Managing Careless Work

‘I just fired one of my Section Leaders!’ Jeremy, the recently appointed SVP of a construction company, in London, told me last week during my monthly coaching phone call. ‘And what were your reasons?’ I asked. ‘He was making repeated work errors that were unacceptable’. I couldn't manage the situation any longer as he was becoming a liability to the whole department,’ he replied. I listened attentively as he continued, ‘Carole, do you think I did the right thing?’

Not an easy one to answer! We all know how important it is to take remedial action when we see work that is unacceptable but it is not always simple for some individuals to change. Having operated personally in a certain way for years, it is often too difficult for them to change their mindset and way of working. However, such a situation may need to change dramatically when a new senior executive arrives.

A new SVP can mean that you are faced with an immediate challenge. Either raise your game immediately or accept the fact that you may have to find alternative employment with another company or organisation. Neither of these are easy choices but they are ones that need to be addressed.

Diagnosing Sloppy Work
People can submit work that is incomplete or otherwise unsatisfactory, for many different reasons. They may have had insufficient time owing to tight deadlines; they may have poor time-management skills; they may not have fully understood the task they had been given or it is possible they might just be bored with their work.

When you think of sloppy work, you might visualise tasks not being performed correctly; documents presented full of errors with no regard given to team goals and objectives and/or the impact of such mistakes upon a third party. Of course, errors can also be intangible such as inattentive listening to customer/client demands or inappropriate remarks that can damage the credibility of your own organisation.

So how can you overcome inappropriate behavior or unacceptable work within your team?

Perceptions
Before you discuss sloppy work with a team member, first examine your own mindset to ensure that you are not just being a perfectionist with targets that are unrealistic. If you are, then any work produced by others may not match your high standards because they might well be unachievable.

Talk to your team member
Take into consideration that your team member may not realise that there is a potential problem in his/her work output, so that an initial conversation, handled with sensitivity, might be all that is required to achieve the result you want. It might be useful to enumerate examples of mistakes that have been made and to then confirm that the individual has a full understanding of the standard of work that is expected of him or her.

Identify additional resources
It is also important to make sure that there isn’t a training issue that needs to be addressed. Sometimes, individuals may not be confident enough to ask for additional training and it may be up to you to identify if this is part of the problem. Alternatively, the appointment of a mentor might help to increase standards of quality and performance.

However, if work produced continues to be sub-standard then it may be necessary to give the employee or manager concerned, formal notice of dismissal if there is no improvement within a specified time. Such action being vital for the rest of the team and the organisation as a whole.

Key Points

The Author: Carole Spiers
Carole’s credibility is rooted in 20 years success as CEO of a leading UK stress management consultancy, working with equal success both in the UK and the Gulf. She is a world authority on corporate stress and BBC Guest-Broadcaster. Carole is an international motivational speaker, and a weekly Gulf News business columnist.

Contact Carole to deliver a motivation business presentation at your next Conference or Seminar:
E:  info@carolespiers.co.uk.
W: www.carolespiers.co.uk