Managing incompetent and annoying employees is every manager’s worst
nightmare. The reality is that no workplace is void of such employees
who are a drag on the performance of their own teams and colleagues. If
you are a manager or an employer, read on and find out how you can
smartly manage annoying employees without getting into a messy
situation.
Monetize performance
One of the easiest ways to deal with incompetent and annoying
employees is to monetize performance, or in other words, put a price
tag on different targets. In such a situation, an employee’s actual
productivity is directly driven by how much money they can earn over
and above their base pay. Similar to the tried and tested Carrot-Stick
approach, make your employees work towards a particular task or target
and lure them in with a reward, whether it is an incentive or a
one-time cash bonus.
Managers should remember that an incentive does not always need to be cold hard cash. In a recent article in TOI, Monika Tripathi, VP of a well known recruitment firm says "…The young task force is hungry for success and appreciate the flexibility to manage their time."
In line with this, many FMCG giants like Hindustan Uniliver, Asian
Paints and Jyothi Laboratories allow their employees to manage their
work schedules including leave applications.
In 2011, a statement by Google read along the lines of "…We
provide individually tailored compensation packages that can be
comprised of competitive salary, bonus, and equity components, along
with the opportunity to earn further financial bonuses and rewards…" This was on the back of Google being voted as one of the top companies to work for in India, according to a survey by The Economic Times and Great Place to Work Institute.
Utilize annoyance to your advantage
Managers are increasingly learning that utilizing talents and skills
of even the most annoying employees is a smart way of converting a
problem into a rewarding solution. Below are a few examples.
If you have an employee on the floor who engages into a lot of
gossip, make him/her your eyes and ears on the floor. Get that employee
to report to you about the latest happenings to use it to your
advantage.
If you have an employee whose only skill is the ability to have
great conversation, consider shifting him/her to a role that is
communication centric.
If you have an employee who never comes to work on time, you may
want to consider allowing him/her to work from home if that is feasible
with his/her job profile or complaint to your company’s policies.
Set an example
One of the classic principles of leadership and good management is
to lead by example. If you want your employees to do something, show
them how it is done by setting a prime example yourself. Because if you
don’t, your employees may write off your orders and instructions to
label you as a ‘someone who only preaches’ rather than ‘someone who
does what he/she says.’ How do you think it would look if you harassed
your employees to make it to office by 9 am when you don’t make it by
10 am yourself? As common sense suggests, employees will not heed to
your advice until you do it yourself.
Keep a log of an employee’s mistakes
"Slackness can also appear in the quality of work. So if the employee repeatedly makes mistakes, be sure to point out specific errors, rather than just saying, "Your work is sloppy." - Mr Das, Chief of HR at ICICI Prudential [Source]
That’s exactly what all managers need to remember and implement. If
you find an employee repeatedly slacking and making little efforts to
come in line with expectations, it is best to start keeping logs of
his/her shortfalls. Firstly, this log will help you pin point the exact
deficiencies in performance when you reprimand your annoying employee.
It will help you accurately tell him/her where, when and how he/she
needs to improve. Secondly, if the day comes where the employee needs
to be deprived of monetary benefits or fired from his/her job, you will
have a log which serves as proof and support for your actions.
Let HR take over in delicate situations
Managing incompetent employees may be easy for managers in small to
mid-sized firms. However, when we talk about larger corporate houses,
managers often leave tricky cases up to HR. After all, that’s what the
HR guys are paid for, aren’t they? If you’ve been facing the wrath of
an incompetent and annoying employee who refuses to heed your advice
and change for everyone’s benefit, talking to a guy in HR may be your
saving grace. Not only because the guys in HR are trained to deal with
difficult employees but also because you can evade the liability of a
future spat between the employee and the employer. After all, the last
thing you’d want to be faced with is the trouble of Harassment or a
Discrimination law suit.
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