If you ignore, misuse, or demean talent within your company—even during this recession—they’ll move on to greener pastures. That’s the overall take home message from BusinessWeek‘s recent article “Five Ways to Ensure Mediocrity in Your Organization.” The magazine details “five of the most insulting leadership practices, the ones that virtually guarantee a business will end up with the most self-esteem challenged, optionless team members when the dust settles” and it is a great read for managers everywhere. We especially like the first example of lackluster-promoting leadership:
1. If you desire a mediocre workforce, make sure your employees know you don’t trust them.
Nothing spells “You’re dirt to us” like a corporate culture that screams, “We don’t trust you as far as we can throw you.” I refer to company policies that require employees to clock in and out for lunch or software that tracks every keystroke and change of URL in case a molecule of nonwork-related activity squeaks into the workday. When employees know they’re not trusted, they become experts at “presenteeism”—the physical appearance of working, without anything getting done. Congratulations! Your inability to trust the very people you’ve selected to join your team has cost you their energy, goodwill, and great ideas.
Tags: BusinessWeek, Employee Relations, employees, ineffective leadership, manager-employee relations, mediocrity, workforce
