Chasing the Spin (Wendy Samson, Curt Swenson, 2017)
In any behavior intervention in the workplace, supervisors and leaders come to an important fork in the road when the question becomes, “Can this work life be saved?” No one wants to terminate a person’s employment and no one wants to go through the rigorous process of re-hiring for vital positions. It is a leadership dilemma that causes many good organizations to hang on to actively disengaged employees longer than they should, costing their organizations thousands each month. How do we know when we are simply “chasing the spin” with an employee and need to make that termination call?
FutureSYNC International proposes the following key questions to help you make that determination:
- Did you see a poor pattern of behavior from the start?
- Have you given them at least three opportunities to make changes in their pattern, without success?
- Do they consistently place their focus and energy outside of their position, with you having to regularly to pull them back?
- Do they exhibit “Me” versus “We” motivation, even after six months of employment?
- During your previous interventions, were they able to express their own responsibility for their deficits?
- During their warnings and reprimands, did they exhibit embarrassment, regret or were they tearful? These can actually be good non-verbal signs of personal accountability.
- During their warnings and reprimands, did they become angry, threatening or did they begin to point fingers and deflect blame? These can be signs of poor personal accountability OR a character disorder that can only managed through outside treatment. (See www.PsychologyToday.com/Gaslighting:Know it and Identify It to Protect Yourself for an example of one such disorder.)
Contact FutureSYNC International at (406) 254-2326 for additional information on Fearless Leadership and for comprehensive Executive Coaching. Email us at info@future-sync.com
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