Listening to Understand vs. Listening to Respond
When a once-reliable employee grows resentful or self-destructive, our listening has to be keen and judgment-free.
We at Dasher live by the adage that everyone has two ears and one mouth because we should listen twice as much as we talk.
And it’s no coincidence that the letters in “listen” are the same as in “silent.” Admittedly, it is hard to remain silent — especially when that person is playing defense or goes on the offensive.
As human beings, we often listen to respond, but not to understand.
Sarcasm and anger may invade the dialogue. If a team member displays these emotions, we cannot respond in kind.
We need to hear what the troubled team member is saying when we ask: What has happened in your life to allow resentment to build, punctuality to be abandoned, a self-destructive streak to emerge, or kindness to be an after-thought?
We don’t spot-treat the blemish; we dig to the root cause.
Then we tap into a robust, well-documented course correction process that includes performance reviews, quarterly conversations, and a three-step process of improvement strategies.
Our course correction process clicks into place only after all other discussion pathways have been tried. In consultation with the team member, we develop together a concrete corrective plan tied to our values.
Someone with a repeated attendance problem may need better child care back-up.
However, resentment and a self-destructive streak are two hurdles that may not be fixable.
If that resentment cannot evaporate, the course correction process may still lead to an eviction from the game.
We have seen some people who refuse to get out of their own way. When a bad attitude stands in the way of corrective action, sometimes separation is the only remedy.
Dasher is a data-driven, customer contact services operation with a focus on communicating complex messages to diverse populations. Specific capabilities include face-to-face communications provided by our field teams, customer engagement strategies provided by our call center and member engagement staff, and secure, complex, variable mailing services provided by our production team. Dasher is an experienced Minority, Women and Disadvantaged Business Enterprise (MWDBE) with a bestselling book, “The Talent Pool,” and is certified by AICPA with the SOC2SM Type2 data certification and validation.