How to help worn out employees perform better?

Get Up And Get Going...

• Understanding mediocre or poor performers goes a long way in correcting a negative work atmosphere
• Tackling deadbeat employees needs time and tact

When employees face stress, deadlines, appraisals and demands of personal life, some of them emerge tougher. Sadly, there are some who succumb to such pressures and are worn out soon. They exhibit lethargy, lack of interest in work and resentment against the employer.

Typically, they are mediocre performers, and are referred to as ‘deadbeat employees’. While they are not the kind of performers that the employer wants to reward, they aren’t underperformers either to be shown the door. The mark of such employees is their lack of enthusiasm and passion. They perform only to meet deadlines, but do not seek career growth; they are averse to learning new things.

Negative Impact

Experts believe that deadbeat employees usually ruin the learning, morale and performance of other employees. As it will be difficult for co-workers to escape from such negative impact, it is for the employers to deal with the problem. Experience and common sense says that if such employees are ignored or left to change by themselves, the workplace can soon turn indifferent to the company culture and even start disrespecting it.

The following is what the deadbeat employee does:

• Passes improper comments about the organisation and its culture
• Talks about the work negatively with co-workers during breaks and lunch time
• Criticises company policies and spreads dissatisfaction in the workplace

Most employers are unsure of how to deal with such employees, who spell trouble for workplace positivism and morale.

Understanding Employees

It is important for every employer to understand employee behaviour, and why behavioural deviations arise amongst employees. Most employees start off with zeal and energy, but somewhere down the line, when things do not happen as planned or perceived, disappointment sets in.

Understanding what has gone wrong is a difficult task for managers. This is because employees are not open to accepting the problem or taking responsibility for mediocrity at work. Employers face crisis for three reasons:

• They fail to recognise a troublesome employee
• The employee spreads his discontentment to others
• Dealing with such an employee requires time, tact and effort

The following measures will help employers handle such problems efficiently:

Discuss the issue:

Have an open, serious discussion with the employee. A straight no-nonsense talk can alert the employee a great deal. Once the deadbeat employee knows that, as an employer, you are serious about the issue, he/she will share his concerns and speak out. Once, the employee realises that the manager will help him overcome indolence, it is important to brief him about the expectations regarding his progress at work.

Customised incentives may help him strive better and overcome sluggishness. In short, clear communication and intolerance to negative attitude can help smarten the worker.

Set goals:

Help the employee in setting achievable goals, discuss acceptable and unacceptable behaviours with him and help him align behaviour at work with goals. Review his behaviour and efforts to improve constantly. Acknowledge a positive change and encourage his efforts. Such small steps can help the employee eliminate negative attitude and bring in new perspectives to work.

Back to basics:

Putting the employee through the grind of training will help him overcome his limitations and learn the ropes of the business. Most employees argue that they are good enough for the job and there is no need to re-train. But, a firm management must communicate to the employee that it is important to go through the training to help him perform better and retain the job.

Time to review:

Once the communication and training bit is done, the manager must review the employee’s work to see for progress or digress. In case of poor performance and unchangeable attitudes, the employee must be warned firmly. It should be clear that disinterested work patterns and attitudes will not be tolerated and will be subjected to further disciplinary action.

Time to say good bye:

If the employee doesn’t change, and continues with his mediocrity despite all efforts, warnings and the helping hand from managers, it is time to take action against him. The employer has enough reasons to terminate his services. Communicate the same to him in a very private and calm manner to avoid a heated discussion. Articulate the reasons and avoid being impertinent. Tell him how his poor performance was damaging the morale and productivity of the organisation. Experts say that most deadbeat employees are prepared for this sooner or later. So, managing the termination is usually without affliction.

Lesson learnt

Once the employer is done with dealing with such employees, it conveys a very important lesson to the organisation—it pays to be extra cautious in recruiting employees, screening for negative attitudes and building a positive work culture!!!

Reference:
The ManageMentor
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