Are your employees doing the job that they’re paid to do? Some employees take leeway by spending time doing things that may be valuable but interfere with the job they’re supposed to be doing. They get praised for the additional work, but get away with not being accountable for what they neglect.
Consider these examples:
+ The designer who loves the creative process so much, but typically spends two or more times the hours than what was budgeted.
+ The client manager who spends inordinate time with clients that are being undercharged.
+ The project coordinator who prefers schmoozing with clients and neglects his paperwork and ultimately delays billing.
This ends up being costly for your company and needs to be managed. It’s tempting to forgive especially when the clients love them or the extra work product is dazzling.
But if they aren’t doing their core job, as the manager you’re going to pay. You need to rein in the behavior that gets in the way of doing the job. Employees don’t like this. They don’t always (want to) understand that what they neglect pulls down the efficiency and profitability of their department.
Although you want to praise the additional work, you need to have a firm hand in insisting that they follow departmental procedures and complete their assigned work within the given time frames.
Be prepared for whining. If whining persists (and the core work isn’t complete), you may consider that this person isn’t the right fit for the job. He or she may need to move to another position, or regrettably, leave your company altogether.
One thing is certain: if the behavior continues, you will lose one way or the other. Address these kinds of issues swiftly and make sure they do their work. (And yes, that’s part of what you’re accountable for.)
Have a great day!
