Working Wounded: High Maintenance Help
Aug. 25, 2006 — -- DEAR WOUNDED: I have a great performer who is also a pain in the rear end. How do you deal with a high-maintenance employee?
ANSWER: A friend of mine had a Fiat sports car. He said that Fiat stood for "fix it all the time." But it was worth some trouble for him to drive a high-performance car. At the same time I had a beater that constantly broke down and was obviously not worth the trouble.
Employees can be like that, too. There are high performance employees who are worth a certain amount of hassle, and other employees who aren't worth any. I'll help you sort out how to deal with the top performers below. For more, check out "High Maintenance Employees" by Kathryn Graham Lewis (Sourcebook, 2005).
Are they worth it? There is no politically correct way to say this: The person's performance must produce more results than hassles. You always need to start by asking the simple question: Are they worth it?
Do you give them as much control as possible? Most bosses give their employees a lot of responsibility and precious little authority. This is not lost on a top performing employee. I understand that it can be scary to relinquish control. So here is a simply strategy: Start by giving them a little bit of control. If they handle it well, then give them more.
Do you feed their need to compete? Top performers often have a competitive streak. They want to compete and they want to win. You can turn this to your advantage by putting them in situations where their competitive drive works to your advantage. For example, give them access to information, like sales data, that allows them to monitor their performance. Top performers will use this information to drive themselves to new heights.
Do you let them set new goals? I can't tell you how many people I've talked to who fall asleep at work because their goals are so easy to reach. Don't turn around, however, and set unattainable goals. Rather, sit down with each person and make goal setting a conversation that you both contribute to. You'll be surprised at how high most of your people will set their own goals, if given the chance.
Do you reward performance with prestige, position and titles? Let's face it, we all have egos. You might not be able to give people huge salary increases, but there is a lot you can do by giving them better titles, access to new perks, etc.
Do you pay them a fair wage for their contributions? OK, prestige only goes so far. At the end of the day, you have to pay people fairly.
The best thing about people who listen to a different beat is that you just might learn a new dance or two along the way.
We'd like to hear your strategy for dealing with a high maintenance employee. I'll give an autographed copy of "Working Wounded: Advice that adds insight to injury" (Warner, 2000) to the best submission. Send your entry, name and address via: http://workingwounded.com or via e-mail: bob@workingwounded.com. Entries must be received by Wednesday, Aug. 30.
Here are the results from a recent workingwounded.com/ABCNews.com online ballot:
Which best describes your feelings about feedback?
- A comfortable pair of jeans, 26.3 percent
- Like swallowing castor oil, 28.9 percent
- A ride on a street full of potholes, 44.7 percent
Our winning strategy for dealing with feedback comes from F.F. in Gainesville, Fla.:
"I'm a feedback junkie. I love to learn how to do a better job. My company only does evaluations once a year. That's what they say. But in reality they don't. I wish companies would realize how important it is to give people feedback on a regular basis. And I love the idea of giving feedback to my boss. But I don't see that happening where I work any time soon."
Which Broadway show best expresses your feelings about working in a cubicle?
- "Camelot," 7.8 percent
- "Bring in 'Da Noise, Bring in 'Da Funk," 23 percent
- "Les Miserables," 69.1 percent
From: Working Wounded Blog on ABCNEWS.com
Bob Rosner is a best-selling author, speaker and internationally syndicated columnist. His newest best-seller, "Gray Matters: The Workplace Survival Guide" (Wiley, 2004), is a business comic book that trades cynicism for solutions. Ask Bob a question: bob@workingwounded.com or http://graymattersbook.com. ABCNEWS.com publishes a new Working Wounded column every Friday.
This work is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News.
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