledge but they never actually went on the virtual courses, they ended up being sick on those days with stress (although they didn't cite the cause of stress was due to the course, I can't help but wonder if it was).

They have identified that time management and being distracted is a major issue for them but they say they are failing in these areas due to overwhelm.

I did have to raise with them that they need to stop watching Netflix etc during working hours and it was inappropriate to be online shopping too. They've said they do these things to manage the stress of the work environment and to keep motivated but I've still said we cannot have this sort of phone use in the office as it is a distraction.

I'm aware the above isn't great employee behaviour but I do want to see if I can provide them an opportunity to flourish here. I've asked them how the company could provide this, what would is their ideal work environment etc but they have said they do not know.

Any suggestions please

I think there might be a link with falling confidence and working at home. If you had the distraction issue (ie watching Netflix) then maybe you have to get them in the office more. Working at home can cause isolation (even if there are frequent video calls) and all the impromptu chats/offers of help/getting thank yous/socialising reduces which could impact someone's confidence/outlook/motivation which could lead to anxiety and feelings of being overwhelmed. I'm peri menopausal and whilst normally a self-starter I've had some feelings of being overwhelmed which I think its linked.

I'd look at the workload and decide if its acceptable or not, if its too much reduce it, if its the right amount offer planning support. Work out if they are doing things in the most efficient way or following processes. If easily distracted then its going to take them longer to get through work.

I also can't help but think you have in fact given them support and training and this is their excuse. So I suppose you'll have to decide if the current level of performance is okay or not.

Oh come on, they are obviously taking the piss. Surely you’re not this naive?

the rest of the workforce will resent them and think you’re a fool and you’ll have decking performance, either because good people won’t want to work there or suddenly everyone will realise all they need to do is claim “low confidence” and they too can be paid to watch Netflix.

I would be having a serious performance conversation and putting their workload back to normal.

There is no working from home, only if required (for example if a washing machine was broken and an engineer was coming round on that day). The watching Netflix is happening at the desk in the office.

They have signed off long term sick historically with stress and quoted it was due to lack of support. We want to ensure we are doing all we can to provide support.

They are often crying and having anxiety attacks at work. This has lessened this past couple of months but I would like to ensure we can provide all we can in terms of support and want to be abstract in my approach here.

Yes, we are considering if performance does not improve then they will be let go but I am very aware that there is potential there and I want to offer that opportunity to improve first.

If this is a genuine issue then I would suggest an occupational health referral to eliminate any clear health issues. If that does not turn up any concerns, I would suggest that you do to an informal performance plan - setting clear targets, expectations and deadlines. It is possible that this will provide a work related focus that is clearly missing at the moment.

@TwittleBee Sorry I had misunderstood, I assumed watching Netflix was occurring at home! Shocking their judgement thought watching Netflix would be okay in the office!

Given that they are off sick maybe you need to consider Occupational Health. Also you might want to check out the HSEs Stress Risk Assessment.

Crying regularly in the office isn't normal, you need to encourage them to seek help from their GP. Do you have an EAP you can offer them.

Yes, we have supported by suggesting Mental Health support and therapy. We have no EAP, we are a small firm. Shall check out the Stress Risk Assessment, thank you.

I agree that they need to be on a performance improvement plan that clearly sets out expectations and timelines for next review.

If they are currently off sick, there needs to be a return to work discussion when they come back - you need to set out what you expect from them and they need to be clear what barriers they are facing to delivering what is required.

What is the company policy on number of allowed sick days?

It may be that they need to take a drop in responsibility and therefore drop in pay, if they cannot manage the job they are employed to do.

Netflix and shopping at desk is completely unacceptable, and ever more so when it clearly isn’t helping them get the job done!

If you can afford it, you can buy a one-off occupational health service from the NHS (https://www.nhshealthatwork.co.uk/oh-can-help-businesses.asp) or other companies. If they have 25 years experience (I am not assuming how log they have worked for you, but it would be useful to know) then it is worthwhile covering all your bases - and cheaper than losing an unfair dismissal claim.

The other thing I would possibly be concerned about is the combination of anxiety attacks and crying at work with watching netflix and shopping during working hours (those latter ones being enough to get you sacked in many places) on other staff and their health. It isn't easy working with someone like this, and with the greatest of respect, seeing a colleague effectively stealing time and being paid for it. To be honest, mental health issue or not, the next time I caught them I'd be starting a disciplinary. Quote apart from anything else, if you don't, what is to stop everyone else watching Disney+ and online shopping? If you let her get away with it then you have to let everyone get away with it.

Adding to the good suggestions already made, my next step in your position would be to have 15-minute daily check-ins for a month to help you understand better what's behind the overwhelm and time management issues. I would kick these off by saying they are your proposed response to the team member feeling unsupported and that they give the team member the opportunity to reset their work routines ie allocating time to a task using the pomodoro https://www.pomodorotechnique.com/ technique to manage overwhelm and Covey's Matrix https://humanskills.blog/time-management-matrix/ to help rank tasks by importance and urgency. Also in the kick-off meeting I would express my concerns about performance and behaviour (watching Netflix and shopping in the office are very foolish and you should make clear it must stop when she is at her desk) and set out my expectations for both. End the meeting by asking if this is a plan she can sign up to.

In anticipation of possible dismissal, you need to keep brief contemporaneous notes of each meeting so that you can evidence that you offered support. Ideally, though, the plan works and she starts to build back her confidence.

If you are making the employer aware of unacceptable behaviours that may seem obvious to rest of team employees I.e no phones personal calls/ personal internet use during work hours make sure these type of communications are given to everyone with appropriate policies if you have them. They then cannot then say they are being treated differently. Be clear that personal internet use should be only in break/ lunches. You could ask the employee to keep a log of any anxiety attacks at work to see if there any patterns/ triggers a talking point for your checkins.