How to deal with Late Employees
One of the hardest things I find teaching supervisors and managers is to avoid addressing problems.
No I don’t mean ignoring it. I mean avoiding the urge to snap to action and leave common sense and temperance in the dust. Remember that you are there to strengthen the company, not run your mouth off to make yourself feel like you are doing your job.
Some problems naturally have to be fixed immediately. That’s one thing. Creating a solution that accomplishes the overall goal is imperative in most operations. If you have a late receptionist, fill the slot immediately until they arrive. Even if this means you have to do it yourself. That is after all what you were hired to do. Ensure that necessary work gets done.
The Late Employee
When a new employee arrives late, most managers will make a point of describing to this employee why that is not acceptable. And make some statement as to why it shouldn’t happen again. If you actually hired an employee that has not yet understood this basic principle, you really need to review your hiring practice. Not addressing their late arrival as a problem - as hard as this might be - is actually the smart thing to do.
The poor person is probably sweating bullets, kicking themselves and worrying like no other that they are going to lose the job. Adding to that stress is not going to accomplish anything positive. The person is expecting "the talk" and has already raised every fortification they have against it. You will be talking to a person who now is defensive and will begin to resent you instead of listening to you. It is the completely wrong time to address this.
The knife is sharp - The universe is big - And I love to state the obvious
The scolding "you’re late" comment is probably one of the dumbest ones a manager ever utters. The employee knows that they are, they know that you know, and thereby you are stating the obvious in order to make a point that doesn’t need to be made. Making you seem like a complete troglodyte in both thinking and interpersonal qualities. Not to mention that you are actually accomplishing the wrong thing.
A chronic latecomer will not improve with the initial "talk" for more than a short period. And thereby the problem has not been solved but instead has been worsened in that you are spending time energy and money training a person for longer that IS in fact a chronic latecomer.
The Smart Approach
Remember that you hired a reasonably intelligent individual, who most likely is not a tardy person by nature and leave it at that.
Greet them like any other day, ask if everything is ok. Most of the time, the employee will apologize and explain what happened without you having to go of the offensive. Be non-judgmental, after all, you’ve probably gotten stuck in traffic once or twice yourself.
What you will create is an instant relaxation, allowing the person to return to their duties feeling good about the job and the people they work with, making them even less likely to want to disappoint anyone. The mere shock of NOT getting the "talk" will completely bypass their defensive mindset, and you will reach them on a completely different level. They know that you are aware of their late arrival. They also know that you are not the type of person who is more interested in making them feel bad than anything else.
If you hired a chronic latecomer, the chance to have this talk will re-occur, which is when you should address it. To stress an employee, who isn’t late by habit, is non-productive at best and damaging in every other instance.
Basic Glossary
Instead of: "You’re Late!" - Try "Hi!"
Instead of: "Why are you late?" - Try "Are you ok? "
Instead of: "That’s not acceptable" - Try: Biting your tongue and go get a coffee, and while your at it bring one for the late employee too, they could probably use some.
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June 3rd, 2008 at 9:48 am
Nicely put, and I agree it’s obvious - many want to bring out others short comings so very quickly because they truly do not want anyone to notice theirs. The fear driven management is one that made me leave a job, find out about me, what I am doing for your company before you start spouting off and trying to run things on fear and ignorance.
June 3rd, 2008 at 3:55 pm
What an unexpected treasure. Sometimes I like being wrong. I would have let the late employee have it. Now after reading this post, I see the error of my ways. I will avoid the temptation of acting like a troglodyte.
June 3rd, 2008 at 7:02 pm
Congrats! You have written another pillar post that contains timeless content for your readers.
Negative begets negative. A positive approach will create a better outcome than a challenging welcome like: “You’re Late!”
It was refreshing to read your non-combative approach to such a common problem in the workplace. I’m looking forward to reading your next post.
June 11th, 2008 at 5:05 am
Genious once again!
For me, I’m very strict when it comes to me being on time. I am always early because you’re not ontime if your ontime (make sense?). If I am ever late, I freak out because it reflects poorly on me. If I am ever late, my boss knows something had to have come up because it is so rare that I’m late and she makes sure I’m okay.
How would you really confront a frequently late employee without the combative approach?
~the GURU
June 11th, 2008 at 5:45 am
The Guru,
That is a very good question. This as you noticed deals primarily with single occurrences.
The Employee who is often late. Quite Commonly falls into two categories. 1. They have something in their mornings outside of their control that can slow them down. Dropping children off at school can be such a reason. Some schools only accept children after a certain time in the mornings, and I know from experience that there is no telling how long this will take. I worked with a private school that had a massive traffic problem every morning and even those arriving ealy could be blocked from getting out on time.
If this is the case, and the employee otherwise is a productive member of the company. I would suggest finding a solution where flex time is used if at all possible. Some positions are not able to accommodate this, and in such cases it might not be possible to accommodate.
2. Some employees are just late by habit, if it is a repeated problem without what appears to be a common denominator. A corrective “talk” may be necessary. However, even such a talk should be approached from a problem solving angle. And not the Boss V. Employee approach that is so much more common.
Unless the position itself is completely menial (in which case you have to ask yourself why you are paying someone to do it). Solving the problem is much more cost effective than firing the employee simply because it removes the chance aspect. Hiring a new person doesn’t automatically mean you get a problem free employee, and you will still have to suffer some loss in productivity in training them.
Thank you for your comment and Question, i hope that cleared it up a little.
June 11th, 2008 at 9:38 am
This is a great article and not only in the business sense, but with dealing with people all around.
In the workplace, however, for those in “higher up” positions, treating your subordinates with dignity and respect is not only the right thing to do, but also helps to increase their productivity. I would love to see a study done to see the productivity levels with employees who are treated well vs. those who are made to feel less than or put down. Could make for a great dissertation topic. But not for me…I’ve already done mine.
LOL!
Thanks for this GREAT article on such an interesting topic. You’ve brought up some great points and gave some amazing suggestions!
Dr. KC
http://www.DOCintheBiz.com
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