Lazy employees may be quite a generic term here. I will read it to mean employees who know how to work the system.
However, to simply say employees get rewarded because they know how to work the system is only partially true. Sure there are many of these types of employees around and we have all been very frustrated when working alongside them. They let you carry the load and then step forward when the credit is being attributed and take their undeserving share.
Only part of this is down to their knowledge of the system.
The other part of the equation is that their ‘working of the system’ is often tolerated and sometimes even encouraged (though, this may not be the intended outcome). Management carries a significant part of the blame for this happening. Please see my article on how managers can undermine their own efforts to engage their team: Engaging leadership and the simple habits that can kill it
Many team managers believe that both praise and reprimand should be communicated to the team as a whole. Such team communications are useful in the right context. However, rewarding the full team for an individual’s contribution and hard work is counterproductive. It creates bad feeling throughout the team. They all recognise when praise and reward should be directed in a particular direction. Most will be happy to see praise and reward accurately targeted.
Reprimanding the whole team instead of targeting the underperforming individuals is actually letting the culprits off the hook. And, that is exactly how it will be perceived by the whole team. This approach is commonplace for many managers who believe team meetings are a good place to reprimand the team, hoping the guilty parties get the message.
They get the message alright! They receive loud and clear communications that the manager is too weak to deal with them face-to-face. They feel that they have got away with it so the behaviour can be repeated. They are indirectly encouraged to continue as a result.
Managers need to deliver both praise and reprimand to the individuals concerned to clearly communicate the required behaviour in the team. Here are some personal strategies any manager/leader can implement to engage their team members: Engaging leadership: 6 personal strategies to engage your team
Alternatively, if you would like to read about 7 steps to build an engaging workplace, please download our free e-book: download ebook - Etimes2.
I hope you enjoy this answer and reading any of my musings on employee engagement and people in the workplace.
Thanks for the great question. As ever there is more to it than meets the eye!!
