You can receive varying levels of service. The service at one company I dealt with recently was exemplary, whilst the other could best be described as zombie like. A large percentage had ‘died’ many years ago, the problem was no one told them to go home and ‘get buried!’. Zombie like service exists everywhere, maybe even in your organisation. Take charge, grab your shovel and bury them now!
What can you do about it?
I believe in organisations today there are four categories of people:
- New Recruits
- The Battle Scarred
- Walking Zombies
- Engaged Employees
Understanding where your people fit will enable you to support and encourage them, or maybe just get on with it and ‘bury’ them.
New Recruits
New Recruits are simply that, new people to your organisation, who are usually young or fresh to the workplace. They are keen to learn and be part of the team, they want to contribute to the success of their team and the organisation.
Not only that, they are keen to better themselves and look for opportunities to shine and stand out in the crowd. They do this by going the extra mile in service or productivity and generally are willing to tackle any challenge presented to them in the workplace.
These people are easy to nurture and with little effort, will maintain this happy and productive demeanour for as long as you support them in their role. Over time, these people will progress across to the Engaged Employee category.
The Battle Scarred
The Battle Scarred are people who have been attacked or hurt in some way, either by their boss or colleague(s) at work. Like someone in a battle, they will call out in their pain and will tell anyone who stops by to listen, to all their trouble and woes. Deep down these people still like their job and the organisation, it’s just that they have been attacked by someone and come off second best.
A typical example is when someone is overlooked for a promotion or a plum project role within the organisation. Sometimes their hurt is the result of their own action or inactions in the workplace.
These people can recover and be helped into the Engaged Employee sector by some recognition of their hurt or anger. A caring manager will take the time to listen to this person and coach them back to either New Recruit or Engaged Employee status. The Battle Scarred can recover quickly, if identified, and can be saved.
Walking Zombies
Walking Zombies are people who have been battle scarred and never recovered. Often they have been hurt and when they cry out for help and get no response, they get bitter. They employ “work to rule” campaigns, the problem being they make their own rules as part of this campaign. These people not only have a poor attitude, they do their best to share that attitude with others and even recruit others in the team to their cause.
They are like a viral infection, hard to cure yet often hang around for a long time before you can shake them off. These people continue to turn up for work even though they loath the experience. Amazingly, if these people are moved on, they often return with a new lease of life and report that they should have left the organisation ages ago.
Engaged Employees
Engaged Employees are the people who wake up on Monday mornings and say “I’m going to work today” and have a smile on their face. They find their job or career fulfilling, challenging and fun.
The reason these people love their work is because they usually have a worthwhile contribution to make and they are appreciated for their contribution. Their team leader or manager listens and hears their suggestions and takes the time to encourage and compliment them for their efforts.
Moving from Battled Scarred or Zombie to Engaged Employee
So you have some Battle Scarred or Walking Zombies in your team, what can you do with them? If they are Battle Scarred there is a good chance you can quickly resurrect them to New Recruit or even Engaged Employee status.
Take some time to catch them doing something good and praise them extensively for it. Sit down with them and talk about the vision for the team and reinforce where they fit in to the team and how their contribution is essential to the success of the team. Review their performance agreement and focus on achieving simple goals together.
Is it possible to change a Walking Zombie to an Engaged Employee? In my experience, the best treatment for these people is to ‘put them out of their misery’. Termination is always a good option for these people. You will be doing them a favour and may even give them a new lease of life to begin again in a new organisation.
I can hear some of you groaning already, “but it’s so hard to sack someone!”. Of course it takes some effort, but think about the effort and the cost of having a Walking Zombie on the team, spreading the virus of discontent and lethargy.
Lindsay Adams, Teamocracy. There are many organisations that provide training, but Teamocracy is fully committed to providing more than just training. We are willing to consult with you to clarify what you are trying to achieve.
CEO People Management 