High Maintenance? Your Days Might Be Numbered!

"He complains a lot."

"He needs so much of my attention."

"She creates more problems/frustrations than she solves."

Sound familiar?

We hire our team members as resources to help us achieve our objectives. When a team member tips that scale to where they create more work and frustration than they solve, then we have to question their contribution to the team, and to our meeting our committed goals.

Makes sense, right? We have an obligation, a business plan to deliver. We hire people to achieve and lead certain pieces of that plan. It is the only reason we hire people - to help us achieve the goals to which we have committed.

Of course we have an obligation to develop our team members, to lead them to improve their skills.

This is where the difference lies. Skills and experience, versus style and attitude.

Skills and experience are traits that we a) likely bought into in the hiring of the individual and b) are areas that we as leaders own to develop in our people. Over time, our leadership will guide experience and skill development.

Attitude and style is a different story altogether:
When the employee interacts poorly with others...
When they don't take ownership for their actions and results...
When they demand attention...
When they don't deliver on commitments...
When they are unresponsive...

These are traits of style and attitude that with appropriate feedback, require attention and adjustment by the employee. They choose to act and behave in a certain way and if in the doing they are limiting (or destroying) the value for which they were hired - even if they are experienced - then there is no reason for them to be employed by you.

Our obligation is to make that clear to our employees. Fitting into the culture is not an option. It is a prerequisite. And when it doesn't happen, it can destroy productivity and results on many levels.