Every time I ask this question to a manager in person or to a group at a training I get pretty much the same answer:
“What percent of your crew are doing their jobs reasonably and needing very little, if any, correction?” Answers: 80 to 90 percent. (There are some lower and some higher, yet the vast majority fall in this range)
And then I say to them, they might not need your correction, yet they still need your support and attention. And one of the best ways to give them your attention and consideration is to effectively manage the 10 to 20 percent who aren’t doing their job and creating some kind of negative impact.
Of course, we always want to make sure we coach, mentor, and voice our appreciation of our 90 percent for their fine efforts. Yet, I will tell you what they really want is for you to take care of the 10 percent that are making their working life more difficult, distracting, and hindering their path of development due to all the drama. They want you to manage those people. They might not say it, in fear of not wanting to appear divisive to their working peer group, yet they’re thinking and feeling it.
Many employees will begin to struggle if they work for a manager who lets their nervousness, hesitations, and lack of confidence keep them from making efforts to corral misbehaving employees.
And, over time, most employees will eventually disengage and/or fall prey to being negative themselves if their manager has carved out a rationale for avoidance.
Your employees want a manager who is aware of what is needed to keep things running effectively, and functionally, and many times that includes dealing with someone who is not pulling their weight or creating chaos.
And here is the thing, they don’t need you perfect, as long as they see you trying. When they see that you’re sincere on your path of learning they often will stay engaged and support you.
I want to remind you that a strong 80 to 90 percent of staff are ready to work with you.
Don’t take them for granted – it’s so easy to do.
I’ve seen so many good people leave co-ops because a manager isn’t managing behavior or performance and so many times it could have been different.
I’ve also seen really good people who were managers leave because they somehow believed they couldn’t overcome the difficulty and take on a learning curve.
This little M2M is not a great tome on how to be the best manager ever; it is a little something I hope provides a bit of motivation.
A bit of motivation that when we see some behavior or performance that is having a negative impact on our co-op, we get on it.
Let’s remember that we are stronger together and all learners.
That we think of our 80 to 90 percent of hard working, and might I use the term, noble staff who are looking up to us to do our job.
As managers we are not the most important part of a crew – that 90 percent is. Our job is to let them know that and to make sure it stays that way.