tough employee situation

[NsXMas]

I've got a very talented employee, but his communication skills are not the best. English is his second language, so he has trouble presenting some of his ideas to my customers.

He works his butt off for me, and he knows the products that we handle very well.

However, a customer that he's doing a lot of work for has complained to me about this employee's communication skills. I'm expected to do something about it, namely putting him into a lesser customer engagement role with this important customer.

I value this employee a lot, and yet need to kind of "demote" him into the lesser role.

I need to do this without hurting his feelings or making him feel like it's some type of chastisement.

Any tips from you management types out there?

 

[Da Hapa]

Tough situation.

My advice... be honest and tell him basically what you've told us. Mainly... you value his tremendously but communication is an important facet of his job... customer satisfaction is important to the company... still a valuable team member... etc.

Most rational people can appreciate honesty and adapt to reasonable situations.

 

[TyraNSX]

You don't say what language is his primary language, but if you are near a university they may have a course for English as a second language. I say this because a lot of grad students are Indian or Chinese & end up as TAs where there can be major language barriers. To rectify this some schools offer classes as help & then do a test for English skills (spoken and written). Good luck, it sounds like this guy will work his butt off for you & knows his stuff, so it might be a win-win if you can get him some help.

 

[deedubb]

Yeah, if he's a good employee...try to help him first, dont demote him. If he doesn't try to help his situation, then he doesn't care about what he does.

 

[queenlives]

I've got a very talented employee, but his communication skills are not the best. English is his second language, so he has trouble presenting some of his ideas to my customers.

However, a customer that he's doing a lot of work for has complained to me about this employee's communication skills. I'm expected to do something about it, namely putting him into a lesser customer engagement role with this important customer.

I value this employee a lot, and yet need to kind of "demote" him into the lesser role.

I need to do this without hurting his feelings or making him feel like it's some type of chastisement.

Any tips from you management types out there?

not quite enough information provided, but we get your drift (we've all been there <likely will be again, too> and don't envy your situation). here are my 2+ cents:

communications skills and native language may, in fact, be two separate issues: i know *many* native english speaking people who can't communicate worth a ****; and on the flip side, many ESL folks who can communicate their ideas/positions wonderfully. (we *all* face communication challenges from time to time). my drive-by take on this is it's really interpersonal skills, not necessarily related to english speaking skills.

a couple of ?'s/thoughts:
* this appears to be a full-time customer-facing employee, correct?

* does this employee work with other customers or only *this* customer? if other customers, do *they* report similar issues with the employee? do multiple people in this customer org have problems with him? do others in your organization have "communication" problems with him? in other words, does he have problems with *everybody* or is this an isolated situation? (in my book, it's much easier to deal with if it's isolated to this single customer)

* have you discussed his "communication" issues (whether isolated or across the board) on a manager-employee basis in the past? if yes, did you define the issues, get his input/hear his "side of the story", then create a plan for improvement and follow through on an agreed basis to monitor & discuss progress or areas of improvement? or have you known about the issue and been avoiding it, hoping that somehow it would self-correct without your involvement? (boy, wouldn't that be a perfect world? or is this the first time you've heard of the problem from the customer but the ****'s hit the fan and you've gotta put out the fire?

* re needing to "demote" him to a lesser role in this account, is there a valuable contribution he can make to the success of this account or would it be more wise/positive to apply him to another account? (of course, if he's a repeat offender with a poisonous personality, no sense in putting him somewhere else to kill that account, too - it's hard enough to sell the account the first time, let alone send in your own sales-prevention force

everyone is best served if you and he have a heart to heart discussion on the issue (whether language or communication skills) and this particular customer, sooner rather than later. also, because you've indicated he is a valuable employee, it's important for you to convey your feelings about his value to the company in your meeting and to let him know you'd like to work with him to better achieve his potential. in fact, you'd be willing to invest company $'s by paying (partial/full) his ESL course fees, etc. i believe i saw a response suggesting local university/school to improve english skills - that sounds like a good idea.

i also suggest that you review the Dale Carnegie Human Relations and Public Speaking Course literature and consider sending him through the course. it's a 13 week +/-, 1 night per week course that i've seen change the interpersonal skills of some folks i've thought were doomed... and in the process, their lives were changed dramatically - and in the process, they became wonderful employees. (i'm not affiliated with the DC org in any way, btw, but i have sent 25+ employees through the course over the past 17 yrs)

i'm looking forward to reading what others contribute. good luck with your situation and let us know how it goes.

best,
hal

 

[NsXMas]

Thanks everyone for the great feedback.

This employee is very sensitive to criticism so I must make sure he doesn't take the feedback in a negative way. He's aware of the communication issue but is still acclimating to the US culture after just a few years here.

I have some great ideas on how to approach this next week when I must act.

 

[queenlives]

i'm curious - update on actions/results, please

 

[Larry Bastanza]

You mention he is aware of the issue. That sounds like a big step forward. Is there a way to personally help at this specific account to get him through it? I also agree language is not the only possible barrier.

Sometimes though, customers are customers and have way less consideration or tolerance then you as a boss will, just the way it goes.

I think offering help is the main thing you can do to make this better, and that may include some professional education for him. If he is values, probably a wise investment. The word "demote" is ugly, avoid that word at all costs.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[NsXMas]

Thanks. The customer is turning out to be a big PITA. I removed this employee from the customer's account, and gave him a non-personal reason for it. I still believe in this employee's skills, dedication, and value as a contributor.

The customer got another highly valued employee who is an excellent communicator. The customer is treating the second employee very badly. In fact the second employee called me today to discuss the series of issues he's having with them. The customer is over-bearing, demanding without being reasonable, berating my employees for things that the customer has not fulfilled. I am very upset and am working to resolve these issues or it's bye bye customer.

