Positive Vibes Only?
Should you have this attitude in the workplace?
In the same way that negativity is a cancer, positivity is contagious.
If you counter someone’s negative attitude with warm and fuzzies, it can be a game-changer. Not always, but often enough that it’s worth a try.
And here’s the thing: you can be positive and STILL hold them accountable.
It’s an art form, and most people who try this only come across as passive-aggressive. That’s definitely not what we are going for.
So let’s talk about how we can approach this in a way that is both direct, and effective.
Let’s say you have one team member who just isn’t bringing their A-game. While everyone else is willing to work extra hours, help out co-workers, take on new projects, this person is not.
They never clock out a minute late and won’t lift a finger to help with anything they don’t consider “their job”. If anyone asks for their help, you already know the answer is going to be no, whatever the reason may be.
It’s not what you see from other employees, and it’s not what you want to see from them.
So how do you approach this?
The trick is to be honest. That does not mean you have to be mean, but you have to be clear about what the issue is. You can balance that by offering positive things, and solutions to the problem. Be very clear about the expectations they are not meeting, what you want to see, and that you believe they can fix this.
Here’s an example:
“I wanted to talk to you about some of the expectations we have. We are noticing that during the busy times, we have some staffers who are willing to stay a little later occasionally to help get things completed. Sometimes things that aren’t necessarily their ‘day-to-day’ responsibilities, but things we need done. It’s not something that happens all the time, and we want our employees to have a good work/life balance. However, it’s appreciated that if the need arises, that they are willing to do that, and to help the team.
We want everyone here to have that mentality. If we all work together, we can get things done more efficiently, and it promotes the spirit of teamwork we like to see in our organization. You are a part of this team as well, and you have so much potential. I would love to see more initiative from you. What can we do to help motivate you?”
Yes, this is very professional jargon, and maybe not at all how you would actually say things. This is just a guideline.
It’s clear about what issues you have noticed, it tells the employee what the expectation is, and you letting them know that they are valuable and you believe that they can change their behavior to meet the need.
It’s easy to gravitate towards the positive and skip the negative. You have to be clear about where they are falling short. The expectation has to be clear for you to make forward progress.
However, painting this in a positive way should encourage them.
This may open up some tough discussions, but they will be necessary. There may be some things happening that are causing the negative attitude.
It’s a good thing to know the cause because then you can determine if it’s something you can or should fix. It won’t always be reasonable, but sometimes it is.
Replacing an employee is an expensive process. Negative attitudes can be coachable sometimes, but not always. If you can coach your current team to success and a better attitude, that’s the first thing you should try to do.
If that’s not working, don’t be afraid to move on.
Even one person with the wrong attitude can affect all of your staff. Negativity tends to have a ripple effect. Don’t make the mistake of ignoring it.
