Have you ever received the “inheritance surprise?” No, not the one that comes after probate proceedings. “Inheritance surprise” is the surprise you get you get a new employee and find their performance is not up to expectations.
Managers inherit employees in two ways: when the supervisor is new to the work group or when the employee is new to the supervisor. Inheriting employees is a fact of supervisory life. The inheritance experience can be either positive or dreadful, depending on how the employee’s previous supervisor managed the employee’s performance. When supervisors “pass the buck” they create the “inheritance surprise.” Unfortunately, this is all too common in the public sector.
When you inherit an employee without accompanying notes from the previous supervisor, you are “starting from scratch” with the employee. If the employee has been a poor performer in the past and previous supervisors have not addressed the issue, you are expected to take it on. No one wants to be in this awkward situation.
You can avoid the inheritance surprise by following these simple practices:
- Discuss performance issues with employees when the issues arise. Don’t wait for a “good time” to raise a concern. There is never a good time except for now.
- Document the discussions and agreements you have with the employee in your working file.
- If your organization’s policies allow it, pass your working file to the employee’s new supervisor when the employee leaves your work unit.
- When you inherit a new employee, review the notes created by the previous supervisor. You may also want to look at the employee’s past performance evaluations. If there were performance challenges in the employee’s history, discuss those with the employee immediately to establish common ground and a plan for moving forward productively.
- Have an “expectations conversation” with all new employees as soon as you begin working together.
In short, stop passing the buck! We can eliminate the “inheritance surprise” by practicing effective performance management. When you do a good job of managing employee performance, you benefit, the employee benefits, the organization benefits, and so does the supervisor who follows you.
