How do you deal with stubborn employees?

[Camile.Bidan]

I am trying to change my ways. I got "upwards" feedback, the common descriptors about me were , "unreasonable", "no empathy", "always belittles", "creates stressful environment", and "unrealistic expectations".


Recently something happened that opened my eyes.

Basically, I pressured a staff/associate to complete something in 2 hours because when I was at his level I did it in 1 hour.

I reviewed his work on a Sunday and then I left 20 comments because it was shyt. I sent email notifying him of this shyt work quality and he responded At 6:30pm (the next Monday) by saying I don't give him enough time, and he doesn't have anymore time on booked on my team so he can't answer the comments until next week because he is too busy. He gave me a list of other tasks he had to complete.

I was furious, and I noticed he offline. I wrote and email saying, in summary, I gave him plenty of time, and he was offline at 8pm on monday, which means he has plenty of time to address my comments. There 24 hours in a day and you only need 6 hours. Please, don't ever tell me you don't have enough time.


But I never sent the email.

I can't be this type of person anymore. I an one of "those guys" now. A person that fosters a high pressure environment with 80 hour+ work weeks.

I think I need help.

 

[Bernie Madoff]

Your future.

 

[88m3]

You can't hold other people to your standards. Life just doesn't work that way. If I did that to my employees they'd all be fired or quit. Not great for personal relationships either.




Sounds like you're working your way to getting fired as well. Might be time to see a psychiatrist, as an adult you're not just going to magically change.

 

[Bernie Madoff]

You can't hold other people to your standards. Life just doesn't work that way. If I did that to my employees they'd all be fired or quit. Not great for personal relationships either.

I'd have to disagree with you on that. Do you think great companies just put up with incompetence? But if people aren't meeting standards its better to let them go, rather than berate through messages

 

[无名的]

You're doing more harm than good for your organization. After that feedback, I'd give you no more than a month to completely reverse course or I'd fire you. You need to do some soul searching and figure out why you act like this. Belittling people is not acceptable and I imagine it's because you're insecure about something. I'd go on a major apology tour and tell your co-workers you realized how unreasonable you were being, then ask for suggestions how to create a more conducive environment for them to succeed. Not the environment you dictate has to exist for success in your eyes.

 

[ill]

You can't hold other people to your standards. Life just doesn't work that way. If I did that to my employees they'd all be fired or quit. Not great for personal relationships either.

I'm learning this the hard way right now and its extremely frustrating. Peoples work ethic and personal responsibility sucks nowadays but maybe thats what got me ahead Still wanna strangle this kid tho.

 

[88m3]

I'd have to disagree with you on that. Do you think great companies just put up with incompetence? But if people aren't meeting standards its better to let them go, rather than berate through messages

I didn't say I allow incompetence, far from it. I hold myself to incredibly strict and brutal standards and most people aren't built for it. To expect what you expect of yourself from others is setting yourself up for failure, imo. I replace people as necessary if they're incapable of doing what I require.

 

[88m3]

I'm learning this the hard way right now and its extremely frustrating. Peoples work ethic and personal responsibility sucks nowadays but maybe thats what got me ahead Still wanna strangle this kid tho.

It's really tough nowadays but I honestly think it's always been that way. Whether in dealing with people wherever in the world they are, whatever profession, or age it's all the same and you have to push people to get what you need done. I deal with a lot of different businesses and agencies and it's always something. It's all about finding the right balance and expectations of businesses and individuals. Some people are professional and on top of their game but at the end of the day for the majority it's just a check. The best way I've found about going about things is setting up a more than reasonable timeline so there is always room for errors to be fixed, micro managing as necessary, and through having solid subordinates I can trust to tackle issues directly at the drop of the hat any time of day is a lifesaver.

 

[Camile.Bidan]

You're doing more harm than good for your organization. After that feedback, I'd give you no more than a month to completely reverse course or I'd fire you. You need to do some soul searching and figure out why you act like this. Belittling people is not acceptable and I imagine it's because you're insecure about something. I'd go on a major apology tour and tell your co-workers you realized how unreasonable you were being, then ask for suggestions how to create a more conducive environment for them to succeed. Not the environment you dictate has to exist for success in your eyes.

