Workplace Behavior. Dealing With Dysfunctional. Annual Human Resources Conference. Cromwell, CT. April 2, 2014

Transcription

1 Dealing With Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior Annual Human Resources Conference Cromwell, CT April 2, 2014 KJR Consulting 325 Elm Street, Suite 1A, Framingham, MA ( : (860) !: (208) : : ": info@kjrconsulting.com

2 Workplace Dysfunction looks like Nothing can get done without the boss s approval. Nothing can get done unless employees go behind the boss s back. No one is sure who the boss really is. Cubicle mates IM (instant message) each other but never talk. No one contributes in meeting because everyone is busy texting. Too many pointless meetings are being held. There s more than one secret couple on staff. Attorneys outnumber staff. Reward system? What reward system?. The IT head gets arrested for hosting porn on company servers. IT rules are so strict that you re not allowed to know your own computer login. Your boss an eccentric Internet millionaire offers to pay your monthly salary in gold coins because gold is more stable than the dollar. Your manager was hired because she listed whiskey as a hobby on her résumé. Your co-worker decides to show, not tell, the visiting U.K. executive what a wedgie is. The boss takes pride in his wall of shame, where employee mistakes are posted and circled in red for the entire world to see. The boss screams at the assistant when there's skim milk instead of half-and-half in the coffee. Emergency drills are conducted without employees being told that it s a drill. At least once per week, you hear quiet sobbing from an adjacent cubicle. Entire departments go to lunch together every day, leaving parts of the company completely unmanned for hours at a time. What matters is not what you ve accomplished in a day, but how many hours you were seen working. The accounting department has accumulated 23 weeks of paid vacation because no one there has ever taken a day off. Managers are cc'd on every company , even when it s just about where to order lunch. The only way someone can get promoted is if a senior staff member dies. No one ever gets fired, no matter how ineffective they are at their job. 2 D ealing With Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior

3 Workplace Dysfunction also looks like 1. Declaring war on a person or department. 2. Withdrawing assistance. 3. Hiding resources or information. 4. Silos and Turf Wars. 5. Taking undue credit. 6. Misrepresenting another's position. 7. Staying in the job when it is time to leave. 8. Being careless about quality. 9. Gossiping and Backbiting. 10. Being a slave to procedures. 11. Failing to take initiative. 12. Listening only to what is said and not to what is meant. 13. Bullying. 14. Disloyalty. 15. Failing to confront. 16. Excessive fear of change. 17. Perfectionism. 18. Shooting the messenger. 19. Rewarding "face time" over actual performance. 20. Lack of intellectual diversity. 21. Overpromising and underperforming. 22. Analysis Paralysis 23. Unfriendliness. 24. Reinventing the wheel. 25. Inaccessibility. The Three Amigos of Dysfunctional Behavior 3 D ealing With Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior

4 Behavior 1: FIGJAM - I m Good, Just Ask Me! What They Do: Your Role: Behavior 2: I Thought I Could, I Thought I Could! What They Do: Your Role: Behavior 3: I Quit 5 Years Ago & They Still Pay Me. What They Do: Your Role: Hershey & Blanchard s Skill / Will Matrix 4 D ealing With Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior

5 The matrix can be used to assess your employee s skill and willingness to do a specific task. Based on that assessment, you can choose how to best manage the employee towards success. Skill: Experience with the task, training, knowledge, and natural talents. Will: Desire or achieve, incentives to do task, security surrounding job, confidence in abilities, and feelings about task ( attitude ) Guide Be clear regarding expected outcomes (goals) and Discuss and set methods. Check for understanding Identify and provide required training. Accept early mistakes as important coaching moments. Give responsibility and authority for the pieces of tasks employee can do. Structure tasks to minimize possible risks to employee and company Provide frequent feedback. Require frequent check-ins (verbal or written) early in the project, but relax control as progress is shown Praise and reward for success Direct Discuss what would motivate employee. Agree on what is possible. Be clear regarding expected outcomes (goals) and Set clear rules, methods, and deadlines Check for understanding Give responsibility and authority for the pieces of tasks employee can do. Structure tasks for quick wins Identify and provide required training. Provide frequent feedback. Require frequent check-ins (verbal or written) early in the project, but relax control as progress is shown. Praise and reward for success Delegate Be clear regarding expected outcomes (goals) and Involve in decision-making Frequently ask employee for opinions Check for understanding Give responsibility and authority because employee is competent and committed. Provide feedback. Ask for check-ins at key milestones or when employee has questions. Praise and reward for success Excite Discuss why task is important and why employee is best choice. Discuss what would motivate employee. Agree on what is possible. Be clear regarding expected outcomes (goals) and Check for understanding Give responsibility and authority because employee is competent Provide frequent feedback. Require frequent check-ins (verbal or written) Praise and reward for success Strategies for Addressing Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior 5 D ealing With Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior

6 The Four Cs of Curing Workplace Dysfunctional Behavior Communication Clarity Make it clear that you notice and will remove the dysfunctional behavior. Don't imply, don't suggest, don't "encourage" avoid ambiguity. Make it matter! Create or revise the policies, make them clearly known, and call out any behavior that goes against them immediately. Make behavioral expectations impossible to misunderstand. Integrate them throughout your organization, in the employee handbook, in the performance review standards, on posters in the break room. Consistency The more you pick and choose which dysfunctional behaviors you will tolerate and which you won't, the more people will test your boundaries. Call it tight by adopting a zero-tolerance policy for dysfunctional behaviors. Consequences When all else fails have firm and systematic consequences in place. The Three Rules To Remember: Rule 1: You cannot change a negative employee with negativity. You must reframe from acting negative yourself. Keep your cool and be positive when talking with the negative employee. Rule 2: Keep your overall expectations low. Do not expect an apology and do not expect the negative employee to admit to their negative behavior. Rule 3: Employees want to be believed-in by their manager, even when they are being disciplined. Therefore, end your talk with a positive "you can do it" statement. 6 D ealing With Dysfunctional Workplace Behavior