You must take action and keep it Going.

You must take action and keep it Going.

As an HR professional, understanding mediocre or poor performers goes a long way in correcting a negative behavior at work place. Tackling employee's needs and demands requires time and tactics.

Some people can manage stress on account of work pressures, time lines and demands in professional and personal life better as compared to others. However, there are certain people who give up and fail to handle such kind of situations which ultimately results in loosing interest in their job. For their own shortcomings they blame their present employer and hold them responsible for their failure.

Typically, these kind of mediocre performers are often considered as 'deadbeat' or 'liability' on the company. While they are not the kind of performers that the employer wants to reward, they aren't underperformers either to be shown the door and ask them to leave. The mark of such employees is their lack of enthusiasm and passion. They perform only to meet deadlines, but do not seek career growth; they are averse to learning new things and in turn developing their skills.

Low performance

Experts believe that such kind of employees usually ruin the learning, morale and performance of other employees. As it will be difficult for co-workers to escape from such negative impact, it is for the employers to deal with the problem. Experience and common sense says that if such employees are ignored or left to change by themselves, the workplace can soon turn indifferent to the company culture and even start disrespecting it.

Following is the list of activities a deadbeat employee does:

Low performing employees indulge in passing lewd comments on the organization working style and culture. He also starts discussing this with other employees and tries to spread negativity in their minds as well. He criticizes company policies and procedures and that they are totally waste. It is a challenge for any employer to manage such kind of negative behavior in their premises which may result in unrest among others.

Building understanding for employee

It is important for every employer to understand employee behavior, and why behavioral deviations arise amongst employees. Most employees start off with zeal and energy, but somewhere down the line, when things do not happen as planned or perceived, disappointment sets in.

Organization will face difficulty in understanding what has gone wrong with its employees as people are not open to share or take responsibility for any shortcomings in their jobs.

The employers are made victims because of the following:

Dealing with an employee who creates disturbance in the organization is delayed as proper identification of such a person is not an easy task.

How to effectively deal with such situations?

Give opportunity to employees so that they can share their thoughts:

Allow employees to have an open discussion with you. A frank and serious discussion will definitely alert the employee and make him realize that the organization actually wants to help him by rectifying his problems and see improvements and good performance at work.

Customized incentives may help him strive better and overcome sluggishness. In short, clear communication and intolerance to negative attitude can help smarten the worker.

Define Objectives:

Set goals for employees which are achievable and acceptable and the ways in which they can be conquered. Help the employee to align and change his behavior according to the organization's mission and appreciate any positive behavior shown by him at workplace. Such small gestures will definitely help in improving employee's attitude and open a world of opportunities for him.

Check out the basic information:

Enhance the skills of employees by training and developing them so as to widen their horizon and make them learn the basics of business. People think that they don't require any training as they are perfect in their job or assignment. However the HR Manager must communicate to them that this will not only hone their skills but will also open future growth opportunities for them.

Review and feedback is essential:

Once the communication and training bit is done, the manager must review the employee's work to see for progress or digress. In case of poor performance and unchangeable attitudes, the employee must be warned firmly. It should be clear that disinterested work patterns and attitudes will not be tolerated and will be subjected to further disciplinary action.

Bid him Good bye:

A strict action must be taken against him if he doesn't change in spite of continuous efforts and help from the HR professional. He can also be terminated from his services. To avoid any heated arguments try to communicate the same to him privately and calmly. Try to be specific in highlighting the major causes which led to such a decision. Clearly tell him that his negative attitude is spoiling the organizational culture and his poor performance is affecting company's growth. It is seen most of the time that managing such termination is an easy task as these employees are already prepared for the worst.

What Have You Learnt?

The take away from such an incident is that the employer conveys to his people how much he values his culture and that he will not compromise on anything and retains its dignity. Further, the organization needs to strengthen its recruitment strategy to avoid hiring people with any negative mindset.