Dr. Sherry Moss of the Wake Forest University business school recently taught a webinar for us on the topic of Managing Difficult Employees. I asked her to elaborate a little on some of the points she made during the event.
What have you learned about superintendents and how they interact with problem workers?
Superintendent aren’t unique. They have similar problems to any other manager. They’re frustrated at not being able to get an employee to do what they need them to do. It may be that their business historically has a bit more of a “command-and-control” philosophy, so some superintendents who are used to managing that way get very frustrated when workers don’t respond. That said, there are some do’s and don’ts that can help them deal with the situation.
Such as?
First, realize that you are frustrated. Don’t lose your temper and let it become about you. Recognize your feelings. You have to realize that you can’t control the individual, you can only control yourself. Try to treat the employee with respect, speak to them carefully and remember that the employee and the task may be a “mismatch.” It simply might not be the role or the workplace for them. You only have so many tools at your disposal to manage them and get them to accept a job or a role that just doesn’t motivate them.
You also need to realize that your first tendency might be to assume things about their character – that they’re lazy or unmotivated. Resist the temptation to draw those conclusions. Once you’ve assumed they’re lazy, you’ll tend to treat them as such. Don’t fall into that trap. Realize that you’re frustrated, don’t form conclusions and remember it could be a mismatch.
Okay, once you’re in that state of mind, what do you do?
There are three ways a conversation can go when you meet with them: you can either damage the relationship by losing control, maintain the relationship or improve it. When you start that communication, keep in the back of your mind that you don’t want to damage it. Your goal should be to discover what inspires or intrinsically motivates that person.
What should you say?
Ask things like, “What do you like about this job?” Or ask them to design the perfect job and describe what it would be. You might discover they are inspired by helping others making a tangible difference or they have to take some specific form of pride in what they do. You might also learn they identify with a specific action or outcome that inspires them to work harder and more efficiently. Maybe they need a little trust instead of specific direction. In that case, let them try. Some people like autonomy.
If you discover you can meet their intrinsic need , then provide them with an opportunity. If it doesn’t work, then it’s probably time to move on in another direction.
That might be really hard to swallow for those “command-and-control”-type superintendents.
Again, they’re really not unique. You have the same limitations and frustrations as anybody. It could be that because some of your typical workers are less educated and less skilled, there might be a tendency to treat them as such and not give them the autonomy they need. Sometimes you just have to trust and let them go for it. I encourage you to experiment. Take a group of employees and give them a specific task, tell them the parameters and constraints and let them figure it out. Give them some trust and see what happens. They may just rise to the occasion.
I think superintendents can learn from Captain Mike Abrashoff who wrote a book called “It’s Your Ship” and who’s now a motivational speaker. He took over a ship that was the worst-performing ship in the navy. They had endless discipline problems and a lot of issues with the crew. The previous captain walked off the ship to boos and jeers from the crew! Mike was used to command-and-control but realized that wasn’t going to work. Instead, he listened to the crew, gave them the opportunity to rise to the occasion and it paid off. He put his career on the line, but it worked and he turned performance.
Final thoughts for superintendents facing these problems?
Don’t’ lose your temper. Don’t assign character flaws to performance problems. Try to think more along the lines of that person being mismatched with the task they’re resisting. Finally, think about a time when you’ve been in a job that wasn’t right for you. Think about how you felt. What kind of conversation would you have liked to have had with your manager? If you put yourself in that mindset, it will be much easier to think about what to say.