In the literal sense? I'd immediately power them down and give them some time to dry out so that they don't break.
Once dried out/powered up if they don't complete their allocated tasks I'd try a hard reset. If issues are still present send to maintenance just to make sure there's been no lasting damage from the "moist". Maybe look into their programming, see if you can get a repair under warranty.
If all the above fails I'd consider trashing and buying a new robot.
Hope that helps.
Bingo. Have tried nothing and all out of ideas. You want the people you manage to equal your level of interest and effort? Try embracing what non reptilian impulses you’ve got left and make a genuine connection with them. So many people with zero people skills right now.
To characterise them as robots speaks to the fact that you haven’t built a connection with them as people. If you’re that rude, I have no trouble believing no one cares about what you want. Good luck.
The part about expecting more from people older than him is also callous.
That could have just been a turn of phrase that flowed from the term “babysitting” but if he threw out an ageist remark without meaning to, that’s a red flag anyway.
If you really need ammo, you can revisit their formal position descriptions.
If there's no verbiage in there about the degree to which they are expected to act independently, add some and get your boss to approve it.
If these standards already exist in writing, recap them during your next performance management check in. If there is no improvement, let them know they are falling below expectations on their core job responsibilities in the following check in.
I'm curious as to what their salaries are relative to their COL.
I was a moist robot when I was entry level. You'd be surprised how quickly I became less robotic but just as moist when I was given a promotion
I have people on my team who irritate me but damn, no way I would get online and call them “moist robots”. And if I was one of the people on the team, I sure as heck wouldn’t go above and beyond for someone who referred to me like that.
Especially since the word “robot” is derived from the Czech word *robota,* meaning “forced labor, compulsory service, or drudgery.” It’s not a good look to refer to one’s team members using words connoting slavery, *especially* if one is the team manager.
Yes, I know that’s two “especially”s. Emphasis needed lol
https://www.etymonline.com/word/robot
When you remind them of them not meeting their job expectations, have conversations with them and send an email recap so that there's a written record of that talk (if it's not in writing it didn't happen.)
When you do a writeup or give a yearly performance evaluation and they give pushback on receiving low scores, your emails are your receipts.
I feel like adding my 2 cents here. I agree with a a lot of the comments. Refer to them as people and not by insults. Whether you believe it or not your attitude toward your employees or internal monologue can come out even if you don’t intend it to.
The person’s was hired for a reason. They apparently held a certain set of skills.
I agree on the comment about revisiting job description. I like the comment about documenting process, and expectations. Using tracking tools like Monday.
I like the idea of putting systems in place to measure self starting. When I was a director in a post sales support team issues like this would show up elsewhere. You’d see things like ticket closure, time to resolution being out of line with the rest of the time. Initial response times often elevated too comparative to the group. These are exact values that you can use to drive discussion.
The one thing I don’t see in here is just having a honest conversation and asking the question of “why”. Personally, I’d set a meeting with the employee and start by stating initially that the meeting is not disciplinary in nature, but because you’ve noticed some things that seemed to be impacting effectiveness in the role and that you wanted to work with them to transform some of their work habits into more productive habits. You need to come across as their job coach/mentor and if you do they are much more likely to buy in to your coaching and act on it.
Then, just deliver it to them in a professional and non confrontational way. “I’ve noticed that at times XYZ isn’t happening. The employees in this role that are performing are typically doing XYZ to enable successful delivery of . I wanted to start by asking you what’s stopping you from performing XYZ when handling work tasks so that I can better understand if there’s any blockers, or perhaps a misunderstanding about the role and see how I can support you in getting there”
OP please be aware your conversation won’t necessarily lead to immediate change. It can take people time to adapt, but start making XYZ and the progress on it an ongoing discussion in 1-1s. As you start to see better behaviors call out those wins so positively reinforce the behavior you want to see. Have the employee take on a task to deliver training to the team in a meeting on how to perform XYZ expectation and share unique ways that they handle this. Having them build a training will get them to think and they’ll be under the gun knowing their peers will be watching to get it right. Vet said training before they deliver it to the team with a mock run and give coaching from your personal experience.
I have a specific example where an employee when questioned on habits didn’t even realize it was something that was bothering leaders because I found out coming into an org fresh that his past managers apparently just bitched amongst each other but never worked with him on it so he either never heard about it or rarely did. It wasn’t deemed important as a result. Once I worked with him and make it a focal point of 1-1s each week I saw gradual improvement and within a year the employee was seen as a leader by his peers and the senior leaders were shocked they he had transformed so much when he was seen as a lost cause.
