You want to do a good job. What’s preventing you? Here are 5 reasons:
- You’re an A player on a team with C players. Your supervisor overloads the good performers with the undone work of others. Management tolerates mediocrity. A-players want to be involved in the plans and strategies, and optimize the outcome. Top performers want to figure out how to contribute at a high level.
- You don’t have the best information to do the best job. Management keeps people in the dark. Everyone needs guidance, direction and the best environment to contribute at the highest level. Withholding information is a form of control from a boss who is insecure.
- Employees are not well trained to do their job and you’re expected to bring them along. You’re not trained or developed to expand your skills or responsibilities. The company hires from the outside for higher positions for which you should have been considered.
- Employees aren’t recognized for outstanding performance. Everyone is treated “equally”, with the same percent increase in pay no matter his or her different performance levels. Some are worth more as they contribute more. Pay for performance remains a concept.
- Supervisors micromanage the work. Employees operate out of fear of failure rather than out of pride and confidence. Micromanaged people tend to do less, for fear of having to do it over, which means you need more people to do less work.
What to do about it? That depends on your level of risk. Here are some thoughts:
- Assuming you have a good relationship with your supervisor, suggest ways to increase performance of the group while reducing costs. In other words, help your boss look good to their boss. Develop a plan with your boss to improve performance, taking the easiest and less difficult tasks first (the low handing fruit), and then move down the list as positive results occur.
- Assuming you have an on-and-off relationship with your boss, wait until the boss is in a good mood and ask the question, “Would it be of value for a small group of us to look at ways to make our jobs easier, quicker and higher performing so you can get the best results possible? We would bring our ideas to you for your review and approval”. Always keep the boss in the loop and in control. It would be difficult for the boss to say “no”.
- Assuming you have a bad relationship with your boss, see my past articles on quitting your job for a much better one, in a positive way, with a smile on your face.
You always want to control your own destiny or someone else will control it for you!
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