How To Handle Lazy Employees

Last week I posted a blog that got a lot of comments, it was called: On The Intolerance Of Mediocrity. One of the folks that shared some feedback indicated that he was struggling with employees that were, shall we say, less than extremely motivated. I was beginning to write out a reply to him and realized it was probably best to post it as a blog so that everyone could see my ideas and comment as well. Here are my suggestions for dealing with lackadaisical employees.

Ask yourself these questions:

1. Do they have clear, specific and measurable performance expectations?
2. Have those expectations been exceedingly well communicated to them?
3. Have they agreed to deliver those expectations?
4. Do they have all the training, tools and support necessary to achieve those expectations?
5. Are they held rigorously accountable for achieving those expectations?
6. Do they get positive reinforcement for positive behavior and negative reinforcement for negative behavior?
7. Do they understand the impact their behavior is having on the overall business?
8. Do they understand the impact their behavior is having on the rest of the employees?
9. Do they realize what is at stake if they do not meet expectations?
10. Do they understand all of the positive ramifications if they exceed expectations?

These are just 10 questions to get you thinking, but if you’ve got employees who are not delivering the required results, I would look over this list and see if there is any place where you have not given them what they need to succeed. It’s one of the things I learned a long time ago as a young manager, if one of my people is not performing the way I want them to, it is my fault. Either I hired the wrong person, did not train them well enough, did not explain what I really wanted, didn’t give them the tools or support they needed… it was always something that I did wrong and I simply had to take accountability and ownership for fixing the situation. If you do the same, I’m confident you will get a positive resolution, one way or the other.

I hope you found this helpful in a very much look forward to your comments – John