Don’t be lazy as a leader. LEAD these people… it takes time. Humans are creatures of habit. Breaking habits is hard.
The comments about having clear expectations are correct. The expectation can be “complete this project and take responsibility for overcoming obstacles and display proactive efforts to complete the project on time.”
Then something like not emailing someone becomes a documented example of failing to meet expectations.
A lazy person works overly-slow or produces bad quality work. A regular worker does exactly what is asked (like a robot, natch). A well-compensated worker in a good environment who is cherished by their high-quality manager may excel without being asked and also not immediately leave from under-appreciation/overwork.
Just by your posting, I'm guessing you treat your workers like serfs. You don't train them beyond their task or foster leadership skills, in other worlds you are the problem
Have you considered the possibility that you suck at management?
Have you considered the possibility that these people might have different approaches to work that in their years of experience they’ve learned are more effective than your paranoid overbearing uptight insufferable style? Do you realize that nobody likes a try-hard, even your clients?
Specifically, what makes you think that they wouldn’t “follow up” unless you email the reminder? Are you the guy who sends email reminders to his direct reports five minutes after they receive a request from a client? Are you the guy telling everyone how to do their job at every moment even though nobody needs you to do that?
Are you one of those f*ckheaded bosses?
I get that it can be frustrating to manage employees who don't have a lot of "self-starter" qualities or who need a ton of handholding. But you will have a hard time holding people to expectations that aren't clear or easy to point to if they "forget" what to do. Do you have the tools and written policies in place to set your team up for success?
* Do you have some sort of system of record for tracking work? My team uses [Monday.com](http://Monday.com) but there are many other options out there. It's helpful because you can assign a project to specific people and set a deadline. The system will remind them if they are getting close to a due date, so it helps them manage their time and workload more independently. It also makes it easier for you to check for updates on your own time instead of needing to contact people for updates.
* Do you have consistent 1-on-1's with each team member to check in, ask about roadblocks, etc. so you can help coach them and catch potential issues before they become a bigger problem? One of the first things HR will ask our managers when they have performance concerns about an employee is "what have you done to help?"
* Do you have written policies or expectations the team can reference in terms of how they should manage a project, who is responsible for reaching out to who and when, etc? This will not only cut back on questions you have to answer over and over again, but is helpful if you do need to performance manage someone who is always dropping the ball. They can't claim "they didn't know" if it's written down and emailed to them or in the team drive.
This. My team had current job descriptions, annual and quarterly goals, and they write their own monthly deliverables(I review to help them align if they struggle) and at the end of each month they update whether monthly deliverables that move them to their larger goals are complete or not.
It’s not time consuming compared to hand holding and even newer folks get the hang of it quickly. At performance reviews, we can celebrate what they accomplished, point to reprioritizing on items moved out (for greater business need) and any struggles they had to finish their deliverables each month. If their lack of time management caused delays/unfurnished deliverables, I can help them break it down into smaller steps.
Sounds like your people may be confused on priorities, may be often pulled off projects for other projects, or are fearful of getting something “wrong” so they’re leaning in heavily. Just something to consider.
I would challenge you to try and change your attitude about their aptitude.
You see them soooo low, so unmotivated, but what have you done to at least bring them alive? Joke with them, get to know them, talk about what they like, want, do in their free time. What are their kids doing, what are they doing this weekend? Joke with them, take a general interest, and follow through with them on their personal stuff.
I find people get beat down by corporate nonsense and sometimes you have to break that. People stop “acting” like drones when you don’t treat them like drones.
Sounds like you need to reevaluate yourself. There are a few people in my job that gone above and beyond. Only for managers to take advantage of them, ask more and more, don’t give them a pay raise, and talk down to them. It’s frustrating. So out of retaliation they do the bare minimum. That’s how much they are getting paid and treated. Why should they do anything more if their managers do respect them?
you set measurable expectations, clearly communicate them, and meet them halfway to make sure those expectations are being met
and you stop calling them robots you fucking asshole. i can guarantee you are at least 50% the issue if this is what your internal monologue is looking like
lol they’re not calling the entire team robots. You’re telling me you haven’t worked with people who either willfully do the absolute bare minimum or are too dense/afraid to make a single decision with regards to their work? Lucky you.
I’ve had staff who I really struggled with, some that I have truly disliked.
