Most of the employees are content with their jobs, and have the urge to perform to their optimum levels. But sometimes, you come by certain troublemakers that do not like to do their work. It is important to identify and deal with such people.
Here are some phrases that you should be aware of to make out that the employee is being manipulative along with some advice on how to tackle them:
1.”How can I do my job, if you don’t do yours…”
Some situations require an employee to not act, until the manager does. But, some employees use upward delegation to their advantage. They secretly add more tasks on your to do list, which are relate to their work. Since you might get delayed in doing it, they start blaming you for not performing well themselves.
Solution- If an employee transfers his action items to your to-do list; return it with the words that you should try to figure this out on your own. If the employee is incapable of doing it, then supervise rather than sharing.
- “I have told you about this before…”
Employees have the tendency to hide certain unpleasant details; while at the same time they want to save themselves. The simplest way to achieve this is to insert the information on a next-to-last page of a long and uninteresting report. To further divide your interest, the title could also be something boring like “background data”. They expect you to read the first page and then move on.
Solution- Ask them to formulate a one page summary of all the key points in every document. Also, make it clear that he would be liable for any missing pieces of key information.
3.”I feel overworked..”
Some employees are great at making themselves look busy while doing nothing. They would always seem in a rush to get to the meeting, or would be found holding a huge stack of documents. If you ask them about their work, they would say something along the lines of being stressed or overworked. But at the end of the day, their accomplishments account for nothing.
Solution- Ask the employee to drop whatever task he is involved in and instead give him an inconspicuous and definite task to focus on. Give them a deadline for that task, and warn him about any excuses.
- “It is not going to work because..”
There are many pessimistic people in the world, who only consider the problems and difficulties that might occur. No matter how valid the advice that you give really is, they will point out some flaws in it to make it seem impossible.
Solution- You can tell him to stop pointing out the negatives and ask him to tell you about things that would work. If he does not reply with a solution of his own; finalize your input by saying that, “since you cannot think of anything better…” and put the discussion to an end.