I've decided to change gears a bit. I've blogged extensively about the way corporations can dehumanize and disengage employees. About how the nature and structure of large corporations create a political environment where innocent bystanders can be run over.
But what about the other side? What drives managers crazy? Why do they perpetually seem to have so much trouble "measuring up" to the expectations of their subordinates?
This will be a series of posts about the eight most irritating behaviors subordinates engage in. The rankings will be strictly from my perspective -- a combination of the fequency with which I saw the behaviors, and the intensity of my negative reaction. In this post, I'll provide the list, and in subsequent posts I'll explore each characteristic. See if you can find yourself in here (I was guilty of at least one of these behaviors).
Top Eight Behaviors Managers Hate in their Employees.
1. Fairness whiners -- complaining about anything and everything because you think somebody got more/better of something than you did.
2. Blinder wearers -- no understanding (or even interest) in how your particular cog fits into the company machine. Constantly identifying everything you do in terms of "in the box" or "outside the box".
3. Sense of Entitlement -- never appreciating anything nice done for long, instead quickly slipping into looking for what you're entitled to next. Free morning donuts quickly become "hey, where's my donuts?", and "why don't they give us coffee, too?"
4. Clueless about own worth -- most employees believe they are in their company's top ten percent of performers. Why? Because they have no idea how their performance really stacks up. When you try to tell them, they often become angry or even belligerent.
5. Blamers -- nothing is ever their fault. There is always an external cause, an uncontrollable mitigating circumstance, an excuse.
6. Hiders -- watch as a disaster unfolds, but never tell anyone. Perhaps clueless. Perhaps afraid of catching blame. Perhaps hoping for a miracle to occur that will fix it all.
7. Idea Spouters -- "Management ought to..." These people are quick to spit out an idea (often unworkable), and quick to blame when what they envisioned doesn't happen. They seem to never volunteer for the harder work of actually implementing.
8. Clock Watchers -- Never willing to commit an extra minute to the cause, but often quick to ask for flexibility for their personal issues. When it's crunch time, you can't depend on these folks.
Certainly this list isn't exhaustive, but these were the behaviors that often drove me crazy. Feel free to offer additions as comments below...
Tom
