He was late getting back from lunch. “No big deal,” he said to his boss, who challenged him. “I’m here now!”
If this were a one-time thing, it might not be a big deal. With this team member, though, it was an ongoing issue. His boss told me he’s late a lot — late from lunch, late to the office, late in delivering promised reports the team needs and on and on.
His boss was frustrated. She said, “I’ve coached him on it. He’s promised he won’t be late again. He’s good for a few days, but then he reverts to his old, tardy patterns.”
“I don’t want to fire him, but I don’t know what else to do,” she explained.
You might have an employee like this person. Or you may have ten people like this person. And, like this boss, you may need help getting people to fix punctuality issues.
This punctuality predicament is a failure of the player’s demonstrated respect AND delivery of expected results.
Here is the approach I suggested to this leader.
Impact: First, communicate the impact of the behavior on others. Say, “You may not have intended to disappoint your colleagues or customers, but you did.” The impact may not inspire change in the player’s behavior, but they’ll understand there is an impact, and it’s not good.
Standard: Second, set a clear standard for expected behaviors. Clients have had great success with formalized valued behaviors or ground rules like this: “I show up on time and prepared every minute.” This behavior is observable, tangible and measurable, so there is no confusion about the expectations for every employee.
Monitor: Third, determine the deviation from your standard by monitoring players’ alignment to the “on time, prepared” standard. Monitoring can include personal observation, feedback from peers and customers or custom values and behaviors surveys.
Hold accountable: Fourth, celebrate aligned behavior or implement corrective factors to align behaviors. You’ll discover whether the tardiness is a commitment problem or if there are other underlying factors (family demands, health, etc.) that may require accommodation. If this approach doesn’t address a commitment problem, invite the employee to work elsewhere.
Don’t tolerate lateness. Follow these four steps to help players align with your culture standards daily.
Opinions expressed by SmartBrief contributors are their own.
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