Is There A "Squirrel"
In Your Company?
My aunt has a problem. A squirrel got in through a hole next to her
family room addition and set up house inside her ceiling. He's been running
back and forth causing a lot of racket.
Plus, he chewed through her telephone wires, stored about forty pounds of nuts
up there, and is driving her poor cat crazy.
But that's not the problem. While the squirrel was out hunting for food, she
located the hole and filled it with brick and cement. There's
no way he can get back in.
Here's the problem. This squirrel has an attitude.
Even though he's the one that has caused all the destruction, somehow she’s to
blame.
Every time she walks out the door, she sees him
smirking at her from her roof.
Sometimes he has the audacity to sit on our deck railing and
glare at her through her family room
windows. She sees him chattering to the
other squirrels and gets the feeling he's trying to get them to turn on her,
too! His smug attitude is getting on her last
nerve.
He reminds her of the employee who constantly
complains. He doesn't take
responsibility for his behavior. He
criticizes his customers and co-workers. He tries to
undermine decisions made by
management. Oh sure, he's good at his job and getting his tasks completed--but
is he worth putting up with?
One employee's negative attitude is
highly contagious and can seriously
damage the morale of an entire work team
while annoying customers as well. What's worse, managers who coddle these
individuals send a powerful message to the rest of the team, "It's
OK to be cynical
and even disrespectful as long as you do
your job." These are the same managers who lose the respect of employees who
are doing a great job AND have a positive attitude
toward the company.
Every employee within an organization must be held
accountable for his or her behavior. It is unprofessional for
any member of the staff to exhibit behavior that is verbally disruptive or
destructive to other members of the team.
Anger, crying and hostility in response to constructive criticism are forms of
manipulation. These are unacceptable workplace behaviors and should not be
tolerated in any employee at any level.
If you are a manager or supervisor, here are some things you might try if your
constructive feedback and warnings have failed. Be
sure you discuss this plan with your human resources manager and
you have his or her support before you try it.
Tell the offending employee that you are giving him a
"gift" of a paid Friday off. In exchange, he must use
this day to carefully think about whether or not he would like to continue
working at this company. Remind them that cynicism,
finger pointing and negative attitudes are unprofessional and will no longer
be tolerated. However, because you respect the quality of his work,
you will give him an opportunity to turn his attitude around.
Give him two options:
1. If he chooses to continue employment,
he needs to come to work on Monday morning with a plan outlining the specific
steps he will take in order to change his attitude and become a positive team
player.
2. If he chooses not to take ownership of
his attitude, then he can either submit a letter of resignation or be
terminated.
Remember that employee respect is earned. To be an effective manager, you need
to treat each member of your staff with equal fairness. This cannot be
accomplished when we wear blinders to avoid dealing with the bad apples!
Squirrel Update: My aunt’s squirrel did
not turn his attitude around so she
called a company called "Critter Control."
They
caught him in a live trap and moved him to a park 15 miles from her home.
NOW who's smirking!
MEASURE-X
6227 North 15th Street, Phoenix, AZ 85014
888-644-5499
www.measure-x.com
The Customer Service Training Experts!
