How do you strengthen the commitment of your lazy subordinates?

 

Do you want to strengthen the commitment of your lazy subordinates?

There are managers who complain that they don’t have a committed workforce. This is actually a very valid observation there are really workers who exert half-hearted effort towards their work. 

What is the cause of this? Is this an attitude problem? Is this attributable to the inherent laziness of certain worker? This can be both an attitude problem and inherent laziness of some employees. However, when employees accept an employment offer.

It simply means that they commit themselves to follow the discipline and culture of the organization that they would be working for. If they agree to work for an organization why are they still lazy and why are they still less committed?  

We can somehow trace this indifferent attitude to their managers. A manager who is lazy and lacking in commitment would breed the same kind of subordinates. Therefore the key in changing the attitude of these workers lies in the hands of the manager himself. If he wants his subordinates to change then he must first change and lead the way.  

From being lazy and half-hearted the manager would now become very hard-working and committed. If we apply the principle of leadership by example it is expected that the subordinates will now become very hard working and committed also.  

Managers sometimes look very far for the solution to their subordinates behavioral problems especially laziness and lack of commitment. Not knowing that they are actually part of the problem and certainly would also become part of the solution provided they change their negative attitudes/behaviors. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

On promotion

 Are you expecting to be promoted? 

Every employee has this inner desire within themselves to be promoted and be ahead from their contemporaries in their organization. However not everyone who desires to be promoted wants to work hard for that coveted promotion they simply take it easy. Then when they are not chosen they sulk and blame anyone but themselves.  

Employees who want to be promoted must work for it; the best starting point is to work hard in their present job assignment. You work hard not because you’re expecting to be promoted you work hard because that is the right action to do. 

Every worker must work hard so that they could give equitable value to the salary that they receive from their organization. Promotion is simply a reward for a person who works hard. But there are also times that no matter how you work hard you are not chosen to be promoted. So what would you do? Will you sulk and be indifferent to your organization?  

The proper attitude to have is to continue on working with zeal even if you are not chosen for promoting. You will always have a good karma once you choose to continue on working with passion no matter what the outcome of your desire to be promoted. For example, the good karma would come in the guise of an unexpected promotion or a job offer from another company.  

Let us say that you continue to work with enthusiasm even if you were not promoted. Then it happened that there again was a window for promotion. So you aspired again and by this time you’re expecting that you will now bag the coveted promotion. However to your great dismay you were not chosen again even if you were the most qualified.  

So what would you do now?  

If you believe in yourself and you firmly believe in your competence, it’s high time for you to walk away from your present employment. Look for an organization that would value your hard work and competence! - Marino J. Dasmarinas

The price of manipulative Leadership style

The story is told about a politician who cannot accept that he lost an election contest. So, he  fed his rabid supporters a false narrative that he was cheated. But whenever he was asked to provide evidence about his allegation he could not present any.   

His narrative of being cheated struck a chord among his rabid supporters that they believe it hook line and sinker. Hence, the losing politician told his rabid supporters to be ready to protest and they marched and protested. 

However, during the day of the protest the losing politician was nowhere to be found he simply let his supporters undertake the protest. Unfortunately it turned violent and there were casualties among the politician’s supporters and the authorities. An investigation was conducted by the police and they found out that the losing politician fed his rabid supporters the false narrative that he was cheated. Therefore the manipulative, arrogant and egotistical politician was arrested and was put in jail. 

Manipulative leaders/managers exist in every area of an organization. They are arrogant, brash and egotistic. They exist not to serve their organization but to serve their own selfish interest and agenda in the organization. They will do everything including feeding their direct reports and subordinates false narratives for them to survive. And they would be quite successful in using their manipulative leadership for a certain period of time. 

But leaders who employ behaviors that are deceiving and manipulative do not last for long. They are sooner or later exposed for their insidious behaviors and actions. Not only that they are exposed for who they really are they are also severely punished by laws that measures up to their crimes and they are judged harshly by history. Why? Because that’s the steep price that they have to pay. 

Do you know a leader/manager that has a manipulative behavior? – Marino J. Dasmarinas    

On undesirable behavior

Once upon a time there was a professor who had a group of favorite students. Whenever there was a recitation he would always call upon this select group of students. He was confident with them for the reason that whenever they were called they would always give a satisfactory answer. 

But as the days of his class were progressing he noticed also a sudden change on the behaviors of his favored students. They started to behave abrasively they would react to questions even if the questions are not meant for them to answer. So the professor thought of a strategy on how to stop their undesirable behavior. 

During their succeeding classes he did not anymore call on them during recitations. He also distanced himself from them unlike before where he would easily open conversation with them. By doing this the professor sent a strong message to his former favored students that he means business and he doesn't want any misbehavior in his class. Soon enough their undesirable behavior stopped. 

In an organizational setting a manager/leader deals with a lot of behavioral idiosyncrasies. There would be direct reports or subordinates who would always try to get your attention as if to tell you that they know more than their co-employees. Or they know more than what you know and they would somehow try to dominate you. The moment you fail to properly handle this kind of employees they would become a behavioral nightmare for you.  

So what must you do as a manager/leader? Start by keeping your distance from them. If before there was no space that divides you; start by creating an invisible demarcation line so that they would know their limits and the proper respect that they must observe over you.  

This doesn't mean that you will not be accessible to your direct reports and subordinates anymore. This simply means that they must learn to respect you because of the position that you hold in your office. And you must act respectably as well because respect is always two way traffic as the saying goes, “Respect begets respect.” - Marino J. Dasmarinas

On dealing with your problem employee/s

Do you have a problem employee in your organization?

