Leadership
Challenges to Management: Employee Malpractices
| posted 09-29-2009 |
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As managers seek ways to do more with less, to compete at the ever increasing levels required in a global high speed economy, they are frequently frustrated by employees who just don’t seem motivated and who lack the commitment needed to enable the company to do its best. Indeed, companies may be losing the race due as much to employee malpractice as to the competitive advantages of others. Employee malpractices are many and varied. They are learned on the job as well as brought with some employees as part of a dysfunctional personality. In either case, these practices present the most difficult challenge to any manager trying to succeed today. Though we know there is evil in the world and that some people deliberately engage in the malpractices listed here, often they are a response to some real, or imagined, affront by the organization or their manager. A broken confidence, an unreasonable disciplinary action, an overtime demand that interferes with a long standing family commitment, being disempowered in determining how one will do his or her job. While a personality problem is bad enough at least the organization can develop new ways of screening out these individuals in the selection process and remove them should they happen to slip through. Nevertheless, when these malpractices occur on the job they need immediate attention and swift action to avoid doing lasting, perhaps irreparable harm to the organization. First, An Attitude Employee malpractices may seriously retard, even interfere with the work of organizations. As a manager it is important to identify these as soon as possible and respond appropriately. First, we must start by knowing how to identify an attitude that reflects a feeling of being trapped, being a victim, having to “make a living” but not really being responsible for the quality of life one experiences. Just like managers, employees, too, have a sacred responsibility to execute their duties without doing harm. Certainly employees must “do their job” but they must also bring a presence of mind to their task to enable them to perform it well and to further the collective good. Taylor’s Curse Frederick Taylor, the father of scientific management and one of the most influential management consultants of the 20th century set in motion the practice of separating thinking – a management responsibility – from labor, actually doing the work to be done. That not only deprived employees of pride in their work but also built in a justification for, in effect, delegating upward, passing along to one’s manager even trivial decisions. Workers’ response to this artificial division of thinking from doing has been to disengage their minds from their work. So, initiative, creativity and innovation were discouraged from work. But abdicating responsibility, not pursuing opportunities, not thinking creatively and imaginatively will result unless the separation of management from labor is reversed and risk-taking and initiative are rewarded, not punished. A manager must work hard to encourage and support employees’ constructive contributions. Otherwise a “bad attitude” and the psychological withdrawal of enormous potential will result. This is demonstrated most dramatically in a surly, uncooperative manner on the job, but is usually more subtle. The worker with a bad attitude is always looking for ways to work less (procrastinating, losing things, always having emergencies), to surrender less time to the job (coming in late, leaving early, long breaks and lunches, lots of sick days), to further private pleasures and human interaction on the job (talking a lot), and by doing one’s own creative work on the job. Though the vast majority of people still put in a fair days work for a fair days pay their reluctance to take a more meaningful role in the organization’s success and to appreciate their impact on the whole, leaves them so much less than what they could become. Work As A Fringe Benefit Work has been so fragmented and reduced of skill for so many that people have responded in a perfectly natural way, by in effect asking, “So what?” If workers seem to be nonchalant or take their job as a necessary evil or see it as a fringe benefit to enjoy while they can, it might be because of employee malpractice and it might be related to their treatment at work or how their work is designed and rewarded. And of course, it can be an inherent characteristic of some employees who are incapable of taking responsibility, building self-respect, and honestly earning their wage. Employee Incompetence by Ignorance In an age of increasing complexity requiring committed customer service and high quality products and services, some employees seem unwilling to learn how to improve their performance. Mediocrity results and the whole enterprise is jeopardized because of the lack of personal concern. This malpractice seeps into every part of the organization when it is allowed to exist anywhere. Incompetence by ignorance is also apparent when employees demonstrate how uninformed they are about the very business world and organization they work for. Management would do well to teach employees how a business works and show the link between their personal performance and the bottom line. There is no excuse for an organization to accept incompetence and mediocrity because of employee ignorance of how they and their work fit into the larger picture. Employees must be kept informed. Raw Personal Power Any social arena sets the stage for interpersonal posturing, competitiveness, the expression of dominant or submissive behavior, showing signs of sexual interest, displays of ego assertion and defense, expressing personality in its creative, spiritual, emotional fullness and other human qualities. In the workplace so focused on the acquisition of money and power, it is no surprise that the struggle to display one’s own or resist other’s power becomes a major workplace drama. This is accentuated since there is such a definite hierarchical categorization of each person’s assigned role and its accompanying influence. Behind the scenes competition for informal power can be quite intense. Personal power, influence, and leadership can also be advanced through utilizing the rumor mill and grapevine. All of these efforts represent employee malpractice and absorb a considerable amount of time and organizational resources. De-emphasizing formal power differences, privileges and secrecy defuse many of the effects of power struggles and the acquisition and the use of raw personal power by employees. Focusing on