Emotional Deadwood Negatively Impact Corporate Growth

Do you have any “Emotional Deadwood”

hiding out in your organization?

Tim Connor

Just what is emotional deadwood?

It’s an employee that is nearing retirement and has stopped being productive as they are in a “waiting” mode.  It’s an employee who has lost their motivation due to any number of causes.  It’s a manager that for whatever reason is circling the wagons and isolating themselves and or their department from the rest of the organization.  It’s someone who has their resume on the street and they haven’t informed you they are looking.  It’s an executive who has lost their confidence and/or it’s an employee - who for whatever reason has shut down or gone into withdrawal mode.   Are there others?  Of course, but these are some of the more common ones.

Why or when do people become emotional deadwood?

There are any number of reasons why people become emotional deadwood, here are some of the most common ones;

-          They feel insecure with their responsibilities or roles.

-          Something is amiss in their personal lives that is having an impact on their attitudes and performance at work.

-          They feel under valued as an employee.

-          They no longer feel challenged by their responsibilities or activities.

-          They are starting to feel a sense of entitlement.

-          They no longer respect and/or trust their supervisor or boss.

-          They feel under compensated.

-          Their self-esteem is suffering for some reason.

-          They feel isolated.

-          They don’t believe they are getting adequate appreciation and/or recognition.

-          They just don’t care any more.

-          They are hiding something.

There are many contributors to any of the above but the bottom line is that any of these can cause a person to stop performing. As a person’s supervisor if you will pay close attention to your employees, not micr-managing but observing,  there will always be signals that something is awry.  Keep in mind that the number one thing that employees want to perform consistently well is to feel validated and valued. This by the way is the number one reason why good employees leave their organization, when this is lacking.

What can you do to re-vitalize or re-charge an employee who has become dead weight? There are literally hundreds of actions you could take in these situations – here are a few that might help or solve the problem;

-          Give them some new responsibilities, tasks, goals or activities.

-          Re-assign them to a different or newer department where they can apply their experience, knowledge or ability.

-          Have a series of coaching sessions with them.

-          Use my 3/3/3 Quarterly review process. (Call or Email me)

-          Have a serious frank conversation with them about their performance.  No threats, however.

-          Assign a buddy or mentor to them.

-          Meet with them weekly or even daily to discuss their progress or lack of it.

-          Hire an outside coach to guide, council or help them.

-          Ignore them and their behavior (but only for a short time).

-          Put them on probation (with an honest explanation as to why).

What can you do if none of these work?

Simple – let them go, reassign them or be willing to tolerate more of the same.

If you have an employee that is coasting or emotional deadwood, it’s your move now.