Oops…they did it again

Previously on this blog…we looked at the habits of managers and leaders in an organization. Those little habits that will drive your employees and co-workers insane.

In an effort to be unbiased, we are turning the tables on the employees.  A brief look at some of their habits that make you wonder about the sanity of having employees in the first place. Luckily you won’t find all of these “habits” in one person and hopefully you only have one person who does it occasionally.

Employee Crazy Habits

Ask then refuse. This can be one of the most mind-boggling, head scratching tendencies an employee may have.  They ask for overtime and when you give it…they refuse to work it.  They ask for training…then don’t show up.  They ask for “x”…and they don’t want it.  We have all experienced this in one way or another, which usually leaves us completely frustrated.  After all, if they asked for it, why didn’t they take you up on it.  Well since each person is different there is no “one answer fits all”. However, you do need to sit down with the person and ask them.

Late…again. For some reason this person’s watch either doesn’t work or they don’t look at it.  They are consistently late and always have a reason – the train, traffic, accident, something at home, etc.  You have heard the excuses many times.  Even if you have a late policy stating as long as they arrive with 10 minutes of their starting time – no time will be deducted. (I do question why you would have this). Being consistently late is unacceptable.  Determine how much you are willing to tolerate and then do something about it.  I would suggest you maintain a low tolerance level on this – not only do you rely on them so do their co-workers.

SCREAMING E-MAILS. Every office seems to have one person who only writes e-mails in ALL CAPS. It could be because they consider it faster, they don’t want to deal with proper sentence formation,  or just plain lazy to remove the CAPS LOCK key.  This is one of the easier habits to fix.  Usually this person doesn’t realize that they are screaming. They are probably not aware of email etiquette which states “All cap emails are the equivalent of screaming” (or something like that).  Tell them!

Every excuse in the book. It can also be called the “dog ate my homework” syndrome. You have an employee who could write a book of “excuses”. It seems they have a “unique” excuse for each time their work isn’t completed, done incorrectly or for not showing up at all. Here’s where baseball comes to mind “three strikes and your out”. The more you accept their excuses, the more they will give them to you. The less you accept, the less you will get (of excuses). Hold your employees to standards and don’t back down.

What interesting “habits” have you experienced?