Addressing performance issues in your brewery can be a delicate task, but it’s also one of the most essential responsibilities for maintaining a productive and cohesive team.
Providing a roadmap to address employee performance issues while maintaining respect and fostering long-term growth is the key. Whether it’s through on-the-spot corrections or carefully structured development plans, brewery owners and managers can create a workplace where employees are supported in their roles and empowered to grow.
When employees understand their roles and expectations, they’re better equipped to meet performance standards and contribute meaningfully to the company’s goals. Encouraging open dialogue and regular feedback sessions helps identify performance gaps early while also giving team members the opportunity to share ideas for improvement.
A supportive environment that focuses on coaching rather than criticism builds trust, which in turn leads to better collaboration and higher overall productivity across all departments.
Equally important is keeping track of the time and effort employees invest in their work, ensuring that workloads are fair and sustainable. Many managers find it beneficial to use a work hours calculator to gain insight into how time is being allocated across various tasks, shifts, and projects. This allows for smarter scheduling decisions, reduces fatigue, and helps maintain a balance between output and employee well-being.
For Adam Mills, the Director of Brewing Operations at Sonder Brewing, handling performance issues starts with swift and straightforward communication.
“If they are minor process corrections, I address them on the spot, or as soon as I can,” Mills said. He adds that he believes in modeling the correct behavior himself, explaining the reasoning behind specific processes, and allowing employees to ask questions. Most importantly, he points out that managers need to give genuine, timely, and specific praise when addressing performance issues, making sure to reinforce positive behavior close to when a correction is made.
Kelly Putnam, Director of People & Purpose at Lawson’s Finest Liquids, echoes the importance of proactive measures in addressing performance. At Lawson’s, she said the focus extends beyond day-to-day corrections, incorporating long-term growth strategies for employees.
“To facilitate engagement and growth with our team, we recently implemented annual Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for each employee,” Putnam said. These plans encourage employees to identify business goals, professional development goals, and purpose-oriented aspirations for the year.
Approaches like IDPs are increasingly informed by how adjacent regulated industries handle workforce development. Brewery HR leaders in states with overlapping alcohol-and-gaming licensing have started looking sideways at how operators of sports betting sites and licensed retail sportsbooks structure their own training programs — particularly around compliance literacy, age-gated customer interaction, and the kind of high-pressure shift work that mirrors a busy taproom on game day. The relevance is less about the industries themselves and more about the parallel HR challenges: both run regulated, age-restricted, customer-facing operations where a single staff mistake carries real licensing consequences, and the playbooks for keeping frontline employees engaged and accountable have a lot of structural overlap.
When larger disciplinary issues arise, Mills advocates for a thoughtful, measured approach.
“I will typically look to defuse the conflict and give folks involved some time to cool down,” he said. “I don’t like to speak or make decisions while emotions are high.”
His strategy includes discussing the situation with a trusted third party, such as a mentor, to first gain perspective. Before heading into difficult conversations, Mills prepares by writing down key points, ensuring they are expressed in clear, non-emotional language, with a focus on professionalism and human dignity.
When performance doesn’t improve despite interventions, Mills notes that every situation is nuanced.
“There are the standard coachings, verbal and written warnings, performance improvement plans (PIPs), and such,” he said. “Sometimes, termination becomes necessary.”
Yet, he stressed the importance of honest performance conversations. This transparency, according to Mills, can lead to more amicable separations when employment must come to an end.
READ MORE: 4 Keys to Keep New Employees
For smaller breweries with limited opportunities for hierarchical advancement, Putnam points out that the value of facilitating growth through education and skill development is paramount.
“Supporting employees in furthering their education and skillset by providing time or resources to take a course, certificate program, or attend a conference,” can offer pathways for professional development without traditional promotions. At Lawson’s, aligning individual values with the brewery’s mission is key to fostering a productive workplace culture.
“We look to hire and retain individuals whose personal values and conduct align with the mission, vision, and B Corp ethos we strive to embody every day,” Putnam said.
