Statistics Correlation

In present world, managers motivate employees by sharing their vision and passion, and by providing incentives that assist them to take the best out of their subordinates. But not all employees are moved by this methodology as some may find it difficult to relate to their managers. Such people are termed as the “problem people”. Working with these people requires a great deal of understanding, patience and time investment but, most managers take the easy way by either ignoring them or replacing them with employees who can relate to them.

During my second project, one of our team members- “Rishi” (name changed)- was not behaving in the best interest of the company. He used to be late, participate less in team discussions and submit reports post the agreed timelines. His performance in the project was affecting the overall quality. Our manager- “John” (name changed), after having discussions with Rishi, thought that Rishi might have lost interest in workplace engagements since he was working in the same domain for the past four years. Post this, John moved him to another project thinking that rotating him to a different domain will improve his performance and develop his lost interest. After multiple rotations to different projects and countless meetings, Rishi finally resigned and joined one of our competitor firms. Post this incident, John got to know from Rishi’s peers that even after quality performance, Rishi was not promoted previous year, the root cause of his lost interest and downfall in efficiency. Could such situations be handled in a more constructive way? What should a manager do in this scenario? One of the major mistakes that managers make in such situations is that they throw some motivation towards the problem employee. The employee either ignores the manager’s attempt or just nod and forget about it the next day- a typical “Sure boss” meeting. This perhaps results in the employee not changing his stance one bit and the problem persists. The point is that you cannot motivate such employees unless you create circumstances that will push them from within. In process of handling these difficult employees, managers should not look at them as a problem but rather make efforts to understand them and the situation at hand.

Although the problem employees show lack of interest and motivation in their jobs, they do not display such qualities in other aspects of their lives. Rishi was an avid traveller, a blog writer and a fitness freak. He used to write regular blogs, go on solo trips and follow a strict workout plan every day. This means that these employees have the potential to channelize their energy that can stimulate managerial goals. Also, obstacles at work place such as workload, lack of training, broken promises, is one of the reasons that hampers the performance of a particular employee. The most common blockages appear when employee feel that his manager does not care about his personal growth. Therefore, to push the problem employees, managers need to work with them, clear their obstacles at work and provide a constructive resolution to their problem.

In order to motivate the problem people, fore mostly the managers should do their homework and collect all the possible information about them i.e., “Create a Rich Picture”. A Manager should understand the background of the problem employee. Let us take the above case. How well did John know about Rishi? Did John have all the information about Rishi’s problem? This information can come from peers, subordinates or even previous managers. One of the most promising ways to get to know the employee more is to indulge in informal conversations that can turn out to be a starting point to motivate such employees. Manager then needs to look at his own involvement in the problem, as in most of the cases, direct supervisors themselves are the source of employee dissatisfaction. He should be aware of how employees perceive him as a person. Post this, manager needs to analyse the context and situation at hand. John thought that Rishi lost interest as he was working in the same domain for past few years and therefore, he shifted him to a new role that eventually made Rishi even more frustrated. John did not take into account that his decisions could be a source of Rishi’s problem.

Post getting a broader and richer picture of the problem at hand, a manager should “reframe his goals”. The failure to realize that every person has a different way to look at things limits a manager’s chances to motivate the problem employee and the options that a manager has considered to solve the particular problem at hand. A manager will be more effective if he is willing to look out for possible outcomes rather than sticking to his own solution. If a manager reframes his goals, he may have to settle for less in short run but it will at-least motivate the problem employee, eventually opening rewarding avenues in the long run. John applied great deal of efforts to gear up Rishi’s performance who was already in a difficult situation. He didn’t consider other possible outcomes that could have eased Rishi’s situation. Failing to modify his goals, John was unable to motivate Rishi and his decisions became one of the major factors that led to Rishi’s resignation.