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Fingerprinting job applicants: When to do it, when not to filled and want to replicate that behav- ior. You say, "Bad job," and people want to correct the behavior and do better next time. But what Kluger realized is that a person's relationship with their job, or even with a particular aspect of that job, is a crucial component to how feedback is received. "It depends on whether you do things out of desire or you do things out of necessity," he said. For example, if I write a column about something I really care about and an editor looks at a draft and says, "Wow, that's great," that positive feedback will likely motivate me even more. But if the editor says the column idea is no good, I may well disregard the negative feed- back because it runs counter to my desire to write the column. In that case, the positive feedback can motivate but the negative feedback is unlikely to be received. When you do something out of neces- sity – Kluger used filling out an expense report as an example – the feedback is processed differently. If someone in accounting tells you what a great job you did on your expense report, you might actually put less work into it next time around. "You'll tell yourself, 'OK, next time I don't need to organize it so well, I can just give it to them and let them deal with it,'" Kluger said. "You get a signal that you've done too much, so the posi- tive feedback leads you to slack the next time." There can also be variances in feed- back reception based on personality traits, leading Kluger to this conclusion: "If you know how to calculate all these different things in real time, then you can give effective feedback. Good luck with that." It could be that the reason so many performance reviews are either useless or, in some cases, damaging is that we're approaching employee evalua- tions entirely wrong. Which brings us to the feedforward interview, which is broken into ques- tions that start with getting the employee to relate a successful work experience. In a 2010 paper Kluger co-authored with his colleague Dina Nir, the sug- gested question is: "Could you please tell me a story about an experience at work during which you felt at your best, full of life and in flow, and you were content even before the results of your actions became known?" From there, the interviewer asks the employee to identify the peak moment in that experience, and how he or she felt at that moment. The next question is: What were the conditions, in you, others and in the organization that allowed this story to happen? In other words, what did you do right, what did co-workers do right and what did managers or the company itself do right? The final inquiry is the key: To what extent are your current behaviors at work or your plans for the immediate future taking you closer to, or further away from, the conditions that allowed you to succeed in that story? By eliciting a success story from the employee and probing the dynamics behind that success, the manager can quickly get a sense of what that employ- 2 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS • September 3 2015 employee reviews . . . from page 1 Liz Reyer is a credentialed coach with more than 20 years of business experience. Her company, Reyer Coaching & Consulting, offers services for organiza- tions of all sizes. Submit questions or comments about this column at www.deliverchange.com/coachscorner or email her at lizdeliverchange.com. Dealing with a direct report who's easily offended & A Q A publication of Conley Media Distributed by: Conley Distribution 262-513-2646 ©2004 by Conley Media, LLC Waukesha County Independent and Locally Owned GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS is published weekly by Conley Media – Waukesha County, 801 N. Barstow St., Waukesha, WI 53186. Contents of this publication may not be reproduced in any form without the written consent of the publisher. GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS assumes no liability for any error in copy or content. It is the advertiser's responsibility to be aware of the laws pertaining to employment advertising. Subscriptions are available for $34 (non-refundable) for a 6-month subscription. Call 262-306-5008 for information. Call Center Director: Cindy Shaske 262-306-5016 cshaske@conleynet.com Account Executive: Julie Sears 262-306-5008 jsears@conleynet.com Story Coordinator: Dan Muckelbauer 262-513-2626 dmuck@conleynet.com Production: Patricia Scheel 262-513-2690 GREATERmilwaukeeJOBS Volume 17 • Number 51 September 3, 2015 To place an ad: Call us at 262-306-5008 or fax us at 262-542-6082 deadline: Noon on Wednesdays see EMPLOYEE REVIEWS . . . page 6 A. Getting the message through is worth the effort if you can communicate in a way he'll hear. First of all, be clear in your own mind that you're not personally responsible for his responses in this situation.While it is your role as a leader to mentor, don't become involved at a dysfunctional level. At the same time, ensure that the overall work environment is positive and that the work gets done effectively. Take a look at his behavior overall; does he generally get along well with others and catch on to social cues? If not, he may have some emotional intelligence shortfalls that cause him to have trouble making an accurate interpreta- tion of disagreements. It sounds like the basic issue is that he sees in black and white: If I am not right, then you're the enemy (exaggerated, but not by much). Also consider whether it's having a material impact. Are other people bothered? Is progress on projects impeded? If so, you have a more urgent call to action. If not, it's more of a matter of doing right by your team members by helping him become more effective. So, what can you do? As in all human interac- tions, the key will be communication. Set up time to talk with him, focusing on a recent case when this behavior has shown up. Ask him to walk you through the experience, paying atten- tion to the tone of the exchange (as he reports it) and his reaction.Your goal will be to get him to see alternative explanations, and there are some coaching tools that can help you along the way. For example, he might say something like, "She told me that my approach wouldn't work; I know she doesn't like working with me." Try asking, "What other experiences might explain her reservations?" or "what other explanation might there be for her reaction?" Also, push him to notice times when he gets along fine with the person as evidence that it's not about personal regard for him. This may require multiple conversations to help him adapt his point of view.You might also provide examples of debates where the pur- pose is to explore ideas through mutual chal- lenge so that he can see that disagreement doesn't mean attack. Point out examples at work where dialogue and diverse viewpoints have led to tangibly better outcomes. Again, remember that he's going to have to be willing to grow. If he's unable to move beyond this perception and it's damaging working relationships or interfering with getting good outcomes, he may have to be put on notice that it's affecting his job performance. Because let's face it, not everyone at work will always like him. And even if they do, they won't always agree with him. He needs to understand that it doesn't matter; the expecta- tion is to be civil and respectful, including when disagreeing on a business topic. Q. One of my team members takes it personally when clients disagree with him; he even is offended if other colleagues try to have a dialogue about opinions, and thinks that they don't like him. How can I help him see that everything isn't personal? By Liz Reyer Tribune News Service (TNS) DEAR CARRIE: We require all our employees to be finger- printed before they start work with us. In the past year we've hired two people, had them fin- gerprinted before their first day, and then for whatever reason, they never showed up for work. So we've lost $85 on each person. Going forward, can we legally require them to pay and then reimburse them after they start work? –Fine Print DEAR FINE PRINT: It's worth noting right off that employers can require prospective employees to be fingerprinted only if state law allows it, said employment attorney Howard Wexler of Seyfarth Shaw in Man- hattan. "Employers may not require fingerprinting of prospective or current employees, unless other- wise required by law to do so," Wexler said. "You should first check to make sure that you are in an industry that permits such fingerprinting of job applicants prior to employment." Some categories of workers that must be fingerprinted as a condi- tion of employment include school and law enforcement per- sonnel, securities brokers and hospital workers, Wexler said. Despite your frustration, requiring prospective employees to shell out money for a process you require isn't a good idea, he said. Paying for fingerprinting prima- rily happens one of two ways: Either a prospective employee is required to pay for the process see FINGERPRINTING . . . page 6 By Carrie Mason-Draffen Newsday (TNS) ,

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