Every organization has its own share of problem employee/s; name any organization and there is somebody who creates headache for the manager/leader.

 

How would you deal with this problem employee? Would you immediately impose punishment or you talk to him/her first? It’s no brainer that the best course of action to take is to talk to this problem employee/s first, for all you know he/she only needs attention.

 

Punishment must always be the last option for an erring employee. Because the moment you impose punishment. You are actually planting the seeds of resentment in the heart of your employee and this is best illustrated by this short story.

 

Mr. X is an HR manager in a private organization, like other HR managers he also has his own share of problem employees. But what makes him unique is this: He has never resorted to punishment to straighten out a problem subordinate. He always resorts to diplomacy and so far this method always bears fruit for him.

 

When asked why does he refuse to use punishment as a tool in disciplining erring employee/s? This was his short but insightful answer.

 

When he was a child he was always been subjected to corporal punishment by his retired military man father. Whenever he commits a wrongdoing there was always a corporal punishment immediately imposed upon him. 

But unknown to his father there was always resentment in his heart whenever he was punished. The trend of imposing punishment as a means to correct his breach of discipline continued for  a long period of time. until it reached a boiling point that he argued with his father.

 

Punishment as a measure of discipline always has its limitations; it may work initially but the moment you impose punishment you are actually igniting the smoke of resentment in the hearts of your erring employees. Until such time that this smoke becomes a full blown fire that can destroy not only you but also the entire organization.

 

Always use diplomacy first in dealing with your erring employee/s for this is the best path to take. Then if all else fails you can now resort to the appropriate punishment. - Marino J. Dasmarinas

The power of positive mindset #mjdasma

The story is told about Jacinda, a Chief Executive Officer who noticed the weary behavior amongst her subordinates since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic.  The usual happy, alive and bubbly behaviors amongst her subordinates were not there anymore. So, she thought of a way to bring back their motivation otherwise if she would not it would surely be the end of their organizational life.

Hence, she called for a meeting of the entire human resource in their organization’s gymnasium. And she told them, “We have to have a positive mindset notwithstanding our present predicament if we want our organization to survive otherwise we would be all out of job sooner or later.”

But what is positive mindset? Positive mindset is a mental attitude that expects nothing but the best despite of all the negativity, gloom and adversity that surrounds us. Positive mindset is also the beginning of having a positive life for without positive mindset there would be no bright future ahead of us.

Positive mindset opens new avenues, new doors and new windows for life’s opportunities and success. It ushers us to uncharted lands that give us nothing but the best. Helen A. Keller the famous blind and deaf author has this to say about positive mindset: “No pessimist ever discovered the secrets of the stars, or sailed to an uncharted land, or opened a new heaven to the human spirit.”   

Positive mindset is also the secret of athletes in winning and achieving success in their chosen sport. Michael Jordan the greatest basketball player of all time has this to say about positive mindset: "If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it."

Positive mindset is the best mental attitude that we need to have during this trying times. Because it programs us to have a laser like focus on the brighter side of life. It blinds our eyes to all the negativity of life. And when we are focused on the brighter side of life we naturally invite it to come eventually into our life. 

Going back to the story of Jacinda. She was able to bring back the sagging morale of her subordinates and their organization is still vibrantly existing right now. Simply because she encouraged them to live with a positive mindset.

This too we can apply in any arena of our life: Family life, organizational/work life, married life, personal life, retired but not tired life or whatever area of life that we are in right now. We will be able to survive and eventually win this battle against pessimism, gloom and negativity brought about by Covid-19. Because we will use to the hilt the power of positive mindset. Aye! – Marino J. Dasmarinas  

When we are overly conscious of our titles

Do we love to be called by our titles in the workplace for example, sir or ma'am?

The story is told about Mr. X, a newly promoted employee who is very particular with his new found status. He would tell his former colleagues who are now his subordinates to call him sir. because according to him to be called sir is like music to his ear and besides it tells a lot of his status in their office.

Therefore, his subordinates started to call him sir and he would mischievously smile when he is called sir. His newly found status created an air of arrogance in his attitude also.

What he did not know was his demeanor started to create a negative impression to his subordinates. They would silently say that their former colleague has changed for the worst since he got promoted. Thus, it resulted to their distancing themselves from him it also created a big dip on their office performance.

Mr. X is a typical example of a person who became swellheaded by his new found office status. Being swellheaded is a big no-no in human behavior in organization and in human behavior in general because this only creates animosity and friction with our subordinates.

Our promotion must not go to our heads because instead of building bridges we create walls that will isolate us eventually. As we ascend higher in the organizational hierarchy it would be better if we bring ourselves closer to our subordinates.

The more that we go up in the organizational hierarchy the more that we go down to reach-out with our former colleagues. We bridge the gap that separates us with them. Thus, we build teamwork, respect and we amplify office/workplace solidarity. The bad thing about being overly concerned with office/workplace title is it creates disunity and hidden disrespect.

Leaders/managers should not be very particular with their office title whatever it may be. They should rather focus on their performance and on building teamwork. For this will further result in the growth and enhanced performance of their office.

Office titles if allowed to go to the head by a swellheaded/ego infested person would only create isolation, animosity and disunity. This is the reason why there are managers/leaders or even company Presidents and Chief Executive Officers who avoid the trappings of their titles. They instead silently work and let their achievements speak for them. - Marino J. Dasmarinas