I feel like everyone should work at my level of efficiency and proficiency. I think that is my problem. I am trying to be more tolerant of other styles now.

It's my dream that I can end the 70 hour work week typical in my industry by encouraging efficiency and focus.

I think I go about this in the wrong way.

 

[Camile.Bidan]

It's really tough nowadays but I honestly think it's always been that way. Whether in dealing with people wherever in the world they are, whatever profession, or age it's all the same and you have to push people to get what you need done. I deal with a lot of different businesses and agencies and it's always something. It's all about finding the right balance and expectations of businesses and individuals. Some people are professional and on top of their game but at the end of the day for the majority it's just a check. The best way I've found about going about things is setting up a more than reasonable timeline so there is always room for errors to be fixed, micro managing as necessary, and through having solid subordinates I can trust to tackle issues directly at the drop of the hat any time of day is a lifesaver.

This is the truth.

10% of all people are always on top of their game. I show ruthless favoritism to those people whenever I get them on my teams. That is another problem I have. I show far too much favoritism. The other employees end up feeling neglected.

But it's so hard not to because talent is so few and far between.

 

[无名的]

I feel like everyone should work at my level of efficiency and proficiency. I think that is my problem. I am trying to be more tolerant of other styles now.

It's my dream that I can end the 70 hour work week typical in my industry by encouraging efficiency and focus.

I think I go about this in the wrong way.

There's always someone who is better than you at something. Knowing that, would it be right for that person to belittle you when you can't meet their expectations?

Also, speed doesn't always mean efficiency. If you do something in an hour, you might think you're being fair pressuring me to finish in 2. I might do something half as good in twice the time, but infinitely better than you in twice the time you gave me. Like you said, people have different styles. And I don't know the situation, but seems like throwing something on someone's plate and demanding it be finished in 2 hours sounds like a lack of time management from you or your boss.

A leader manages strengths and weaknesses, but that's impossible when the leader refuses to acknowledge their biggest weakness... which is thinking everyone should operate like them. That's a fatal flaw breh.

 

[Camile.Bidan]

There's always someone who is better than you at something. Knowing that, would it be right for that person to belittle you when you can't meet their expectations?

Also, speed doesn't always mean efficiency. If you do something in an hour, you might think you're being fair pressuring me to finish in 2. I might do something half as good in twice the time, but infinitely better than you in twice the time you gave me. Like you said, people have different styles. And I don't know the situation, but seems like throwing something on someone's plate and demanding it be finished in 2 hours sounds like a lack of time management from you or your boss.

A leader manages strengths and weaknesses, but that's impossible when the leader refuses to acknowledge their biggest weakness... which is thinking everyone should operate like them. That's a fatal flaw breh.

I have been belittled for not completing something in a time on par with my boss. She is quick to point when something should have taken half hour . To her everything takes a half hour.

She is also quick to point out when I don't get something as quickly as she would. Usually by snapping her fingers and saying, " I need you to understand this". I still believe that I am smarter than her however.

But I don't take it personally like my staff seem to. That is just her style of management.

 

[darealvelle]

Dude sounds like you having trouble getting the best out of you employees. Good leaders are capable of making someone that is pathetic worker to getting the results they need from them. And your employees will not appreciate you talking down to them like your better than them. They will walk out on the company in the quickness without a notice or anything. You need to get more involve with your employees and not give them orders like worker ants. Remember leaders know how to lead. Are you a leader or a drill sergeant?.

 

[BaldingSoHard]

I feel like everyone should work at my level of efficiency and proficiency. I think that is my problem. I am trying to be more tolerant of other styles now.

It's my dream that I can end the 70 hour work week typical in my industry by encouraging efficiency and focus.

I think I go about this in the wrong way.

I used to be like you.

I used to want to be the slowest guy on the team, because it would mean that the team was a screaming model of efficiency.

What I found is that the best workers often don't make the best leaders, because we expect everyone to be able to do what we did.

But it doesn't work that way.

A leader needs to be, in essence, a servant to those who work for him. Your job is to get the most of of each employee you have. Every employee is motivated differently and what worked for you probably won't work for others, especially if they're not as technically proficient as you were. When I managed people, this was probably the one thing I enjoyed most about my job; finding out what makes people tick and finding a way to provide that to them. It's actually very rewarding. Give it a shot.