The process of recruiting, hiring and training new employees is expensive; so much, so that most managers would rather put up with a slacker than repeat the hiring scenario. However, managers should realize that managing slackers could be even more expensive. Too many, slackers are an enigma. Slackers become a paradox to the corporation because there may appear to be a good hiring process in place to weed out slackers, but then everyone is bamboozled when in six months, that star hire turns out to be just that. The manager is stumped on how to manage a slacker, and the slacker may not understand why he or she has a feeling of void or keeps hearing little voices laying on messages of guilt. Let’s examine the slacker from these there perspectives, the corporation, the manager and the slacker.
The Corporation’s Perspective
From the corporation’s perspective, there must be a good hiring process in place. If the organization has a culture of just find me a warm body, you may have a plethora of slackers already on board. A good hiring process matches the right candidate to the right job and allows the time for conducting thorough reference checking.
According to an article in HR Magazine, interview questions can also help weed out slackers. Does the candidate have the mindset that talent wins out over had work? Candidates who believe that talent is the winning ingredient as opposed to hard work will typically not respond well to training or coaching. Does the candidate talk from the perspective that he or she is totally responsible for success without the mention of collaborators or mentors? Ask the candidate what he or she might need to change in order to perform at a higher level. If the candidate feels that performance is already at its highest level, then you know the candidate will not be open to learning. When asking about failures, if the candidate blames others, then the candidate likely has no sense of personal accountability.
Once a candidate is hired and slacker behavior rears its ugly head, there may be some legitimate reasons for the behavior that managers and HR professionals can address.
- Ensure that employees understand their jobs clearly.
- Check to see if employees are frustrated due to a lack of resources.
- Investigate to determine if there are slackers whom managers are allowing to under perform without consequences.
Open communication and good leadership can quickly uncover these reasons saving time, resources and productivity.
The Manager’s Perspective
Managers often hire on the promise of potential. Then something happens. It begins slowly. An employee gradually produces less and less. However, the manager is acutely aware of the long hiring process and then the painful training timetable. A manager reasons…
- I can’t have been that wrong, or,
- I want to be fair and give Bob every chance, or,
- I don’t want any lawsuits. I’m sure Pat will straighten out soon, or,
- I know Susan has been having personal issues lately; I’ll just give her some more time, or even…
- What if I fire Bill and he goes to work for the competition, tells them our secrets and then excels in the job? Seriously? There’s probably a better chance there really is a man in the moon.
This thinking is counterintuitive. Managers become entrapped in the waiting game. This is tantamount to the spouse who after 15 years of marriage, keeps thinking that his/her partner’s behavior is going to change. It’s not going to happen. In business, it’s a much easier bullet to bite and rid yourself of the dead wood that’s holding up productivity, costing money and imploding morale. Remember, underperformers fire themselves. Therefore, the agonizing that managers put themselves through is a waste of time and energy.
The Slacker’s Perspective
The slacker may be working for a slacker manager. The slacker worker has an excellent role model. However, this is a recipe for disaster. Some slackers may not realize they are slackers as it may have become the organizational culture or they are simply following the slacker manager’s lead. Here’s the way slackers think
- Hey, as long as my boss doesn’t care, I don’t see any reason to change.
- I’ll just wait until somebody says something, then I’ll ratchet my performance up a notch or two – for a while.
- I can just slack off and let others on the team be gung ho so long as everybody gets the credit.
- Slackers also tend to think that it’s OK to do this sort of thing at work, and that they behave differently in their family and social lives. Sorry Charlie, wrong answer.
However, many slackers have little voices in their heads that nag at them. Although, they don’t quite know how to make themselves shape up. Above all, they need to be honest with themselves and change their behaviors. They may require a mentor, a role model or even therapy to make this happen.
How to Combat Slackers and Slacker Mentality
Ensure you have a good hiring system in place
- Hire for the best fit
- Hire those with a proven track record – not those with unproven potential
- Be sure organizational communication is open and honest
- Implement continuous and targeted training programs
- Put people in management positions who have the accountability and fortitude to make tough decisions.
The hiring process of recruiting, hiring and training is indeed an expensive and time-consuming proposition. However, slackers take an even worse toll in time, lost productivity, reduced resources, lost customers and team morale. An organization steeped in a slacker culture can even mean death to your business so don’t slack off getting rid of the slackers in your organization.
Graphic Credit: Big Stock.com
