Lazy employees

Here’s a summary of questions to ask to determine why an employee won’t do something, even though they know how to do it:

1. Is desired performance punishing or is it rewarding? The classic example of “rewarding bad behavior” is when a child misbehaves to get their parent’s attention. In a workplace, an employee might get rewarded with overtime pay for not getting their work done on time.

Probe questions:
• What is the consequence of performing as desired?
• Is it punishing to perform as expected?
• Do employees perceive desired performance as being geared to penalties?
• Would the employees’ world become a little dimmer if the desired performance were attained?
• What is the result of doing it the present way instead of my way?
• What do employees get out of the present performance in the way of reward, prestige, status, jollies?
• Do employees get more attention for misbehaving than for behaving?
• What event in the world supports (rewards) the present way of doing things? (Am I inadvertently rewarding irrelevant behavior while overlooking the crucial behaviors?)
• Are employees physically inadequate; doing less because it is less tiring?