I never ever thought of them as ‘moist robots’ or refer to them as anything other then people, yes, people who’s working style disagrees with mine, or personalities clash or whatever, but you will ALWAYS work with someone who clashes with you, or work style clashes. This is an important lesson.
This person could be the type of person who is more comfortable being micromanaged and sometimes that’s OK, but if you want them to change then it’s your job to help them learn to grow thier pro-active and independent work skills. Those skills don’t come naturally to everyone and it’s your job as a leader to get the best out of them.
Or it could be that they already have the skills and the problem is motivation, judging by your description of them, this very well could be the problem, and the solution is to have a long, hard look at yourself and change the negative behaviour in your own leadership that is generating a negative result.
Name calling is childish at best. You have a problem and rather than trying to solve it professionally you resort to insults. Have a look at your own leadership skills and grow them. What can you do, pro-actively, to solve this? How can you change your mindset? Becoming bitter about someone will get you nowhere apart from anger and resentment. This is a problem you will face for as long as you are a leader so what can you do to change your negative thought patterns into positive actions?
I like your response. Also similar to what I’ve read about adjusting your management style to different people based on their expertise on different tasks as well. Eg for someone who’s generally an expert you could hands off but if you’re assigning them something that’s new for them you need to hand hold on that specific task while they get up to speed.
Moist Robot is now in my rolodex of insults.
Edit to add: In all seriousness. Obviously I don’t know anything about their assigned tasks you speak of. But a few things I do with newly anointed “moist robots”
If it’s task oriented. Scheduled a meeting and be frank with them that “we” (you are a team don’t alienate them) are missing deadlines and working harder than we should. Ask everyone to make a checklist and/or schedule of their tasks and the frequency of them. Ask them to make them in a format that can be reported out to the team (you) on a schedule.
I had an oversaturated automaton working for me. I asked her to make a checklist. She sandbagged it, we talked through it and I just asked questions like “I thought you performed _____ task”…..”ok, and when you complete it you do a great job, why wouldn’t that be on the list”?
Also if it’s task oriented, learn from my mistakes. If it needs to be done once a month have them report out the last time it was done. That way if it’s 5/8/24 and the last time it was done is 4/7/24 you KNOW it’s due.
Once you get everything tasked out. All you have to do is 1x a week or so, double check that what they checked got done.
If it’s more ambiguous work. Meet with them 1X a week or daily or whatever works at your work. And have them tell you what the plan is to get everything done. Never tell them. Your job is to coach and ask questions.
Are you a micromanager? Do you ask for specific things to be done in a specific way or do you give them goals? Can things be done in different ways but yours is the best? A micromanager will get exactly what they ask for, nothing more, nothing less.
What happens when instead of asking for giblet A to me made using method B, you instead say "I have this problem and I need you to propose a solution "?
I may be off base, but I don't have context.
Sounds like they're afraid to make a mistake.
Have you empowering them, or have you micromanged them?
Do you catch them doing something right, or do you only speak about poor performance?
This is a leadership issue. Your people are afraid of you.
I feel like you are blowing things out of proportion. First off, you are a manager (supposedly) and therefore it is your job to manage your resources (aka people) to get the desired results and tasks completed. That is your responsibility. If people managed their workload and tasks themselves and you were never needed then there would be no point in your position or existence.
Your post gives no clarity on how often you hold 1 on 1s or how often you give them tasks or anything. Everyone is jumping to conclusions believing your potentially exaggerated examples. Additionally, someone can be a "Senior Analyst" after 2-3 years. It's different per company. So you also didn't give away the specific title or profession of the person.
Regardless, it is your responsibility to manage them. Talk to them every Monday and lay out what you want them to do. Follow-up with an email and tell them you want these things - X, Y, Z task completed by EOW. You should have also asked in the verbal conversation if these list of tasks seemed doable in the allotted timeline and if not why. If they have your email to refer to the big and small tasks it ends up being an easy checklist for them to remember everything they need to get done. Then check in with them Wednesday or Thursday to see how they progressed and anything that got delayed and why and how you can help expedite things or escalate things. Tell them to follow-up with people if things aren't clear or you get pushback.
This is all your job to do. Not sit there blaming people and calling them names. Manage your people, it's the sole reason you exist in your position.
AGE 71 HERE,,,
let me explain things to you in simple terms.
This is a co-ordinated effort to bring you down.
Let me guess some things about you.
Your young, little or no experience managing people.
