Tips for Handling a Lazy Employee
This post focuses on tips and insights for dealing with lazy employees. I have selected a collection of hand-picked articles by various authors to give you an overview of the steps you can take to motivate employees. But first, I have a few brief points of my own.
A lazy employee sets a bad example for others by being at work and doing nothing; it costs the business time and money and causes a loss in productivity.
Here Are A Few Tips About Dealing With Lazy Employees:
Observe Your Employees Behaviour
Documenting the issues for a few days will give you a better understanding of what’s happening.
For example, they may be hesitant to do one task but get right to work when you give them a different task. Keep clear notes for a few days; then, you can decide on what action to take.
Determine If The Person Is Lazy or If There Is Something Else Going On
Sometimes, the employee isn’t lazy but avoids the task because they can’t do it or strongly dislike it.
If they can’t do it, find out why. Is it because they lack the knowledge? Do they need some refresher training, or did they not understand how to do it? This fix can be as simple as providing better training.
Keep Them Busy
Some people are not self-starters if they finish a task and nothing else is planned for them; they sit around. Try giving them tasks to complete; they might improve their work ethics.
Make Issues Urgent
Sometimes if you put a deadline in place, your employee may meet the deadline. With no timeline, they may think, “I’ll get to it when I get to it.”
With a deadline, your employee knows it must be done by a specific time. Put a timeline in place, and check in on them regularly to see how the progress is progressing.
Supervise Your Employee
Some employees don’t need supervision, while others will slack off without supervision.
Dedicating a supervisor to fix the problem doesn’t make sense. Instead, try moving the employee to work in an area that is already under supervision.
Give them another job
Sometimes the employee isn’t a good fit for the job, but they may be a good fit for another job. You could get them to perform another job that might be a better fit for them and the company.
Disciplinary Action
If all else fails, the only other thing to do is take disciplinary action against the employee.
Keep writing them up for not working. If that doesn’t solve the situation, you may need to terminate the employee.
For more tips, see the resources I have selected below to get different points of view from various authors.