Legacy Bowes Group Articles

Absence does not make the heart grow fonder.

There are no two ways about it, but most of us are great fans of summer… sunny days, barbecues, long evenings, and opportunities for rest and relaxation. Yet, at the same time, it can be a difficult time for small businesses to juggle all the employee vacation schedules.

I’m sure you’ve heard a multitude of excuses from employees for being late to work, late for their part of a major project or simply not wanting to carry out a specific task.

Almost every manager I speak to talks about the amount of time they spend on human resource issues. Some even feel overwhelmed. Unfortunately, most of the issues relate to interpersonal conflict between employees, bullying, blaming, poor performance, job dissatisfaction, gossip, complaints and whiney attitudes.

According to Cy Wakeman, author of Reality Based Leadership, and the keynote speaker at the upcoming QNET conference, part of the challenge is that many employees have adopted learned helplessness both in their personal and professional lives. In her view, employees are feeling they lack control and have an inability to change their circumstances. This results in negative attitudes and presents a problem for leaders.

In her view, the fault lies with leaders who over-manage and don't lead instead of coaching employees and developing their skills and expertise. When a leader acts in such a way, all they get from employees is excuses. This leads to even more workplace drama.

So what is the solution?