How to Deal With a Bad Staff of Employees
Action that a company takes to remedy staff effectiveness issues depends on what the problem is. If the cluster of bad staff is simply not interested in working hard, motivation techniques may be the key. If the employees behave inappropriately around clients or colleagues, cluing them in may be necessary. If overuse of social networking, general time-wasting and lack of discipline is an issue, the company may require structures to help guide employees and give management tools for correction. Whatever the case, putting the time in to make things better can turn around bad staff.
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Instructions
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Take steps to motivate otherwise good employees who have lost interest in working hard. According to Christine Perkett in a June 2011 "Bloomberg Businessweek" piece, fostering employee's interests outside of work can improve working environments and productivity. Perkett suggests encouraging sensible working hours that allow employees to have a healthy work/life balance.
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Encourage employees to discuss their out-of-office activities and accomplishments in a public newsletter or blog. Sponsor a friendly competition among staff members about personal, rather than professional skills; for example, cooking, taking photos or adopting a healthy lifestyle. With these techniques in place, the office should be less of a strain for employees and enhance the quality of their work.
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Intervene when staff behavioral issues become a problem. In an environment where employees are visible and their actions directly reflect on the company, such as cashiers in a retail environment, it is important to let people know when their actions need changing. In a 2009 "Entrepreneur" piece David G. Javitch notes that bad behavior can negatively affect both customers and co-workers.
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Start by letting the individuals know their behavior needs to change and give them a way to fix it. As Javitch notes, often bad staff will not realize they are doing anything wrong. For example, advise your retail staff to keep busy with shelf stocking or cleaning when they are not busy on cash instead of standing around. Advise those same employees to avoid sensitive topics of conversation, such as politics and religion, when dealing with customers.
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Create and enforce attendance, equipment use and other workplace policies if discipline is an issue. HR expert Christina Stovall, quoted in an MSN "Business on Main" article, notes that it is up to each company to determine when the use of social media on the job is too much and falls into the category of bad behavior. The same line must be drawn when it comes to attendance and project deadlines. Gabriela Cora, leadership consultant, told MSN policies and procedures must be in place for this reason. For example, a company should determine if social media access from company electronic equipment is allowed, and for how many hours a day. Allowable absences should fall within established criteria. When employees violate these guidelines, they should receive warnings and appropriate reprimands. Overall, good communication and clearly laying out of expectations is necessary to deal with this category of bad staff.
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References
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