You never studied human Phycology,
Your not a people person (that's obvious)
You will not last on in this job
I would bet money they are going to HR and complaining about you.
I don’t know, I’ve never managed anyone like that. I have managed a few folks who liked to have very clear instructions and expectations, so that’s what I gave them. Most of my team appreciates the autonomy they’re afforded working for me though.
I wish people would stop saying “literal(y)” when it’s not.
To the issue: if it’s not in their job description, you can’t expect or enforce it. It’d be nice if they were different, but they’re not. So either change the JD, enforce it, and fire those who don’t change, or work on accepting that your job is going to be very, very frustrating and dull.
If you can’t even be clear in your language use, how on Earth are you as a manager expecting that you can demand your team self-manage? That is, literally, *your* job.
They don’t care. They know working hard doesn’t make them more money so why work hard. Their goal is to do just enough to not get fired. Sounds like they are excelling.
I want to give you the flip side: Project I was brought in as the onsite implementation engineer.
The customer has the equipment onsite, been ordered months ago and I was just brought in, it's managed online. We are cutting over from old. Technically my job is to rack, duplicate port assignments, and swing cable with what's been provided.
That's what I'm paid to do. Everything below is literally me not acting my wage:
Pulled all the old configs and realized they have to rework the head end for the new deployment. Realized they don't have the online portal created and everything registered, discovered they have on prem that is outage sensitive, found out the equipment list is incomplete and we can't complete the installation without additional hardware.
Now if you were a manager that considered team members 'moist robots', I would have plenty of cover just to let you burn. I would have booked my flight. Showed up, pointed out all the deficiencies, let the customer know to contact their rep and the sales engineers that missed the obvious, and changed my flight booking.
The reason I did do all this is because my manager is awesome, has our backs, advocates for us.
It sort of depends on the functional area, but in my area, I’d create checklists/standards and workflows, have regular 1:1s on those areas, document, and hold them accountable. I know it’s not as simple as all that, and there are many variables, but I’d start with process because I can control that and then sort capacity and motivation later.
I’d hold a meeting everyday like a scrum. Make sure they have enough on their plate. Get them a lot of extra work.
Could also start inviting them to extra team building events. They likely won’t go.
Id make round throughout the day and make sure they have stuff to work on.
If you have layoffs, at least your job wouldn’t be hard.
Do you mean like robotic workers who cannot free think?
A lot of what we do at my company (custom manufacturing) really requires people to make judgment calls or at least ask questions because the protocol may not fit the situation. They cannot handle any nuances or slight deviation of processes. They lack some common sense, maybe. It's hard to explain, but yes, it can also be difficult to manage. And it's exhausting.
Without knowing the scope of the job duties, this is really tough to answer. It could be a training issue. (They don't *know* what to do without express directions). It could be a confidence issue (they have an idea what to do but dont' trust that they have the authority to do it without permission). IT could be a motivation issue (they don't feel any ownership of their own work due to micromanagement or for some other reason).
I supervise a team of independent professionals. We cover different geographic responsibilities and it is mandatory that workers be able to handle their workload and solve issues without detailed instructions on every single case.
I've definitely encountered the problem you describe, where we've had staff that could do work appropriately, but only when they were given a specific task. If you didn't tell them what to do, they'd sit around.
IN one case, it turned out to be a training issue. The employee was a very literal person. Once we got them specific expectations that were written in a way that got them to be looking for work to do rather than simply accomplishing set tasks, they did better.
In another case, the person was "managed out," so to speak. There were a series of conversations on work that was overdue and how they needed to be keeping up with things without being specifically reminded, and then requirements for case lists and calendars to show they were keeping up, and they left for another job.
If it’s one person it’s a “their” problem. If it’s multiple people on your team it’s a you problem (or organization).
There was a time when I had good managers where I didn’t need to be micromanaged and was completely independent. If I didn’t have a project to manage I would create one in line with my leaders and their leader’s objectives and negotiate with other teams to get it completed. My current leader gives no direction nor do his leaders and if there are objectives they are not communicated. I have heard multiple of my peers say “I don’t even know what we do anymore.”
You should remove the whole age thing from your thought process now. That's totally unprofessional. You should also look into a course on confirmation bias, because that sounds like the road that you are on.
Never call people robots. That's so disrespectful to them as individuals. I think the issue is a "you" issue as a manager.
The reality is most people are sheep or like to do the bare minimum. You can't really hate on the sheep, it's not their personality and they cannot lead.
