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Dealing with Under-Achievers Within a Project
By David Egan, Global Knowledge Instructor
Personalities can have adverse affects on projects, and one of the worse is
the Under-Achiever Type. Recognizing this in people may not always be that easy.
Being able to cope with this personality can improve overall performance of them
and your project.
Recognition: When is someone an under-achiever?
Showing up late for work or meetings, being unprepared for meetings, never ahead
of schedule, constantly slowing others down in related processes, doing the bare
minimum to get through a day -- all signs of the under-achiever. Other signs can
include lethargy and rebuff of requests.
When I was in charge of 16 general laborers in 5 crews, I found that certain
characteristics started to appear in their work habits. They were quick to lose
site of the timelines, rarely performed the task with any desire to get done
early or even on time, showed up late and wanted to leave from work first, never
offered help or suggestions, never tried to do more, and generally tried to
avoid conflict -- and especially to avoid me.
Not only were they under-achieving, they were slowing everyone else down as
well. I eventually had to fire the worst offender. I wanted to set a standard
and make it clear to everyone that under-achieving was not acceptable.
I also had to find a way to make a rather dull and boring job better and that
was through motivating incentives. If they could finish early with a job and
keep the quality level as high as needed, they were free to go home early. If
jobs were on time and budget, they were invited on adventurous events that I
either paid for entirely or greatly subsidized from corporate bonuses. Overall,
my crews over-achieved because I added the extra incentives to keep their
motivations high.
What creates this phenomenon? A lack of motivation, usually
As a table busser, the work was smelly, unpleasant, poorly paid, and rarely
congratulatory in nature. You just had to do your job, and it never seemed to
end. There was an eventual hope to be a waiter, but that was just a pipe dream;
there was no way I would last that long. There was very little to motivate me
other than my absolute need for money.
If you are not motivated, you put unpleasant tasks at the end of the priority
list. Almost everyone does this at some point in time. If you are having family
or after-hour issues, you tend to carry it over into your workplace.
When I worked in the oilfield years ago, I was well-paid, and it was real
exciting -- for the first few months. Then the monotony started to get to me,
followed by the long hours getting longer, the lack of a social life, the lack
of time off, the continuous grind of pressure from the company to keep going --
it burned me out quickly. I became the lethargic person I swore I would never
be. I started slowing down my own work habits, being late did not bother me any
more. I tended to chat longer with friends and associates before going back to
work. I had lost my motivation.
Repetitive tasks tend to foster under-achievement. If you know your people, and
you know what motivates them, you may be able to mitigate this slowing down
effect with various incentives. Plan on multiple types of incentives.
I had decided to quit this oilfield job and look for something more
home-oriented and stable, until a competitor asked to double my salary and bonus
rate, plus fly me to exotic countries to live and work. Suddenly, my motivation
was back!
New tasks where skill sets do not match the requirements also tend to foster
under achievement in certain people. What is their motivation for updating their
skill sets for one task? Can they see a need for this skill in the future? Can
you provide them with some hope that there is a really important need for this
skill in the future?
When I got to the new location, I found they had not been all that truthful
about certain aspects of the new job. The equipment was nowhere near as
"state-of-the-art" (archaic, really), time-off was a thing of the past, working
conditions were even more unsafe, and health and hygiene factors made me
nervous. I quickly lost my motivation after just a few short weeks.
Recognition: When is someone an underachiever?
Look for people who are no longer challenged or want to be challenged. After
working in the same job for many years, there is a tendency towards complacency.
After only 6 months working in a foreign land (with just 2 days off) weekends
were just another part of the work week; the company decided to transfer me to
another country to try to get my motivation back. It lasted about a month, and
then I was worn out. The promises that there would be more time off were, as
usual, incorrect. At one point, I was sent out to an offshore rig supposedly for
a week. I was relieved after 6 weeks. And the drilling rig was about 100 feet
long, maybe 30 feet wide, and 2 decks. Not a lot to do except fish, eat, and try
not to go stark raving nuts!
