| Employees don't do what I say . . . |
|
Tuesday August 3, 2010 6am Pacific I hear this so often from my students, a supervisor or manager tells the employee what to do, the employee agrees, but then they don't do it. So where is the breakdown? Believe it or not, it's nearly always the supervisor or manager. Check this out and see if it pertains to you. Employees do what works for them. If they are not meeting the expectation for whatever reason and the supervisor or manager says nothing, guess what? The message to the employee is, it's OK to do whatever the employee is doing and they will continue. No reason to change something if the manager hasn't said anything. A lot of supervisors and managers don't realize how they reward bad behavior passively by simply letting it go and not saying something. Do you do that?Also, another way this happens is when the supervisor or manager says one thing but reinforces something else through their actions. Let me give you an example. Let's say you work in a restaurant or clothing store. You have empowered your employee's to make decisions about price consessions up to $50. Those decisions they can make on their own, they just need to document it so the books balance. However, you have one employee that still asks for your permission about giving customers a price reduction within that range of up to $50. What's happening here? Typically it's from one simple thing, every time they ask you, you simply answer the question. When you do this, it sends a message to the employee that it's your decision, not theirs even though you've told them. So how might you turn this around? Quit answering the question and simply redirect them by saying something like, "This is within that range that I've allowed you to decide. What do you want to do?" Coach them through the process and don't cave in and answer it. Most of performance comes from what is reinforced by the supervisor or manager. So, if you are not getting what you want in terms of performance ask yourself the question, "What is being reinforced that is allowing the behavior to exist?" I am confident that if you look there, you'll see how you are unwittingly creating the very problem you want to avoid. Just my thoughts.
Powered by !JoomlaComment 3.26
3.26 Copyright (C) 2008 Compojoom.com / Copyright (C) 2007 Alain Georgette / Copyright (C) 2006 Frantisek Hliva. All rights reserved." |

Employees don't do what I say . . .
My name is Sally Klauss and I’m a Life Coach specializing in Management and Supervision.