Slackers —> Dedicated to the avoidance of work and effort.
Our supervisors typically get very little training when they’re promoted to supervisor.
Often they’re no match for the ingenious, relentless efforts of slackers to avoid work of any kind.
We typically don’t do a good job setting supervisors up to be a success.
So, they’re left on their own to figure out what to do and how to get their people to perform.
This lack of clarity leaves supervisors in a fog.
Slackers flourish in this lack of clarity and accountability.
It’s what they look for.
The Gainsharing process can help here though, as it creates an environment that’s the opposite of what a slacker needs to flourish.
A big part of the Gainsharing process is:
- Defining the overall performance needed to be “in the hunt” for a bonus, and then
- Breaking it down into what has to happen in the the supervisor’s area, so they can see what they need to do to be “carrying their weight.”If we can help supervisors clarify and define what “good performance” looks like, this does several things:
Helps Supervisors Get Everyone on the Same Page
The Gainsharing process specifies what has to be accomplished overall and a given department’s part to be “carrying their weight” towards the overall goal.
Having the department’s part clearly defined allows the supervisor to get their people “signed up”, and pulling in the same direction.
Provides Structure for Regular Feedback
Once supervisors have a clear goal, it’s easier to give people immediate, objective, “on the spot” feedback and adjust what they’re doing.
A slacker wants to avoid work or effort. They’ll do anything they can to avoid doing work.
All this visibility makes it more difficult for slackers to “hide in the shadows” and just put in the minimum.
It brings them out into the sunlight.
The slackers’ avoidance of work is the enemy we want to avoid/eliminate.
Slackers will find it easier to just go work at another company, than to endure the visibility and accountability Gainsharing-type companies have.
Make Their Work a Game
Having clear objectives for the day and immediate feedback goes a long way towards making their work more like a game.
If we can make a person’s daily work more like a game, they’ll drive results because it’s important to them personally.
The keys here are giving clear objectives and timely feedback. Great performers (sport, music, business) are skilled at making their work into a game.
Putting the structure in place provides the basics needed for the people to see their work as a game and take delight in achieving all the small goals on the way to the overall goal.
The more we can get these dynamics in place, the better company performance will be.
Two Wolves
Truth be told, I believe there’s a bit of the slacker in all of us.
This reminds me of the Indian story about the two wolves:
An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy. “It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.”
He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”
The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”
The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”
Summary
We set up our supervisors for success by giving them clarity on the overall target, and the part they’re accountable for.
This makes it much more straightforward for them to: (1) communicate, (2) give objective feedback, and (3) hold people accountable.
This is exactly the kind of clear accountability that a slacker wants to avoid.
And these same structures improve performance from your “winner employees.”
Your Homework
Anything we can do to give supervisors more clarity will “reduce the fog” and help them deal with slackers.
Below are some questions to consider:
- Where in your company do you suspect you have slackers working?
- Do these areas have specific, daily clarity on expected results?
- If I went to the workers in the area and asked them at the end of the day what was expected of them that day and how they did on that, would they know?
- If people everywhere in your company knew what was expected of them that day and where they stood on that, would it make a difference in your overall results?
- Would it make it more difficult for slackers to hide in the shadows and just put in the minimum?
- How can you put more of the structures in place that give supervisors the clarity they need?
