Episode 203: Listener Mail – Don’t Attack the Person, Attack the Problem

Voice Over: You’re about to listen to another episode of What The Hell Just Happened?! Join Paul Edwards and his guests as they discuss and sometimes even solve some interesting HR problems.

Paul: And… I’m gonna go off the rails sometimes and talk about whatever I want.

Amanda: Hi, Tiana. Hi, Paul.

Tiana: Hey, Amanda. How’s it going?

Paul: Hey Amanda.

Amanda: Not too bad. How are you guys?

Paul: I’m doing good.

Tiana: Yeah

Paul: I got a brand new grill this week.

Tiana: Oh, new grill?

Paul: I kind of need an intervention, but.

[Tiana and Amanda laugh]

Amanda: Yeah, I feel like. What is this, like, your 500th grill?

Paul: No…

Amanda: Just since I’ve known you.

Paul: OK, it’s only 8.

[Amanda laughs]

Paul: Don’t judge me

Amanda: Wow!

Paul: I feel attacked right now.

Tiana: I don’t know, Paul. You might need to be just a little bit.

[Amanda laughs]

Tiana: We got to put the kibosh on the grill.

[Tiana laughs]

Paul: I just want to say, I just want that everybody who’s out there listening… to our one listener, Kenny in North Carolina-

[Amanda laughs]

Tiana: Hi Kenny.

Paul: I’ve been putting off buying this grill because it was like it was expensive-

Amanda: Mm hmm.

Paul: -and I didn’t think I deserved it. And I would go through these other grills- I can’t believe I waited this long to get this grill.

Tiana: Ohhh

Paul: The rest of the grills are pretty much dead to me, that’s all.

Tiana: Okay. It’s like the Cadillac of grills.

Paul: Yeah, it’s a pretty cool grill.

[Tiana laughs]

Paul: And by the way, again, for all of our listeners, it’s not a pellet grill. It’s a real grill. It has charcoal. It uses, you know, wood, charcoal, so. Okay, now back to the H.R. show.

Amanda: So, you know, here I am like it. Does it get hot? Okay, this will work for me as a grill.

[Tiana and Amanda laugh]

Tiana: And it does the job.

Amanda: Exactly. Well, I had some viewer mail we got sent to us that I wanted to present to both of you because I think you will be able to dive into this topic.

Paul: Wait. Viewer mail?

Amanda: Yeah.

Paul: Some people watching?

Amanda: Yeah-

Paul: I think you mean listener mail.

Amanda: I guess that’s a better way to say it, right?

Paul: Uh huh

Tiana: Listener. Viewer.

Amanda: You know, actually, Ali makes those videos on our social media about the podcast. She’s really good.

Paul: She did a really good one for the hitman.

Amanda: She really did.

Tiana: It’s really fun.

Amanda: Oh, my goodness. So, listener mail. Excuse me. It’s from someone named Kathryn, and she wrote in to us with a little predicament. She’s having. I’m going to read it to you both and let you kind of just share your thoughts.

Tiana: Cool.

Amanda: “I have an employee who is awesome, but she does not take criticism well. Every time another team member and or I go to talk to her about anything, even if it’s just a little workflow change to make life easier, she gets very defensive and offended. I try to kill her with kindness, but I’m getting to the point where I’m scared to talk to her any time I have to make even the smallest correction because she gets moody and standoffish. I’m always having to convince her we like and appreciate her and that she’s doing a great job because she’s very insecure and constantly thinks we’re about to fire her. How can I help her feel loved and appreciated, but also make improvements to help our practice?”.

Voice Over: Thanks for joining us for this week’s episode of What The Hell Just Happened? do Paul a favor; share this with your network. If you have an HR issue or a question, you’d like us to discuss on this show, send it to podcast@WTHjusthappened.com. For more HR advice and insights from Paul and his team of experts, you can also join the private Facebook group, HR Base Camp, or visit HRbasecamp.com. Make sure you tune in next week. And remember: better workplaces make better lives.