{"id":4898,"date":"2018-12-05T13:14:00","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T18:14:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/?p=4898"},"modified":"2026-04-14T19:47:04","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T19:47:04","slug":"communication-is-key-four-difficult-hr-conversations","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/blog\/article\/communication-is-key-four-difficult-hr-conversations\/","title":{"rendered":"Communication Is Key: Four Difficult HR Conversations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-difficult-hr-conversations\">Difficult HR conversations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Having difficult and sometimes awkward conversations with employees is part of a manager\u2019s role. Often, these conversations are about sensitive matters and are uncomfortable for both parties. Good leaders address sensitive issues rather than avoiding them. But how an issue is communicated to an employee can greatly affect the outcome of the situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-getting-comfortable-with-discomfort\">Getting comfortable with discomfort<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Part of the challenge with having these conversations is getting over the fear or discomfort of having to do it. Some of the hardest conversations can be those regarding personal hygiene, performance issues, or very specific situations relating to a person\u2019s habits. While these conversations can be difficult, they have to happen in order for the issue to be corrected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-to-start-difficult-hr-conversations\">How to start difficult HR conversations<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Once a concern is brought to your attention, you must decide whether a conversation needs to take place. A single incident usually doesn\u2019t warrant action unless it\u2019s a serious matter. For example, if an employee arrives at work late once in three years, tardiness probably isn\u2019t a concern. However, if this is the third time they\u2019ve been late this week, you\u2019ll need to talk.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>After you\u2019ve established that an issue exists and a conversation is needed, it\u2019s important to schedule a meeting. Every situation is unique and will have its own considerations. However, it\u2019s essential that managers communicate the issue with care and take a constructive approach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator has-alpha-channel-opacity\"\/>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-start-difficult-hr-conversations-with-confidence\">Start difficult HR conversations with confidence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Our team of experienced HR and health and safety experts are here to help organizations and HR professionals achieve their organization&rsquo;s people and culture goals. Avoid costly mistakes and make a plan to tackle those difficult discussions with our\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/guide\/hrs-toughest-talks\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><strong>Guide to HR\u2019s Toughest Talks.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/emails.citationcanada.com\/hrs-toughest-talks-guide\">DOWNLOAD OUR GUIDE TO HR&rsquo;S TOUGHEST TALKS HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Get trusted advice on your next HR project while maintaining compliance in any jurisdiction. To learn more about our&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/hr-support-services\/unlimited-hr-advice\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">live HR advice<\/a>&nbsp;and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/hr-support-services\/hr-consultancy\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">HR consulting services<\/a>,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/book-a-demo\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">connect with us today<\/a>!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p style=\"font-size:14px\"><em>While Citation Canada uses reasonable efforts to maintain this site and blog posts in an up-to-date fashion, it does not warrant the completeness, timeliness, or accuracy of any information contained on this site or in any blog posts, whether in English or French. All information and services offered by Citation Canada are provided to users as is, with any faults, as available, at the sole discretion of users. Our human resources information and recommendations are based on seasoned, best practice experience and should not be construed as legal advice.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Difficult HR conversations<\/p>\n<p>Having difficult and sometimes awkward conversations with employees is part of a manager\u2019s role. Often, these conversations are about sensitive matters and are uncomfortable for both parties. Good leaders address sensitive issues rather than avoiding them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":4899,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4898"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18309,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4898\/revisions\/18309"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4899"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.citationcanada.com\/fr\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}