Many long-term positions offer very few chances for advancement. This also tends
to drive the ambitious away from these types of jobs. These types of jobs are
typically lower-paying, labor-intensive and require very general skills. Few
supervisory positions would be needed, and those who were already there would
probably be there for as long as they could hang on. There is very little chance
for upward mobility or promotion in situations like this.
After 14 months with this new organization, I had been moved 3 times, and the
situation had not changed enough for me to want to continue. Then they offered
me a management job, if I would stay on another year or so -- I was being
"groomed." I also had to improve my language skills. They already had a manager
in every office, and the head office already had a full slate of people. I was
curious how I would fit into this tight structure. I was told they would make it
happen. It was just not enough at the time to motivate me to continue. I was
totally unhappy, dreaded work, had no desire to get out of bed any day, even
though I was being paid over $150,000 in today's dollars with a company-paid
house, car, and servants, it was just not enough. I had lost all motivation.
Someone who is ambitious will show a tendency to excel at a position and/or to
do more than asked. The opposite can be said of the under-achiever.
Under-achievers have no desire to do more or take on any new tasks that
challenge their skills.
There is always a need for staff who are willing and able to take on these types
of positions, but there is still a need to keep them working at an optimal pace.
A chronic under-achiever will tend to show up late more often and rarely get
everything done they are assigned, and this will cascade over to everyone and
everything they are associated with.
Assessment: Setting standards to measure status and progress
Every job has to have a standard requirement that must be met by any employee or
contractor. Under-achievers need to be monitored and constantly encouraged to
keep going. You have to decide whether the effort expended trying to keep them
motivated is worth keeping them in the position. The myriad low-paying jobs in
service industries typify this category.
If you want to set a standard, discuss it with everyone involved and commit to
it yourself. Measurements can then be self-created and progress reports can be
from individuals instead of always through a review. Reviews are still necessary
at regular intervals.
Motivation: Working with the person to find out what and how to motivate
Motivation is an ever illusive target. It depends on the individual, on their
age, family life, home environment, and lots more. If you live in an expensive
city working for minimum wages, live in cramped quarters, and have to commute,
your motivation options are very different from someone living and working in a
smaller, less urban area.
If you are familiar with the reality TV show "The Apprentice," you have seen a
special type of motivation, the chance to work with a special person or group.
Everyone is given a chance to manage a task with some limited factor or factors:
money, time, location, expectations. Every one of the candidates shows energy
but the winner is usually the one who has consistently done more, helped others
to do more, and stayed motivated no matter the outcome.
In my oilfield job, my main motivation was the opportunity to work in a foreign
land, all expense paid, as well as the rather generous income , although I did
not at the time think I was underpaid.
As time went by, my motivation changed to just having more of a social life and
more time off. We were always understaffed and racing between jobs, down-times
were very little and far between. All I wanted was a few days off regularly so I
could be a tourist. I was in South America, and I had yet to have the freedom to
be a tourist in any touristy areas.
So I quit and spent three months traveling home through various countries before
even looking for a job. No motivation to work!
Reward: Making it all worthwhile to the person.
The best way is to ask what people want, assuming it is realistic, and see if
you can provide it. Then ask again later to see if it is still an option or if
there are other options.
Ten years ago, the points for airline flights were large; currently they are
much smaller. After 36 trips, half of which were across the continent, I barely
had enough points earned this year to get one return ticket to anywhere in North
America. It hardly seemed worth it. And I have to throw away most of my upgrade
tickets because the corporate system buys the cheapest ticket which cannot be
upgraded. Again, it kills my motivation to fly with that airline. What keeps me
returning to this particular airline is the fact that they do recognize me as a
special flyer and provide me free access to their airport lounges.
Rewards are all relevant, and you should assume they can change with time. Even
airline frequent flyer points can now be traded in for merchandise, as well as
flights. They have had to compete with credit cards offering flights and
merchandise. You should be thinking along the same lines when trying to motivate
your people. Provide as much diversity of choice as possible, assuming the
budget allows for it.
In Summary:
Under-achievers can be anyone if they have lost their motivation. You must learn
to recognize the symptoms and include incentives in the work place that bolster
the motivation in your personnel. It is never too late to start checking your
people's motivational levels.
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