What you can do
Ensure managers, team leaders and supervisors are trained on how to manage people.
- Often people are promoted into these roles based on technical / process knowledge. This does not mean they will be good at managing people.
- Provide mentoring or training to help them become good managers
- People within a team / organisation know who the good and bad performers are. If they see someone getting away with bad performance then everyone’s performance will begin to drop. If they see a good performer going unrewarded or acknowledged then the same thing will happen – they will decide it is not worth the effort.
- Do you pay enough to get the right people for the job? If you pay peanuts expect to get what you pay for. You do not need to be the best payer, just pay a fair wage that attracts good people to the roles.
- If someone is working regular overtime you want to know why. Do you pay overtime and they are milking the system; or is there to much work; or do they lack the appropriate skills / knowledge.
- Long term overtime is counter productive. Work productivity will drop during regular working hours and/or good people will eventually get sick of it and leave.
- People do have off days – we are not talking about this. What you are looking for are people who just do not like their jobs and people who do not get on with others (not just 1 person, but lots of people).
- If someone really does not like their job then they will not care about the results of their efforts or the impact their attitude has on others. If they are on a constant downer they will bring the rest of the people down with them, affecting everyone’s performance. You need to get them interested in their job, find them another or encourage them to find a job that they like.
- People’s attitudes and personalities can have a big impact on an organisation. They need to fit in.
- Managers should be there for their people, but should not be micro managers.
- If you have hired the right people provide them with support and guidance while leaving them free to do their job. Good workers will get sick of the micro management style which is restrictive, demeaning, done to heighten the managers self esteem and becomes an excuse for poor quality workers to hide behind.
- Micro management is bad for an organisation. It discourages initiative and focuses skills/knowledge within one person, the manager. When that person moves on a vacuum is created.