McLean & Company1 McLean & Company is a research and advisory firm that provides practical solutions to human resources challenges with executable research, tools, and advice that will have a clear and measurable impact on your business. © McLean & Company. McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group Inc. Train Managers to Handle Difficult Conversations Get managers to stop avoiding, freezing, or giving in when the going gets tough. McLean & Company is a research and advisory firm providing practical solutions to human resources challenges via executable research, tools and advice that have a clear and measurable impact on your business. © McLean & Company. McLean & Company is a division of Info-Tech Research Group

McLean & Company2 Managers’ avoidance of difficult conversations can have a widespread negative impact. Train them to stop avoiding and start succeeding. Introduction Learning and development leaders who are responsible for providing training as a part of a management development program. Organizational trainers who are tasked with creating training content and delivering it to participants. Organizations that are struggling with their managers avoiding difficult conversations. Make the case for training managers on how to have difficult conversations. Prepare for training. Deliver a pre-filled training deck to managers with the use of brainstorming exercises, role plays, and self-assessments. Evaluate: Participants’ reaction to the training session. Participants’ learning from the training session. Participants’ behavioral change after the training session. Impact of the training on organizational metrics. This Research Is Designed For:This Research Will Help You:

McLean & Company3 Executive Summary Managers are avoiding difficult conversations. Like many employees, managers are evading having to handle a difficult conversation or handling them poorly. A VitalSmarts survey reported that 70% of employees avoid difficult conversations with their managers, subordinates, and peers. Avoiding difficult conversations can hurt everyone. Difficult conversations often encompass important items of discussion that can damage work relationships, affect productivity, and cost the business money. McLean & Company recommends training managers to get them to stop avoiding and start facing the challenge of a difficult conversation. The McLean & Company training supports this initiative by providing: o Training deliverable in a one-day session. o Pre-filled training content. o Difficult Conversations EASE Framework. o Exercises: Self-assessments, brainstorming activities, and role play scenarios. Get ready for training by planning out the who, what, where, and when of your logistics, and the accompanying budget. Include your goals and metrics in the process as well. Get stakeholder buy-in by presenting research from the “Make the case for manager training” section, and highlighting the plans for training with a logistics report. Evaluate the impact of training by measuring: o Participants’ reaction to the training session including content, scheduling, and the facilitator. o Participants’ learning as a result of training. o Behavioral change in the participants after the training session. o The impact on organizational metrics. Use the results of evaluation to make adjustments to future training sessions to drive knowledge transfer and a change in behaviors.

McLean & Company4 Guided Implementation points in the Difficult Conversations Training project Book a Guided Implementation Today: McLean & Company is just a phone call away and can assist you with your project. Our expert Analysts can guide you to successful project completion. Here are the suggested Guided Implementation points in the Difficult Conversations Training project: Section 1: Make the case for manager training Discuss how to prepare for training. Review concerns and issues with gaining stakeholder buy-in to implement training. Understand metrics that can help measure the impact of training on the people and the organization. Section 2: Prepare to implement training Discuss how to implement training in your organization. Discuss logistics, customization, and how to plan out what resources are required for the training session. Section 3: Follow-up after training Review training session results and updates. Discuss how to evaluate after training and use the assessments to optimize future training. Learn how to develop employees after the training session is over. To enroll, send an to or call and ask for the Guided Implementation This symbol signifies when you’ve reached a Guided Implementation point in your project.

McLean & Company5 What’s in this Section:Sections: Make the case for manager training Prepare to implement training Follow-up after training Appendix Understand the risks of mismanaged or avoided difficult conversations. Learn about the benefits of training managers to have difficult conversations.

McLean & Company6 Impact on Employees Impact on HR Seventy percent of 950 respondents surveyed by VitalSmarts said that they avoid difficult conversations with their boss, co-worker, or subordinate. Avoidance of difficult conversations negatively impacts employees, Human Resources, and the business Lack of improvement or change in employee performance. Encouragement of bad behaviors due to avoidance of course-correcting conversations. Damaged work relationships and morale, which affect employee engagement. Retention of low performers, which can aggravate high performers and boost regrettable turnover. This survey done by VitalSmarts had respondents estimate the cost of avoiding one difficult conversation. If you have 50 managers in your organization, their avoidance could cost you a minimum of $72,287. Time wasted while convincing managers to have conversations and cleaning up poorly handled ones. Negative impacts on HR dashboard metrics such as employee engagement and turnover. Impact on the Business Managers are not doing their job when they avoid difficult conversations. In a Globis survey, 80% of manager respondents believed that difficult conversations are a part of their job. Therefore, you need to train them! Less than $100 $100- $1000 $1,000- $5,000 $5,000- $10,00 Greater than $10,000 Source: VitalSmarts, The Cost of Conflict Avoidance; N=511 * See Appendix

