Article Topics

This site was built according to strict accessibility standards so that all visitors may browse it easily.

| Valid HTML 4.01 Strict |Valid CSS

|Level Triple-A conformance W3C-WAI accessible web content |Section 508 Bobby-Approved accessible web content |

Home|

Articles 

|Career Coaching

| Books

| Radio Show|

Appearances

| About Marty| Blog | Twitter |Press

email iconsend this article to a friend

When You Have to Demote a Supervisee

By Marty Nemko

It's tough enough to give negative feedback when the problem is fixable--for example, if your supervisee has bad breath. But let's say you must demote someone because he's too unintelligent. One approach: "I've been thinking a lot about you and there's a good spot in the company where I think you'd do really well. (Describe the position enthusiastically.) The downside is that it pays $50 less per week. What do you think?" There's no need to label the person as incapable or the job change as a demotion. The key principle: allow the employee to save face.

Home | Articles | Career Coaching | Books | Radio Show | Appearances | About Marty | Blog |Press