How to Manage a Lazy Employee
Address the employee verbally., Be direct, but polite., Review responsibilities., Avoid assuming an employee is lazy., Offer ideas to measure accountability., Articulate clear consequences.
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Address the employee verbally.
Don’t allow an employee's laziness or lack of enthusiasm to become a recurring issue.
Tell the employee you’re hoping to speak with them about workplace expectations and performance, and schedule a time to sit down together.
Your conversation will likely prove helpful in identifying the cause for the employee’s waning work ethic.For instance, “I’ve noticed a decline in your effort and I want to make sure you’ll be able to keep up with your responsibilities moving forward.
Can we set up a time to meet and talk about it?” -
Step 2: Be direct
Make sure you don’t come across as accusatory by acknowledging that everyone’s productivity fluctuates.
Say something like, “I understand that there may be factors I’m not aware of.
Is there something going on I should know about?”If there is something going on outside of work, ask the employee whether you can help, and what they’re planning to do.
Personal issues arise for everyone, and you should be understanding of that, though you also deserve to know when an employee is struggling with something that affects their ability to work. , Sometimes, simply sitting down with an employee and talking about what is expected of them is enough to motivate them to get back on track.
A good way to go about this is reminding an employee of their role, and pointing out how the business is affected when they don’t meet the responsibilities associated with that role.For instance, mention something like, “When there’s a drop in production in your department, Jeff isn’t able to meet his quotas.
We need everyone to stay on task in order to keep this business running smoothly.” , Sometimes, managers mistakenly assume an employee is lazy, when the employee may simply require further guidance.
Specifying priorities for their position may immediately lead to greater productivity.For instance, productivity issues are sometimes the fault of mistaken priorities.
Your employee may simply be spending too much time doing minor, unimportant tasks.
Additionally, it's important to have realistic expectations of your employees.
Often, managers will sometimes compare their employees performance to their own, which is not necessarily fair. , Most people's attention wanes at some point during the day, and this is even more likely if no one else is monitoring their productivity regularly.
Establish a method of accountability that might help keep the employee on task without having to actively monitor them.Deadlines are perhaps the most common measurement of productivity.
If your employee isn’t working within clear, specific deadlines, assign certain tasks or projects to be completed by a certain day.
Similarly, you could assign a series of tasks, or benchmarks, or be accomplished each shift. , Hopefully, clarifying expectations and accountability mechanisms will help get your employee back in the saddle.
However, it is worth mentioning that there may be repercussions for continued laziness.
Articulate these repercussions in advance (ideally by referencing the employee manual), so it is clear that changes in the employee’s behavior need to occur or there will be concrete consequences.For instance, say something like, “It sounds like we agree that these expectations are fair.
Let’s check in with each again in a few weeks, with the understanding that if your performance hasn’t changed, I may have to reduce your hours.” -
Step 3: but polite.
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Step 4: Review responsibilities.
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Step 5: Avoid assuming an employee is lazy.
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Step 6: Offer ideas to measure accountability.
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Step 7: Articulate clear consequences.
Detailed Guide
Don’t allow an employee's laziness or lack of enthusiasm to become a recurring issue.
Tell the employee you’re hoping to speak with them about workplace expectations and performance, and schedule a time to sit down together.
Your conversation will likely prove helpful in identifying the cause for the employee’s waning work ethic.For instance, “I’ve noticed a decline in your effort and I want to make sure you’ll be able to keep up with your responsibilities moving forward.
Can we set up a time to meet and talk about it?”
Make sure you don’t come across as accusatory by acknowledging that everyone’s productivity fluctuates.
Say something like, “I understand that there may be factors I’m not aware of.
Is there something going on I should know about?”If there is something going on outside of work, ask the employee whether you can help, and what they’re planning to do.
Personal issues arise for everyone, and you should be understanding of that, though you also deserve to know when an employee is struggling with something that affects their ability to work. , Sometimes, simply sitting down with an employee and talking about what is expected of them is enough to motivate them to get back on track.
A good way to go about this is reminding an employee of their role, and pointing out how the business is affected when they don’t meet the responsibilities associated with that role.For instance, mention something like, “When there’s a drop in production in your department, Jeff isn’t able to meet his quotas.
We need everyone to stay on task in order to keep this business running smoothly.” , Sometimes, managers mistakenly assume an employee is lazy, when the employee may simply require further guidance.
Specifying priorities for their position may immediately lead to greater productivity.For instance, productivity issues are sometimes the fault of mistaken priorities.
Your employee may simply be spending too much time doing minor, unimportant tasks.
Additionally, it's important to have realistic expectations of your employees.
Often, managers will sometimes compare their employees performance to their own, which is not necessarily fair. , Most people's attention wanes at some point during the day, and this is even more likely if no one else is monitoring their productivity regularly.
Establish a method of accountability that might help keep the employee on task without having to actively monitor them.Deadlines are perhaps the most common measurement of productivity.
If your employee isn’t working within clear, specific deadlines, assign certain tasks or projects to be completed by a certain day.
Similarly, you could assign a series of tasks, or benchmarks, or be accomplished each shift. , Hopefully, clarifying expectations and accountability mechanisms will help get your employee back in the saddle.
However, it is worth mentioning that there may be repercussions for continued laziness.
Articulate these repercussions in advance (ideally by referencing the employee manual), so it is clear that changes in the employee’s behavior need to occur or there will be concrete consequences.For instance, say something like, “It sounds like we agree that these expectations are fair.
Let’s check in with each again in a few weeks, with the understanding that if your performance hasn’t changed, I may have to reduce your hours.”
About the Author
Jacqueline Flores
Writer and educator with a focus on practical cooking knowledge.
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