Training imparts knowledge, skill, and behaviors; however, training alone will not cure poor performance. If training is provided as a solution to a non-training problem, performance will continue to be poor and resources will be wasted. As a supervisor or manager, it is important to always consider what training you need for yourself before deciding on training solutions for your employees. You may find that a change in your managerial style can produce a significant improvement in your employees' performance.  There are differences in managing inexperienced employees vs. those who are experienced.  Here are 5 tips for managing the more experienced. 

5 Tips for Managing Experienced Employees:

1. Don't Assume Questioning Equates to Challenging Your Authority - When experienced employees disagree with you or question a course of action, don't assume that they are challenging your authority. Experienced employees can be opinionated and outspoken, but that doesn't necessarily mean they're challenging your authority.
2. Involve Experienced Employees - Get to know your experienced employees and learn about their background. They can help you accomplish your objectives if you incorporate them into your plans as allies.
3. Solicit Their Advice - Experienced employees typically resent not being consulted when they possess expertise relevant to something you're working on. Ask for their opinions. Draw upon their experience and knowledge.
4. Don't Overmanage/Oversupervise - Experienced employees typically resent close supervision. It makes them feel like the boss doubts their competence. So, minimize the use of close supervision. Instead, use general supervision. Tell them what end-results you want and let them figure out how to make it happen. This approach will almost always be more effective with experienced employees.
5. Don't Undermanage/Undersupervise - Experienced employees don't want to be told how to do their job, but they do expect you to provide leadership and enforce standards. A hands-off approach, where employees do what they want, won't work well in most situations  

What other advice do you have for managing experienced employees?

You may also want to read:

• Managing Best Practices: Managing Inexperienced Employees
• Providing Constructive Feedback (Part I): 6 Tips to Follow
• Providing Constructive Feedback (Part II): 6 More Tips to Follow
• Creating an Effective Learning Organization: 17 Best Practices
• Getting Results from Training: The Importance of Perception