Shelter Chieza Change Managenemnt
Leniency has been known to cost companies a lot of money. It’s costly to keep human “liabilities” within your company. The job of a manager can be both enjoyable and tough especially where under and over achieving employees are involved. The role of a manager gives you the muscle to choose individuals that you want to eliminate or keep in your team.
Most companies have no place for under achievers and second chances are given in non profit making organisations.
The inability to fulfil the requirement nullifies the purpose of retaining an employee within a company.
Leniency has been known to cost companies a lot of money. It’s costly to keep human “liabilities” within your company.
If you were to work out the ratios of under-production that only one person in the production chain brings, you may be shocked by what they are costing the company.
In one of Google’s profiles, I learnt that they have an extremely high recruitment bill. Despite their attraction of the best talent, Google is aware that for every job they have advertised, there are about three thousand more brilliant applicants waiting to jump onto the wagon.
If only we would strive to achieve the Google work ethic, we would be set out to attract only the best in the trade.
In fact, getting an opportunity to work at Google would change your work ethos — you would dare not even lose a second of concentration.
You are reminded every day that there are potential achievers waiting to replace you. There are other less brutal ways of dealing with an underachiever.
As a supervisor, you are the one that is responsible for dealing with the less-than-perfect performers.
This may be time and instance when you have to inform the HR department or inform “outsiders” so that you can also cover your back.
Let us take it step by step, summoning this type of person for starters would do them some good.
Make sure they are aware of their key result areas, their job description, roles and responsibilities.
In that meeting you may be able to pick up things that may be bothering them, personal or work related.
Deal with this with the highest composure and respect you can have, remember this person was hired under the assumption that they are capable of delivering.
Make sure that you keep communication lines with them open. If a little progress has been made, make sure it is noticed and rewarded.
Be the type of person that provides constructive suggestions. There are also team dynamics that may bring up under achievers within the organisation. In any team there are individuals that always clash and disagree on handling matters. Make sure they are aware that despite their disagreements, they must still work together.
Team members have often echoed how much they are unaware of the goals and objectives because the manager has not clearly articulated the vision.
Team members must know that they cannot afford to take their eyes off the ball. Make sure you emphasise that key deliverables are met, targets are met, innovativeness and efficiency issues are at its peak, zero tolerance of lacklustre performance from the rest of the team.
While under achievers are easier to handle most managers find it difficult to deal with over achievers.
These are the kind of people that take on extra task without being asked to. These are overly concerned with meeting deadlines or even completing tasks before the deadline.
You must learn what motivates them and make sure they have something challenging on their hands at all times.
Over achievers are the sorts that would avoid working within teams and may virtually break all rules because they seem to know it all and have done it all.
These would prefer to take short cuts on everything and would rather their peers profile and do the details for them.
Be careful with overachievers, they are prepared to take risks at all costs. If over achievers find thrill in completing tasks ahead of time, ensure that you involve them in the planning stages of a project.
Over achievers love being acknowledged, be sure to pat their back and acknowledge whenever you can.
It is not so easy to find employees that are smart and are high achievers but are also highly reliable and innovative.
Being an effective manager means that you must recognise and maximise what each employee brings to the table.
It is not easy to complete tasks to perfection when you have a team that has under achievers and over achievers but it can be done.
Till next week, may God richly bless you! Shelter Chieza is a Management Consultant. She holds over a decade of Management Experience .She can be contacted at shelter.chieza@gmail.com