Leadership Tips for Underachieving Employees!
Posted by Celia Couture on Thu, Dec 16, 2010 @ 10:30 AM
For years, business owners have struggled with under-achieving employees. Underachieving employees are those that skate just under the radar. They do what they are told to do, meet minimum requirements, but rarely step up and go beyond expectations. A 2008 survey, "Rewards of Work Study" released in August, indicates that 44 percent of 2,00 employees surveyed are not committed to perform even though they know "what to do." Can you imagine a workforce where almost half of employees have low commitment!
Obviously, as company leaders we can't afford to have the trend continue. You need to ask yourself why this is happening and are you enabling the behavior because of your own policies and procedures?
Research has shown that most people want to be productive and want to contribute to the companies they work for. So why do some companies experience the challenge of working with employees that don’t want to make the commitment?
In my experience there are some key things to ask yourself to diagnose the problem.
- Are job descriptions and roles clearly defined?
- Are there adequate resources and support in place to assist employees in performing their jobs?
- Are there accountability metrics that reward employees for going above and beyond?
- Do employees see consequences for employees that don't contribute?
Answering these questions for your company can be a turning point for motivating employees. As leaders you are responsible for providing strong direction and leadership. If you want employees to understand what you expect you MUST communicate with them regularly and in a number of ways. Communication about performance expectations and performance results must be part of the communication framework for your company. If you don't communicate what you expect, then few employees know HOW to rise to the occasion and contribute at a higher level.
If you set performance standards HIGH, then your best employees WILL reach those standards. Leaders often make the mistake of not setting performance standards as high for their employees as they set for themselves. If you reward the behaviors you want repeated and do so publically you can begin to mitigate under-performing behavior. Remember that all behavior is LEARNED. The good news is that behavior can be modified. If you do nothing, then expect nothing in return.
Salary.com estimates the financial loss of potentially productive time to be in excess of $759 billion a year nationwide. "More than hours wasted, the fact is if someone is withholding effort--effort that could lead to innovations--that should be of deep concern to companies,' notes Roland E. Kidweel, associate professor of management at the University of Wyoming's College of Business.
Top performers want to perform at their peak. When they feel they can't, they will be vocal about it. If you do nothing, you will lose them! You must help employees understand that you value contribution and reward them!