self-oriented behaviors without concern for the good of the whole demonstrates this employee malpractice. Seniority as Competence One employee malpractice that defies the competitive environment is insisting on seniority as a way of determining raises, promotions, job security and some rewards. Seniority has its obvious utility, especially in a volatile employment market when it reduces coercion, age discrimination, and blackmail of employees. Employee malpractice occurs when incompetent individuals or the “retired-on-the-job” use seniority as an excuse to ignore their responsibilities or to exercise distasteful qualities such as constantly speaking ill of others, always resisting change and not keeping their skills up-to-date. The Bully The bully uses his or her personal influence or force of character to spread ill will, to lower performance standards of workpartners, to resist any request for cooperation with management, to demand unreasonable treatment, play the victim, use the organization’s computers and cars and supplies for personal use, be destructive of both things and spirit, and complain at every opportunity about what’s wrong with others, the products, and the company. The bully, as complainer needs to be addressed immediately or it poisons the morale of the workplace like a fast spreading cancer. Passivity Many people do not care and cannot be motivated about the work they do. To them it is simply an unfortunate way of spending time before the weekend. Others, knowing their work or a particular assignment is wrong simply shut-up and go along. Here we are talking about two different kinds of passivity. One, is a malpractice by design and the other is a malpractice by fear or apathy. Both are dangerous. The first deprives the workplace of its full potential and the second may actually contribute to harming the organization. The first may leave the lights on in an unused room or not notice the tools left all over a work site as the crew returns to the plant or can see a form has missing data but does not care; does not consciously notice. The second knows sugar water has replaced apple juice in an infant food product, or the gas tank of a recreational vehicle is prone to explosion on slight impact, or a blood donor is HIV positive and either is too lazy to say anything or is told by a supervisor to look the other way - and does so. Failing to act, failing to anticipate the effects of one’s actions or inactions, being passive, has its consequences whether intended or otherwise and thus, becomes an employee malpractice. In both cases individuals lack a personal vision, they neither see where they or the organization are going and do not seem to care. In the second case there are dangerous consequences. The rationalization for this behavior is often feeling powerless or trapped or kept an outsider without formal organizational influence. Consequences When widespread, they may begin a negatively reinforcing cycle of managerial behavior – behavior that itself may have precipitated the employee malpractices in the first place. Workers are seen as a problem, possibly as lazy and untrustworthy, needing a lot of supervision, not being able to take part meaningfully in organizational decisions, and so forth. If managers are not careful, they may make matters worse - especially if many of these malpractices are themselves a result of organizational or managerial conditions that leave no choice. For example, wasteful spending at the end of a budget year is due to a policy that reduces the following year’s budget if savings are made in the previous year. Thus, it is essential to search for the underlying causes. Are they in the person or the organization? The worst consequence for managers, however, is that the malpractices are contagious. If these malpractices survive, they influence others and destroy a favorable work environment. Their survival also undermines management’s credibility since management is depended on to take the responsibility to deal with these behaviors. These behaviors poison the efforts of the real contributors. If the environment is too polluted with these practices the best performers will move elsewhere. It is essential that managers address these concerns immediately. It Is Really About Character Ultimately, we are responsible for ourselves - the choices we make, and the relationships in our lives. How we choose to be, whether self-reliant and strong, whether a cooperative member of a workplace doing worthwhile things, whether a passive victim of the times falling out of control from one circumstance to another, who we are determines our experience. That is, our character is our energy source. Our character tells us how we will act on what is acceptable or not acceptable. What can you do? Employee malpractices cost organizations greatly. If they are isolated in a few people they can be dealt with directly through coaching or dismissal. If the practices are widespread, determine the organization’s impact on employee motivation, self-respect, feeling of worth, and purpose and how managers may be contributing to the breakdown between employees and the organization. And if managers are part of the problem, address that situation immediately. There may be nothing quite as insidious as a manager that is causing the employee malpractices since that behavior amplifies the destructive impact on the organization. Next Month: Managerial Malpractices.  ______________________________ John Nirenberg’s intimate knowledge of leadership began in the 1st grade where, as the biggest kid in the class with amazing eye-hand coordination, he was the most sought after dodge ball player. By the 6th and final grade in elementary school he was the longest serving Captain of the Safety-Patrol. Alas, long before Enron, long before the collapse of MCI and Anderson Consulting, long before Dennis Kozlowski of Tyco International was convicted of grand larceny, he was fired in front of his class for forgetting to remove his chewing gum before entering the school building. From this auspicious beginning John studied leadership management and group dynamics before embarking on a career of service, teaching and consulting in organizational behavior, workplace community and leadership. His work has taken him to 122 countries. Along the way he spent more than nine years in Japan, Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Thailand, wrote four books, published over 80 articles in 45 journals on five continents; and, gave over 80 professional presentations and workshops in 17 countries—all of this in his life-long quest to understand and appreciate collective and productive human behavior. And he’s still an optimist. |
