Slackers, Sickies and Whiners: Why Management's To Blame

The devil makes work for idle hands, so the saying goes -- and it's no less true in the workplace. In certain instances, employees would rather do anything than the tasks they've been given. Managers often look upon staff misbehaviour as proof of their very existence -- someone needs to crack the whip.

But it's possible -- likely -- that misbehaviour is actually a symptom of bad management. Here are three classic employee crimes and the possible management failings they could represent.

1. Time wasting at work. This can be the result of not setting employees clear goals. Often staff are given tasks that don't have a direct link to the end goal and so they don't act on their own initiative. If you set a salesperson lead-generation targets, once those targets are met, that salesperson may feel justified in slacking off, even though none of those leads converted to an actual sale.
2. Pulling sickies. Employees may try to swing the lead if they don't think managers are paying enough attention to how many sick days they take. It's important to log employees' sick days. Twice, I've had employees who made this assumption to their cost: one called in on a Monday morning with food poisoning too many times in the same month. Another called in sick after I left him the previous evening drinking with the entourage of Shaun Ryder, of the 1990s band Happy Mondays. Both of these employees found work elsewhere soon after.
3. Moaning about pay. No one thinks they are paid enough, but vocalising their concerns is not good for office morale. Communicating with staff about what the company is trying to achieve and their individual role helping the company to succeed will go some way in explaining why they earn what they do. Leave them with the feeling there is an opportunity to increase their pay if they deserve it.

Here are some essentials for managers to address these problems:

• Give each employee a sense of direction, outlining goals for them that have a bearing on the well-being of the company as a whole.
• Make each employee feel accountable for the tasks they perform. If they think other people are relying on them to do their jobs properly, they won't feel so inclined to slack off or call in sick.
• Measure their effectiveness in terms of real business benefits and deficiencies, if you can. Do it on a regular basis, so that employees know they are going to have to discuss their performance regularly.
• Give them the authority to make some of their own decisions. People are much more intent on making sure decisions turn out well if they have contributed to making them. Allowing them to make decisions gives them the confidence to act on their own initiative and the conscientiousness to see that the outcome is a good one.
• Communicate with them. Establish how and when this communication will take place, so that people can plan and be prepared to discuss company-related issues with you. Use this time to acquaint them with the condition of the company's health and how they can help to improve it.