5 ways to counter employees’ excuses
with
Moruf Kolawole Nasir
(Experienced HR professional)
nmkolawole@gmail.com; jarushub@gmail.com
The first part of this write up exposes employees’excuses in the workplace and how counter-productive excuses could be. Since some of us, in one way or the other, will find ourselves saddled with leadership responsibilities where we have to manage this anomaly (Excuses)it becomes necessary to posit some ways/strategies to control these attitude among workers. To successfully manage excuses among employees, the following points/measures will be of help.
1. Always have it at the back of your mind that as a manager your goal is to disarm employees’ excuses permanently. This you should be able to do without accepting the excuse as this will give room for more excuses.
2. You should be able to disarm the excuses without dismissing them for this will cause bigger rift.
3. Avoid being argumentative – otherwise they can say goodbye to effective performance coaching.
4. Respond emphatically to the excuse. How? Try acknowledging the employee’s excuse by showing some level of understanding for the employee’s perception of the situation. This does not mean that you approves of the employee’s excuses. Rather, you understand why the employee views a situation or feels the way he or she does. If you can do this successfully, the employee is likely to stop offering excuses. This approach is effective with Diversions, Discounts, and Half-Truths. For instance: 1.“as no one has told you to lock the office door, I can understand why you left the office unlocked especially when it is not your job to do so” 2.”As no one has said anything to you previously, I can understand how this cooperation issue with Ope is a surprise to you.”
5. Rephrase the excuse. The skill of rephrasing a point consists of restating a comment or suggestion in a way that encourages the employee to examine his or her excuse. In other words, this approach turns an excuse into an opportunity for a problem-solving discussion. Rephrasing is particularly appropriate with Denials. For instance: 1.“Ade, I’m not saying you didn’t cooperate with Idris, but I have some feedback suggesting that was the case and I wanted to hear from you.” 2. “Segun, I am not saying you are the one who messed up the rest room, but I learnt you use the rest room last, just want to confirm from you”
Always remember “In learning you will teach, and in teaching you will learn”.
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