“When I hire people, after a while many of them get comfortable with their jobs. Even worse, some of them come to think they”™re untouchable. I know they”™ve grown into important roles, but that kind of attitude isn”™t good for the company. What should I do?”
Thoughts of the Day: Build an organization of team players by giving people goals and challenges. Remember, no matter how key an employee may seem to be, everyone is replaceable. Use regular reviews to tell people where they stand. It all comes down to what you”™re willing to accept, and whether or not you”™re willing to make and enforce demands.
A team of employees focused on a common goal working together to understand and overcome a set of challenges can accomplish substantially more than any single individual. Assign all employees to teams. Look for opportunities to have people overlap duties and back up other positions.
Target the people who are isolated either by job function or by personal choice. For starters, ask them to join a group project, with a clearly defined goal and a leader who is good at including team members. Make it clear that part of their performance review is based on how well they perform as a team member. Ask the team leader for regular updates. If necessary, provide one-on-one counseling to the people you”™re working to turn into collaborators.
Sometimes you may run into a fit issue: meaning, the people you”™re counseling are having trouble fitting in as productive team members. Document the work they do. Start cross training others to do some, or all, of their job. Keep in mind that your responsibility is to the company overall. With enough documentation and cross training, even key players can be replaced.
Meet individually and explain that subpar performance on a team could get in the way of making progress in the company. If behavior is especially disruptive or if you”™ve been through multiple counseling sessions and there”™s no real progress, make sure that person knows that they could be facing consequences up to and including termination if they don”™t shape up. Don”™t be subtle at this stage. Make sure the message gets across.
At the same time that you”™re telling people they”™re in trouble, post their jobs and look for potential replacement candidates. Many times managers and business owners hesitate to draw the line with disruptive or uncooperative employees because they fear no one else can do the job. Looking for replacements and training others to do some, or all, of the job will give you options.
In general, it is wise to conduct reviews with people once or twice a year. Try to keep people on their toes by finding the balance between giving them new tasks to master and allowing them sufficient time to get good at existing assignments. Everyone should have a mix of some new things to learn, some things they can do really well and a bunch of things that they”™re working toward mastering.
Set the tone for the company as you conduct reviews. Give people realistic stretch goals. Put it in the context of what the company has to achieve in the upcoming year and how their success at mastering new goals is essential to that progress.
Make time to review company results and to plan out what”™s needed for the company going forward. Make it your job to demand excellence from everyone around you, starting with yourself. Create a culture of accountability, responsibility and striving to achieve.
Limit the time you spend with marginal performers, energy suckers and self-serving individuals. Recognize and reward the people who perform in an atmosphere of collaboration, cooperation and acting in the best interests of the company. Give them 80 percent of your time. After all, the team players are your future.
Book recommendation: “HR from the Heart: Inspiring Stories and Strategies for Building the People Side of Great Business” by Martha Finney.
Andi Gray is president of Strategy Leaders Inc., strategyleaders.com, a business consulting firm that specializes in helping small to midsize, privately held businesses achieve doubled revenues and tripled profits in repetitive growth cycles. Interested in learning how Strategy Leaders can help your business? Call now for a free consultation and diagnostic process: (877) 238-3535. Do you have a question for Andi? Email her at AskAndi@StrategyLeaders.com Visit www.AskAndi.com for an entire library of Ask Andi articles.