One other thing - I had found a good excuse to switch the original employee by putting him on another job that required his skills. This validated his sense of value and allowed me to make the switch. On the last day that the employee worked for the PITA customer, the customer said to my employee's face that he was a cause of a lot of problems, that the employee didn't provide any value to the customer, yada yada yada.

I just found this out today. I about exploded in rage when I heard this. The customer and I are gonna have a heart-to-heart about what is acceptable employee treatment and what is not. It was not in their place to discuss this with my employee. I am his manager and I am the one who ultimately responsible for handling employee issues. As far as the customer is concerned I removed the employee from his/her realm so that should be good enough. To rub this insult in on the last day that my employee was doing his job is simply unacceptable.

We are professionals and strive to treat our customers with integrity, honesty, and professionalism. The way this customer has dealt with my key employees has been unacceptable and must stop.

 

[zahntech]

The Customer is NOT allways right :smile:

 

[NSXROX]

Drop the customer and keep your good employees. That is, if he's not your only customer.

 

[queenlives]

Thanks. The customer is turning out to be a big PITA. I removed this employee from the customer's account, and gave him a non-personal reason for it. I still believe in this employee's skills, dedication, and value as a contributor.

The customer got another highly valued employee who is an excellent communicator. The customer is treating the second employee very badly. In fact the second employee called me today to discuss the series of issues he's having with them. The customer is over-bearing, demanding without being reasonable, berating my employees for things that the customer has not fulfilled. I am very upset and am working to resolve these issues or it's bye bye customer.

One other thing - I had found a good excuse to switch the original employee by putting him on another job that required his skills. This validated his sense of value and allowed me to make the switch. On the last day that the employee worked for the PITA customer, the customer said to my employee's face that he was a cause of a lot of problems, that the employee didn't provide any value to the customer, yada yada yada.

I just found this out today. I about exploded in rage when I heard this. The customer and I are gonna have a heart-to-heart about what is acceptable employee treatment and what is not. It was not in their place to discuss this with my employee. I am his manager and I am the one who ultimately responsible for handling employee issues. As far as the customer is concerned I removed the employee from his/her realm so that should be good enough. To rub this insult in on the last day that my employee was doing his job is simply unacceptable.

We are professionals and strive to treat our customers with integrity, honesty, and professionalism. The way this customer has dealt with my key employees has been unacceptable and must stop.

as tempting as the $'s may be, it's important to remember that not all business is good business.

good luck and thanks for the refresh.
hal

 

[fkong777]

employee needs proper english for communication is not too much to ask:

PITA customer may actually cause a loss to your company.. Returned items, non-payment, dissatisfied service, lawsuit..

 

[m3456y]

I referred your question to one of my clients - ProGroup, one of the leading diversity training companies in the world. Here is the response:

You do have a dilemma but, if it's any comfort, you're not alone. According to the latest available U.S. Census Bureau information, from the 2000 census (released in October, 2003), nearly 1-in-5 people, or 47 million U.S. residents age 5 and older, speak a language other than English at home. That was an increase of 15 million people since 1990. I am sure that it's an even higher percentage now, in 2005. From that we can surmise that there are an increasing number of people in our country for whom English is a second language.



Another interesting part of this data is that of those who spoke a language other than English at home, 55% said that they spoke English "very well". Of course that is their subjective opinion which I will address later.



So, to your dilemma. You say you have a very talented employee whose communication skills aren't very good and that it's not just your opinion. A highly valued customer of yours has also complained about this employee's communication skills. Here's what I'd suggest:

1. Reframe your problem. It's not that he's not a good communicator. I'd bet that in his native language he can communicate just fine. He can maybe communicate circles around you. The problem is that he doesn't speak English well enough to play his current role with your valued client.
2. I suggest that you talk to him clearly and directly about the problem. Say something like, "I value you as an employee for all of these reasons (list them) and I want you to hear that. However, there is a tough problem that we have to solve. The problem is being caused by our client's difficulty understanding you with your current command of English."
3. Tell your employee that you want to resolve this in a positive way so he still feels valued and the client feels that he has been heard and remains satisfied with the service your company is providing.
4. Ask your employee for suggestions. Listen to them. Be ready to offer suggestions you think would work short term and long term. One suggestion from you may be that he takes more advanced language training (individual with a tutor or classes). You can offer to pay for the training or not, but I suggest you do. You may find resistance on the part of the employee because his perception of his command of English may be different than yours or your clients. If that happens, don't argue. Just say something like, "I know you have worked hard and have made lots of progress in English. I admire what you've done, but there is more to do. I know it's hard to hear, but based on my experience in working with you and the feedback from our client(s), it will be to your benefit, both short term and long term to build up your command of English. It'll pay off in so many ways both here and in the future. I want you to do this for you and for our company."
5. While he/she gets the language help, you could modify his job so that either he is partnered with another employee, who will be at discussions with the client. That person, someone who has the patience or the 'ear' to understand your employee, can act as the primary communicator. If you don't have or can't spare such a person, then the employee can be temporarily moved into a more technical position while building up his English speaking skills.
6. I think the main thing to keep saying is that he isn't being demoted permanently. It's just an adjustment while he gets better at a skill, speaking English, which is a BFOQ (bonified occupational qualification) requirement for doing the part of the job that involves contact with English speaking customers.



One thing to remember is that whether he speaks Spanish or Russian or Chinese, he will a big advantage for you when you encounter clients from his culture. Don't be surprised if that happens in the near future.

 

[SilverStone05]

be completely honest. thats it. if he's as professional as you think he is, he'll understand.

 

[NsXMas]

Thanks again for the advice. I really appreciate it.