A client was discussing with us the other day about two hard working employees who are upset about a “lazy” employee. The two hard working employees are becoming demotivated by the fact that they work hard and are doing a good job yet the other employee, when finished with work, does not do anything productive; instead he sits around talking with others.

The two resentful employees do not know that this “lazy” employee actually has a serious health issue that he is working on with his doctor. The employee has been with the company for 20+ years. This employee also has special “wisdom” that the owner values.

Our client is about to hire someone with the same job description as the “lazy” employee. He wants to set a tone with the new hire that raises the bar, and realizes that the new employee will quickly see a big difference in the perceived standards that are being used to evaluate him vs. the other so-called “lazy” employee. The owner is afraid that the new hire may quickly become demoralized and use the lower standard as the bar for his own performance.

So far, the tactic used by the owner has been to get each employee individually to:

1. Focus on his/her own performance
2. Recognize that he/she does not have all of the information to   understand what is happening and why
3. Value tolerance and willingness to give people room to work out issues

There are several interrelated issues here.

On one hand, we understand why the owner is taking this approach. Our fear is that this approach is moving the company backwards from a team approach towards a benevolent dictatorship.

• Does your organization have ways to prevent “lazy” or lower standards for its levels of employees?

• Do all your employees know what it takes to be an “A” player and are you motivating them towards this status?

• Do your leaders and teams have ways to identify weak spots in productivity and efficiency both for processes and people?

If your organization needs help identifying and strengthening its “A” Players, contact our expert guides at 800-786-4332 or email CClemmer@AppliedVisionWorks.com. It only takes 30 minutes to get started!