Step 6 - Create an Action Plan

When we talk about an action plan, we mean a specific, written plan, with input from the counselee, about how the behavior is going to be changed to meet the expectations and close the performance gaps.

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We also say “Ask, don’t tell,” when creating an action plan.  When making goals, people need to be involved in the goal-setting, or they don’t have as much, if any, buy-in as to what happens.  “Given the concern for and emphasis on diversity in the U.S. workplace, managers must identify individual differences that may influence the desired outcomes of participative decision making and target training programs accordingly” (Lam, Chen, & Schaubroeck, 2002, p. 913). 

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Multiple studies have shown that people (especially adults) increase their effectiveness when they participate in setting the goals to be achieved.  Likewise, andragogic learning models (involving adult learners) have found to, “Perform better and learn tasks better if they are collaboratively learning and developing, while applying the learning to their own circumstances” (Merriam, 2001).

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The essential point is that people will perform better at tasks and goals that they help set.  So, remember to always ask, don’t tell, and let them participate in deciding the resulting behavior to fill the performance gap, and a timeline for the change.   You don’t have to take everything they give you, and you can “negotiate” what those goals will be, but be sure that they have had a say in it.

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If applicable, and dependent on what laws, policies, MOU’s, contracts, and such that you are working within, also ask what should happen if the behavior doesn’t change.   This allows the person to have a say as to what the consequences will be if they don’t change the behavior.  What this creates is a situation where the person is not only saying how and when the behavior should change, but what they feel is appropriate consequences if they don’t achieve the goal of the behavior change.

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Additionally, work together to decide how you will ensure (get feedback) that the behavior has changed.   Is it through customer feedback, stats of production numbers, personal observations, or several various means?  It is up to you to mutually agree on how this will be done.

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When doing any kind of goals-setting, be sure to use S.M.A.R.T. Goals (Specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and time-bound) to create the goals to be accomplished.

 

EXAMPLE:

Counselor: “How can we ensure that not showing up on time doesn’t continue?  And how should we determine that the behavior matches the expectation and our rules?”

This allows the counselee to come up with some way to change the behavior and then some suggestions of how to measure the behavior change consistent with the organizational expectations.

Then the counselor can ask: “What should happen if that doesn’t work, and being late to work continues?”

This allows the counselee to suggest what they feel is the appropriate consequence.  

The behavior changes that are eventually agreed upon and the possible consequences should both be written down, as well as when and how the changes will be measured.  Continue to go through this process until all the behaviors that you are focusing on have been addressed and a clear written plan has been developed. 

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People are usually much harder on themselves when it comes to punishments than most other people would be on them.   So, when you make the plan, be sure to use the S.M.A.R.T. Goals to make the plan not only easily understood, but it also becomes very easy to defend in the event an employee wants to argue that the plan was somehow inappropriate or misleading. 

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When an employee has been involved in the making of the plan, it makes it much more difficult to fight in the event they can’t make the changes and there is further legal action.  That’s why you want to make sure it is a written plan.   

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After writing down the plan, it is important to have everyone involved sign it and/or initial it acknowledging what has been decided, so there is no question that everyone knows the expectations, timelines, and possible consequences.  Then it is time to move to the next step, the review.

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Step 6 addresses the usual failure of:   Using an organized method in which to conduct the performance counseling with input from the counselee as well as the counselor.