Being sensitive to others when trying to layoff during slow economy

As you know we are currently facing a downturn in the economy and have too many people and are going to have to do layoffs.  We have to figure out whom to layoff.  We have a big dilemma because one of our employees that we are thinking about laying off is going through a big divorce and we are afraid if we lay her off the husband will try to use this against her in the custody battle.  She has been a good personal friend but she is not as talented as one of our other people.  This is just one of the examples of the struggle we are having choosing whom to let go as we love all of the people that work for us.  What should we do?

How do I handle a Sensitive Account Executive?

I have been the director of  my team of account executives for the past two years. All of them are receptive to feedback except for my most senior person, who has been with the firm for 10 years. Every time I bring something to her attention or point out a way she can improve, she becomes very defensive and begins complaining how overworked she is and how loyal she has been to the firm in the past. 

On several occasions, she has even begun to cry and ends up leaving the room before we can resolve anything. I want to be understanding of her perspective but her workload is not higher than anyone else’s. I’m not sure how to approach her but I need to resolve this since it is having such a negative impact on our work relationship and it is beginning to affect the others on the team.

My Top Salesperson needs some polish

I manage a team of regional sales representatives for a nationwide pharmaceutical firm. The team performs well for the most part and reaches their quarterly and annual quotas. Unfortunately, I have a problem with my top sales person. While his numbers are great,  I have received a couple of complaints from his territory that he is over-aggressive in his approach and sometimes uses inappropriate language or “slang” when visiting offices. I brought these issues up at our last meeting and his response was positive and he promised to change the behavior. However, in my last “ride-along” with him, I noticed the same behavior. I did not say anything because I am concerned that I might stifle his performance. So I need some help. How can I get this high-performing employee to address some of these problematic behaviors without impacting the skills that make him a great salesperson?

Did I promote the wrong person?

I just promoted an employee and thought she was perfect for her new position.  She has done several things that were outside of her authority and is currently not doing what I expect of her.  I think I made a big mistake and since I filled her old position I think I must fire her.  What should I do?

Paying through the nose in salaries and not getting the results I want

We use a project management system that assigns tasks and displays who is accountable to take care of each responsibility. Yet, at the end of the day I continue to see tasks are not done in a timely matter. When I approach my team about the delays, I continue to hear excuses that there isn’t enough time. We’ve discussed time management, we put them on a schedule of what to take care of first thing in the morning, and considering to do a retraining. I am open to other ideas and suggestions.

Leaving tasks idle

When I am following up on status about a particular task, I discover this one little task that’s needed to get the job done is sometimes left idle because they are not sure who to delegate the task to. I have made two observations as to where the problem originates from, either they have been following up with the wrong person (find out later when the person finally says something) or when the person receives the information they dont know what to do with it and let it sit. Rather than ask around who gave them this assignment and bring it up that this is not something that they handle, it sits there on their desk….marinating. I have already communicated during staff meetings that they cannot cop the attitude of “it’s not my responsibility and leave it there” and yet these problems continue to arise. What steps should be taken to prevent these communication breakdowns?