Any organisation is only as effective and productive as the loyal team working within it. The strongest brands across Australia couldn’t achieve or maintain their strength without the expertise, dedication and robust performance of their leadership teams and employees.
Evidence strongly points to the fact that when employees are engaged and happy, organisations thrive. A study by Oxford University confirms that a happy workforce creates higher productivity – reporting a staggering 13% improvement. This confirms what has always been suspected – most people want to work in an organisation in which they feel valued, respected and with whose values they align.
Undoubtedly the uncertainty and change orientated environment in which we all now live results in issues such as the increase in mental health problems. Without strong support frameworks, proactive leaders and clear HR guidelines, this could tip the balance unfavourably for some organisations towards a greater number of employees who aren’t engaged, who aren’t enjoying their role and who are struggling with aspects of their own wellbeing. This can lead to poor behaviour or lack of performance in the workplace for several reasons.
No room for non-performance
Employee behaviour strongly dictates the success of an organisation – in today’s leaner corporate structure, there’s no place to carry employees who are no longer pulling their weight. Research shows that these employees can cost an organisation significant sums of money through reduced output, decreased productivity and importantly, the negative influence they can foster for the motivation and engagement of the rest of the team.
Negativity can be contagious, with a storm of emotions floating around, the rest of the team may start to lean towards focusing on what’s wrong, or may grow to resent the lack of action to deal with the poor behaviour of their colleague. Bad behaviour and conflict in the workplace are all too common in Australia, with 14% describing their workplace as toxic and 50% reporting that they’ve experienced serious conflict at work. Impacted leadership teams may start to notice increased absenteeism or impacts to their profitability and a negative spiral commences, to the detriment of team and company.
Taking action
There reaches a point at which leaders cannot hide from the issue, and it’s critical to discuss the behaviour and performance with that individual early. Human to human, try to understand what’s driving their poor performance or behaviour, as there may be external influencing factors which are affecting their work. Particularly in the current climate, there may be a whole eco-system of worries or concerns they are dealing with which they need time out to manage and respond to, before they can focus on work. Of course, they must be afforded an opportunity to explain the situation and to demonstrate improvement, but a true leader will dive deeper to understand any mitigating factors. Dealing with poor performance or attitude should be done on a case by case basis with consistency being key to dealing with every employee.
As a leader, offer help. This may be putting them in touch with EAP or suggesting resources to get to the root of the problem. You should clearly articulate the behaviour or performance that isn’t in line with expectation and provide a clear plan, with measurable outcomes to be met. Of course, documenting each conversation and sticking closely to relevant policy is critical to ensuring a fair and robust process in managing undesirable behaviour.
Whilst leaders will undoubtedly encounter poor performance issues, it’s time to look at how we collectively address poor workplace behaviour for the wellbeing of all our employees and the growth of corporate profitability.
