101 Tough Conversations to Have with Employees

Wonderful read. I bought this book because I have a problem subordinate and we needed to have difficult conversations with her. Luckily, she left on her own. Yet I kept reading the book. I'm gladni did! It covers a WIDE range of conversations you may need to have with your subordinates in a very delicate way.

I appreciate how this book introduces topics via scenarios. Find one that fits or is close and the support needed is at your fingertips. Just today I referenced Scenario 60 - Inability to Accept Constructive Criticism. Is it now all roses and posey’s with my resource? No, but at least we had better dialog today.

This is exactly what the title is. Conversations of how one person would handle the situation. It doesn't give you items and ideas on what to hit when you're having the conversation. I still gave 5 stars. The book is what it meant to be. Just wasn't what I was looking for.

The book started out okay for me. There are some good examples and I liked how there are actual conversations to reference for ideas on how to approach and verbalize situations. The major problem I have is that most of the solutions to each employee problem ended with the manager threatening to terminate the employee, telling the employee they may not be a good fit, telling the employee to decide if they would be better suited for another role, etc. I could see this being the reaction to a habitual offender, but many of the examples were about a first time mistake, misunderstanding, minor issue, the employee not catching on after a few months, forgetting something, etc. The manager responses escalated so quickly and were outright rude at times. If I were the employee working for this manager I would not feel valued, not feel heard. I would feel disposable and would feel like I could not make a mistake or i’d be reamed out and terminated. Managers need to understand what empathy is and how to approach employees that may have something going on outside of work or maybe they are having trouble learning their job due to the way the company trains or unrealistic expectations. Especially for first time offenses. It’s crucial for managers to ask “what’s going on” and reflect on themselves and their management style or training too instead of immediately resorting to slapping their hand and threatening termination.

This book is a must in my HR library. As an HR Director, I often times give it as a gift to new supervisors and managers. Paul takes you through the process with confidence and empathy as well depending on the circumstances. Check it out!

This book was recommended by an HR friend. It has great ideas and anyone really could use this book. Even if you want to have a tough convo with your boss.

This is a great book. The writer comes at issues from both legal concerns along with including positivity in language. There are a lot of books like these out there (and I have purchased many of them) and I find myself going back to this one when looking to gather my thoughts.

This book for me was a rare gem that changed how I view confrontation. I am generally a non-confrontational person and will deal with a lot of pain and anxiety rather than naming an elephant or making someone feel uncomfortable by calling out the things they need to improve. However, this book demonstrated many ways that confrontation was almost always necessary given the circumstances, yet didn't have to be negative or hurtful or accusatory. One of the important things he mentions is that it's not just what you say, but how you say it, and goes into detail about the legal issues you might run into, as well as methods for saying something constructive without the other person losing dignity. It was just really helpful to me to view these conversations, play out the many different ways that they might go, and have a solution or a conversation to have against many possible outcomes.After reading this book book, I have done a complete 180 in terms of my ability and willingness to address things that are wrong or that need improvement. Some people might read this book and say that it's all pretty intuitive and that much of it is "no-DUH" material, but I found it to be very helpful. If you are someone who generally does not approach others well or fears tough conversation based on how they might go wrong or how the other person will feel [about you], then this book will be very helpful. However, I also think that even seasoned professionals will glean something useful out of it.

Great tips but bit American

I liked that this book gave advice but also actual pieces of conversation and examples. Many times that's what I'm looking for with a difficult conversation is: How do I even broach this topic? How should I start off? etc.. I've referred back to this book quite a few times and always came away with a few notes for the meeting I'm about to have. Good purchase if you supervise employees.

Fabulous guide to assist new managers in their role managing people.

Good reference book to get your thoughts straight before going in head on. I wouldn't use it verbatim though.

Portions of this book answered very sensitive questions