You have an employee who performs well in most of their responsibilities, yet has one area they seem to avoid or performs below par.

A classic example is the sales person. Successful sales people have strong communication skills and know how to engage a prospect or client. They are highly motivated by the sale's process. They meet their quota or exceed it and you are a happy manager. You certainly don't want to change their performance in this area.

Yet this same person may be reluctant to complete the paperwork part of their responsibilities. Their talent lies with the sales side of the business and paperwork doesn't excite them or they find it too cumbersome to handle.

As a manager, sales are paramount to your business, and you need the paperwork to get the big picture of your business. How do you deal with this particular issue with an otherwise high performing employee?

For the record, there are sales people who are excellent at completing their paperwork, though most of them probably fall in the average to unsatisfactory range with paperwork...this is your challenge as the manager.

This is when thinking out of the box is important. Depending on your company's policies, you as the manager may have flexibility in dealing with this problem. Here are some ideas to jumpstart your brainstorming efforts:

-Technology makes it easier for the sales person to do their paperwork. Depending on the company's finances, find solutions that speed the paperwork effort for your sales team.

-Review the paperwork requirements and minimize the amount of time that the sales person has to perform this function.

-Pair up a Jr. Account Executive with a more seasoned player and the junior member of that team can do the paperwork in the beginning. If not a junior sales person, then provide back up administrative support for the sales people.

-If Friday afternoon is a slow sales day, then have your sales people update their paperwork then.

The above examples pertain to sales staff, but you can brainstorm and be creative in any position within your company.

If the employee is important to your team, sit down with the individual and discuss how to handle this situation. You can also partner with your HR professional or with another manager, to find potential solutions.

The overall goal is to keep strong performers and find solutions to support your business as well as the talent in your company.

Copyright (c) 2008 Pat Brill