McLean & Company7 In the “Difficult Conversations Survey” conducted by Globis, 53% of respondents said lack of training was a reason for avoiding conversations. Train your managers to stop avoiding and start handling difficult conversations in a way that has a positive effect Effectively approach difficult conversations. Spend less time avoiding difficult conversations. Boost their confidence. Improve their performance on the job. Get the resources they need for their work. Positively impact other employees’ performance and productivity. Manage out low performers. Improve their relationships. Increase employee confidence in managers. These results can ultimately… Encourage employees to have difficult conversations When managers role model the behavior, employees are more likely to be proactive about addressing issues themselves. Encourage employees to have difficult conversations When managers role model the behavior, employees are more likely to be proactive about addressing issues themselves. Free up HR’s time spent dealing with these issues Free time could be used elsewhere to create additional value for the organization. Free up HR’s time spent dealing with these issues Free time could be used elsewhere to create additional value for the organization. Reduce or avoid the potential costs for the business Managers handling issues means they are less likely to become full- blown problems that lead to legal and/or turnover costs. Reduce or avoid the potential costs for the business Managers handling issues means they are less likely to become full- blown problems that lead to legal and/or turnover costs. With proper training and support, managers can: One of those frequently occurring challenges that everybody struggles with is how to communicate effectively, and how to engage in a challenging conversation. – Craig Dowden, Managing Director, SPB Organizational Psychology

McLean & Company8 The training and preparation for each conversation enabled the HR manager to go into employee meetings with specific goals and prevent situations from getting worse. A new HR Manager attended difficult conversations training and reduced escalations of related complaints by 50% Industry: Segment: Source: Research Small/medium Interview A new HR Manager joined a high growth company that was bogged down with employee complaints and escalations from their sales division. These employees were pertinent to the growth and success of the company. However, some employees were constantly in her office which was causing lost productivity for all parties. Situation The HR manager began a training course on handling difficult conversations. She learned to prepare more thoroughly for her meetings with employees. She also began to focus on open dialogue when handling employee issues and how to address conflict. Approach After the training, the HR manager found her conversations were much more concise and focused on the resolution rather than the problem. Over time, escalation rates began to decrease. After six months the HR manager had reduced the escalations by 50%. Results

McLean & Company9 Having the difficult discussion with the employee about their performance cut the costs that the business was facing from their low productivity and found them a new job elsewhere. By facing a difficult conversation, a manager secured a win- win situation for both the organization and the employee Industry: Segment: Source: Research Small/medium Interview A problem employee was transferred to a seasoned manager to “fix or fire.” The employee had bounced around from manager to manager as a consistently poor performer. They never had the good oversight to understand how they could change. Situation Sensing that performance was a sensitive subject, the manager approached every conversation with the employee as a difficult conversation. The manager prepared and planned meticulously each time that they met with the employee. In their meetings, they focused on building goals, defining success in the role, and building action plans to achieve those goals. Approach The conversations revealed that the employee was dissatisfied with their job and the organization. The manager took steps to help the employee find another role. Two months later the employee was able to secure a new position elsewhere. The company saved time and money, and were able to shift responsibilities to others. Results

McLean & Company10 Helps you gain stakeholder buy-in. Gives you a high-level understanding of the training deck. Includes tools to prepare for training and stakeholder buy-in. Includes tools to measure and evaluate training. Deliverable in a one-day training session. Pre-filled with content and activities. Customizable to time constraints, legislative requirements, and organization-specific topics. Help organize logistics and budget. Help gain stakeholder buy-in. Evaluate training delivery. Evaluate participant learning. Assess behavioral change. Evaluate business impact. Use this McLean & Company manager training blueprint to deliver impactful training The training deck is made up of key research in the storyboard, tools, and templates, as well as the main deliverable: the Training Deck. When it comes to handling difficult conversations, we are trained by our culture. We see people avoiding, turning them into contests, trying to win at all costs, and fighting or freezing. We rarely see them handled skillfully. – Judy Ringer, Conflict & Communications Specialist, Author, and Coach, Power and Presence Training Storyboard Training Deck Tools & Templates Use this blueprint to helpcounteract this poor culturaltraining and other challengesto effective difficultdiscussions.

McLean & Company11 Use the Stakeholder Presentation Template to gain project buy-in to implement training The Stakeholder Presentation Template:Stakeholder Presentation Template Organizes information for you. Comes pre-filled with McLean & Company research from the storyboard and the training deck. Is customizable by filling in: o An overview of the situation specific to the organization. o Related metrics. o Proposed logistics and costs.

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