When a good employee starts to slip, it's often not an attitude problem. The job changed, and nobody told them clearly.
This article is part of the Small Business Series: 13 short, practical articles for small and mid-sized businesses that want to compete with the big players without being their size. They all revolve around one idea: what your people know how to do is your biggest advantage, as long as it doesn't live only in someone's head. We'll look at how to put it in writing, teach it fast, prove it to your customers and measure it. A new article every Monday.
A story that keeps happening
Ana has been with you for three years. She was always one of the best. But in the last few months, something happened: mistakes on orders, a couple of complaints, a register that didn't balance.
The first reaction is to think she's lost her drive. That she doesn't care anymore. That it's time for "the talk."
But before that talk, someone checks and finds something else. Five months ago, the product codes changed. The notice went out in a message on a Saturday. Ana was on vacation. Since then she has been working from the old list, as well as ever, but with the wrong version.
Ana didn't stop being good. She just fell out of date.
Standards drift
That's the name for the gap between how the job should be done today and how each person actually does it. It grows on its own, without anyone deciding it:
- Changes are shared by word of mouth, in a message, or at a meeting not everyone attended.
- Shortcuts become habits.
- Each supervisor teaches their own version.
- Nobody checks if the change reached every person.
Nobody chooses to drift. It just happens, bit by bit, until one day it shows in the results.
Why it happens more to the good ones
It sounds backwards, but it makes sense. A new hire learns the current version because they're learning it for the first time. An experienced person works from memory. They already know how it's done, so they don't read it again. And since they're good, nobody watches them closely. They're the last to find out something changed.
Before the awkward talk, three questions
- Did anything in the procedure change in the last few months?
- How did we tell them? Was it formal, with a way to know they got it?
- When did we last check that they know the current version?
If you answer "I don't know" to any of these, the problem may well not be the person. It's the system around them.
The way out: light recertification
Light recertification is a short, regular check that each person knows the current version of the procedures that matter most. It's not a test to punish anyone. It's a routine, like checking the oil in your car.
- Short: five to ten minutes.
- Regular: every three months, and every time something important changes.
- Focused: only what's critical and what changed.
- Recorded: each person's result is saved, with a date.
- Kind: whoever misses gets a refresher, not a scolding.
| The awkward talk | Light recertification | |
|---|---|---|
| When does it happen? | After the damage is done | Before there is any |
| Who is it for? | One person who's been singled out | Everyone, as a routine |
| What does it catch? | One case | Everyone who is out of date |
| What does it leave behind? | Tension | A record and a fix |
How to start this month
- List the five procedures that cost you the most when they're done wrong.
- Write three to five questions about the current version of each one.
- Give them to everyone, veterans included. Especially veterans. And start with the managers: lead by example.
- Look at the results as a whole. Does everyone miss the same question? Then the problem is in how that change was shared.
- Repeat every quarter and every time something important changes.
If everyone misses the same question, you don't have a people problem. You have a communication problem. And that gets fixed just once.
In SHIFT LMS, artificial intelligence creates a short quiz based on your process, and it's assigned to the whole team. You see results by person and by question. Whoever needs a refresher gets one assigned. And you have dated proof of who knows the current version.
Frequently asked questions
What if it really is an attitude problem?
It can happen. Recertification helps there too. If the person showed they know the current version and still does it wrong, it's a different talk, and it's based on facts, not guesses.
Will my experienced employees be offended?
If you present it as something for everyone, starting with the managers, it becomes routine. What offends people is feeling singled out, not taking part in something everyone does.
How often should I do it?
Every three months is a good starting point, plus an extra round every time something important changes. If almost nobody misses, you can space it out.
Learn to calculate what this costs you.
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All 13 articles in the series
- September 28When the person who knew leaves, what they knew leaves too
- October 5Your onboarding lives in one person's head (and that person gets tired)
- October 1215 people start on Monday. Today is Thursday.
- October 19Your best employee stopped performing. Don't fire them yet. ← you are here
- October 26You know what turnover costs you. Here's what to do with that number.
- November 2The 40-page manual nobody read
- November 9The question that knocks you out of the bid
- November 16Your distributor sells your product badly. The distributor isn't the problem.
- November 23Your know-how lives in three people. That's why you can't open the fourth location
- November 30What you need to be able to prove if there's an accident tomorrow
- December 7The appendix that wins proposals
- December 14Much of your turnover happens in the first 90 days
- December 212027 budget: how to justify training when no department asks for it
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