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The Problem Employee
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All rights reserved
By Ken Chapman, Ph.D.
Ken Chapman & Associates, Inc.
Most leaders have a few “problem” employees. These employees may not work
to their full potential or they may be too cautious or too slow. As a
leader, do not give up on them. Their problems may be easily solved. Here
are three tactics to use when faced with this situation.
1. Stack the deck in their favor. Many “unproductive”
employees simply lack self-confidence. They do not try hard because they
are afraid to fail. Assign these employees a project in which you know they
will have success. Then, assign another, and so on. After each success,
offer praise and recognition. Build confidence project by project until
they are ready to take on harder challenges.
2. Find out if they are afraid of being promoted. This happens
more than you might think. Employees do not perform as well as they can
because they do not want to move up. They are afraid of more responsibility
and commitment or they do not want to manage others. These people are to be
treasured. Expand their responsibilities within their area of expertise.
Let them know that you like them where they are at, but you want them to be
the best they can be within their comfort zone.
3.
Separate the behavior from the employee. Ask yourself, has the employee
always acted this way or is the behavior something new? If the behavior is
not consistent with what you know about the employee, then start looking for
deeper reasons. There might be problems at home, maybe depression has set
in. It could even be a substance abuse problem. By not performing, they
could be sending out a cry for help. Be there for them and they will be
there for you later.
For more information about
Ken Chapman and Associates’ Leadership Development Programs, contact Ken
Chapman at 205.366.0265 or email Ken at
kchapman@leaderscode.com.
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