When Good Employees Go Bad
Every workplace has them -- employees who miss deadlines, spend a little too much time visiting at the water cooler and hinder projects with their procrastination. Perhaps others tend to get their work done, yet you can’t help but ask HOW since they never seem to be at their desk. These employees fall into two problematic categories: Physical Slackers and Optical Slackers.
“The Physical Slacker works with you so closely that you rely on his or her results. That’s a problem, because the Physical Slacker doesn’t do what he or she promises to…he has a list of reasons why he let you down, and none of them are his fault.”
On the other hand, you might be dealing with the Optical Slacker. “The Optical Slacker doesn’t slow you down in your work. It’s not clear that he or she slows anyone down, and in fact, his manager may be very happy with his results. It’s not that the person isn’t getting his work done -- it’s just that you see him on the phone to his girlfriend, or taking a long coffee break, or otherwise not working really hard. The problem isn’t material, but it sure is visible.”
Both present unique challenges and require delicate approaches. Who steps in and at what time? Would your co-workers classify you in one of these categories? Read some helpful hints from Liz Ryan at BusinessWeek online.
Discussion: Have you ever dealt with a slacker at your workplace? How did you handle the situation?
Posted by Shelly Paul, Career Management Coordinator, The H.S. Group
“The Physical Slacker works with you so closely that you rely on his or her results. That’s a problem, because the Physical Slacker doesn’t do what he or she promises to…he has a list of reasons why he let you down, and none of them are his fault.”
On the other hand, you might be dealing with the Optical Slacker. “The Optical Slacker doesn’t slow you down in your work. It’s not clear that he or she slows anyone down, and in fact, his manager may be very happy with his results. It’s not that the person isn’t getting his work done -- it’s just that you see him on the phone to his girlfriend, or taking a long coffee break, or otherwise not working really hard. The problem isn’t material, but it sure is visible.”
Both present unique challenges and require delicate approaches. Who steps in and at what time? Would your co-workers classify you in one of these categories? Read some helpful hints from Liz Ryan at BusinessWeek online.
Discussion: Have you ever dealt with a slacker at your workplace? How did you handle the situation?
Posted by Shelly Paul, Career Management Coordinator, The H.S. Group
posted by The H.S. Group at
11:55 AM
2 Comments:
I think it's hard when your dealing with a case of an optical slacker. On one hand, they're doing all their work but on the other hand, it doesn't seem fair that they have so much free time on their hands while you're working your butt off.
At least their not taking anyone down with them but it doesn't project a very good image if they appear to be wasting company time.
By
Anonymous, at 8:38 AM
I've been left dealing with co-workers who need more than one reminder to produce their share of the work. And it's often a hard set of circumstances if your co-workers have more seniority than you do. The most I can do on my part is continue with the reminders and border on nagging until they produce their share of the work.
By
Anonymous, at 9:59 AM
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