Don’t Stress Out Trying to Motivate Slackers

You’ve heard it a hundred times, “A great manager can motivate anyone.” Hogwash.

The fact is some slackers simply don’t care and are beyond motivation.  And it’s a waste of your limited time and energy to keep trying.  If you’re sick and tired and stressed out because you’ve accepted responsibility for motivating slackers, prepare for the inevitable effects of continued frustration and emotional pain.  You’ll be exhausted, burn out and get physically ill.

Unfortunately, managers often find themselves pressured to motivate everyone.  And both they and their bosses may see these managers as failures when they can’t pull it off.  It’s time to give them a break.

To read the rest of this article from the Business First of Louisville, see: Don’t stress out trying to motivate slackers http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2007/05/28/editorial3.html

Many slackers are like teenagers who don’t want to take out the trash or clean their rooms.  They pretend they’re not responsible or don’t know how.  They act as if there’s a debate going on between them and their managers, and they don’t have to do the work unless they like the bribe.  Slackers are sneaky, manipulative bullies.

Motivating your employees is an important part of being a good manger.  It’s also important to recognize the ones who can’t be motivated, so you don’t waste time trying to do the undoable.

If they’re not performing, let them know immediately and link consequences and rewards to performance.  You can’t make them happy enough to work hard.  If they don’t respond to praise or fear with increased productivity, let them look for a job where they’ll be appreciated for slacking.  Or, maybe, a termination will change their slacker attitude.

You’re not looking for people who require constant motivation and micromanagement.  You’re looking for people who come to you inspired and eager to face challenges, who take responsibility and who succeed.

Keeping a slacker forces good performers to pick up that slack.  You’re simply spreading the stress around so you don’t have to bear the whole burden.  That’s a poor reward for a good performer.  It’s as if you’re saying, “I can count on you so I’m going to give you a bonus of extra work.  We’re going to continue paying that underperforming slacker while you carry their slack in addition to the two jobs you already do.”

The most dismal cases are in organizations that promote slackers to management or allow slacking managers to stay.  That spreads slacking over a wider territory.

In the real world it’s everyone’s job, including a president or CEO, to motivate his supervisors that he’s worth keeping.  Why should it be up to your managers to motivate the slackers on your payroll?  Slackers should be working hard to motivate you to keep them.

Slackers create the same symptoms.  Performance decreases.  Behavior sinks to the lowest level tolerated.  Narcissists, incompetent, lazy, gossip, back-stabbing, manipulation, hostility, crankiness, meeting sabotage, negativity, relentless criticism, whining, complaining, cliques, turf control, toxic feuds, harassment, bullying and abuse thrive.  Power hungry bullies take power.

Don’t waste your valuable people time on slackers.  You won’t make things better being a peacemaker.  Begging, bribery, endless praise, appeasement, endless ‘second chances,’ unconditional love and the Golden Rule usually encourage more harassment, bullying and abuse.  Stop emotional bullies and stop bullying.

High standards protect everyone from unprofessional behavior.  You can learn to eliminate the high cost of low attitudes, behavior and performance.

All tactics are situational.  Expert coaching and consulting can help you create and implement a plan that fits you and your organization.

Don't ignore new hires after they start work

You’ve spent a lot of money finding and hiring the perfect employee.  Do you kick back, feel the thrill of success, and throw the new hire into the jungle in hopes they’ll become productive rapidly? If you do, you’ve just wasted all the time and money you spent making that great hire.

To read the rest of this article from Business First of Louisville, see: Don’t ignore new hires after they start work http://www.bizjournals.com/louisville/stories/2008/01/28/editorial1.html

For example, Helen was a highly skilled manager with a great track record.  On the first day at her new company, she was introduced – then senior management abandoned her.  Thus, the predators on her team felt emboldened, and immediately tried to see how far they can push her.  Who’s really going to be the alpha wolf and control this turf?

Helen wanted to start off on the right foot.  So she talked reasonably to each of them, one to one.  She tried to understand why they were so hostile and tried to get them to understand how much her feelings were hurt.

The bullies interpreted her reasonableness as weakness and her hurt feelings as vulnerability.  They remained hostile and righteous.  They escalated their emotional harassment and abuse into a feeding frenzy.  They claimed it was Helen’s fault their feelings were hurt.  Her feelings didn’t matter to those narcissistic bullies.  They told her they had nothing to apologize or make amends for.  Their threat: If Helen didn’t leave them alone, they’d complain to the senior manager.

Helen felt like she was the new kid trying to break into a clique of junior high school princesses.

Leadership spent a lot of time, energy and money hiring Helen but they failed to support her.  They didn’t set the tone for how new hires are to be treated.  When they didn’t support Helen’s attempts to set high behavioral standards, they enabled a toxic workplace and she moved onto bigger and better things.

Imagine your company beginning with a vacuum of standards for behavior.  If you and the highest quality staff don’t set the tone for the workplace, the most vicious and nasty members of your staff will fill the vacuum with their standards.

I discovered that the leaders at Helen’s organization weren’t merely absentee, they were conflict-avoidant cowards.  They weren’t successful leaders.  They tried to avoid stopping bullying while they whined and complained, “Why can’t we all just get along?”

Don’t throw new hires to the turf-building jackals.  The simple solution is to develop and implement an effective “How We’ll Welcome the New Employee” plan.

The welcoming process may sound like a huge expense.  But compare it to the cost of losing a perfect hire, having to repeat the hiring process and probably watching your next generation of leaders leave or sink down to the lowest level.  Problems welcoming new hires are a sign of widespread bullying and abuse, and lack of planning and oversight.

Don’t let that happen.  Your job as a leader is to actively set the tone.  You can’t allow the most predatory members of your organization to feed on other staff.

Learn what you can do to eliminate the high cost of low attitudes, behavior and performance.

All tactics are situational.  Expert coaching and consulting can help you create and implement a plan that fits you and your organization.