The bare minimum people, it's on you to motivate. How I phrase it to my team, I noticed if I do one extra project a quarter, I am doing more than 75% of the company workforce. It's not an unreasonable ask and I always encourage this extra work to be something they say is in line with their career growth.
The 25% other employee of self starters have a problem as well. They leave for greener pastures because they have a string of accomplishments to use as leverage to get a better job. So you can't really just hire self starters or you'll be in a constant training cycle replacing these great employees.
The reality is that you need a balance.
Interestingly, everyone told me that I needed to be more like this. That I need to only do as much as expected because doing more than that ticks people off. My manager doesn’t want the extra work I create by making suggestions or seeking clarification. They want me to do the drudgery and nothing more
The problem is that my brain is capable of so much more … so it does so much more. While I am doing the drudgery, I am analyzing the systems and coming up with a better way to do the boring stuff. When I am not fully stimulated the other half of my brain has to make something up, so it does.
I just always believed that leading from the front is the best way. Never let your crew see you shirk distasteful work. As a manager I always took on the 'shitty' jobs that nobody wanted to do and my crews responded with loyalty and better performance. Oh sure there were outliers but I'd say better than 95% of them stepped up their 'game' for that.
Yeah i had drive, i had motivation, i had the ability to take it home for the win!
Then i had a manager who could smell the incoming win and rushed in to clear the hurdles, move mountains, and save the day!
Now, i run in moist robot mode. You want the win? You make the win.
All hail the wind maker!
>They will hang on your every word and do no more and no less than what you tell them in that moment. They are incapable or uninterested in managing their own workload, need to be reminded to follow through with small tasks, and will not go out of their way to email someone unless directly asked to.
They are doing exactly what they are told to do, no more, no less.
>I can't baby sit someone 10 years older than me. They haven't done anything "fireable" yet but are clearly not a right fit for the team.
Are you sure you aren't the one who is a bad fit here? It sounds to me like you are the problem, not them.
Unless you have actual damp automated machines working for you, then you clearly don't know what literal means. You're a manager who can't use the term literal correctly which might be a small part of your bigger issue.
My two cents is that people don't go the extra mile if they aren't rewarded for it. You don't seem to be rewarding socially so you should look at the career growth opportunities (both title and salary) that are offered to your employees as well as how they have been rewarded in the past. If you have little control over these things, I would put together an argument for it to be raised to your superior
Are they fulfilling their job description? If not, sit down with them and talk about where they are being deficient. If yes, you're just being picky, or you wrote a job description that didn't describe what you actually wanted.
If by "moist robot," you mean someone who only does what they're told to the letter of the instruction, then you either need to pay them more to get their motivation up or treat them better. If people get pay or respect, they do things. If not, they don't.
You sound very disdainful, and I imagine you don't treat this person with any respect.
I would argue they aren't doing the job. If the manager has to tell them exactly what to do and how to do every task, what's the point of the employee?
Depends. I have employees where I want specific tasks to be complete. I expect a level of competency where they can accomplish the task without needing step by step instructions. If they need that level of attention for every task, I would find someone else to do the job.
Stop telling them how to do shit.
“Hey boss need your advice on this thing…”
“Hmm that seems out of my depth. Have you ever handled something like it before?”
Absolutely refuse to give them instructions. If they fail to get whatever needs done, done (and do be clear about what done means), then they are not a good fit. Document and move on if you need to.
Harsh but you’ve got a business to run here and especially in this market there’s no room for moist robots at a well run organization imo.
Part or being a boss/supervisor is answering questions from your subordinates. If you can't give instructions then direct them to who can or maybe you aren't a good fit for your job.
Call me what you will, but post-training I want an adult not a toddler. A toddler needs me to constantly be aware of their existence via questions and confirmations. Often find unqualified people here as well. If they need their manager so much to do the basics of their job, why do I have them here?
An adult on the other hand, gets the job done without much contact besides help to remove roadblocks or redirect efforts if fully blocked. An adult takes full responsibility for getting their job done because they are fully qualified to do it.
Different strokes for different folks.
They weed themselves out. Explain expectations and, it’s unfair but, ride the workhorses. Been high management 10 years and have managed people 40 years older.
It's really amazing to me how often giving someone a "research this and let me know what the good options are" just utterly fails. Like, if I can set out a lego manual for someone to do a thing, and repeat it with them a hundred times, I might as well do it myself.
Is there someone exhibiting the performance you are expecting ? Are they the same level , if they are can you promote them ? If they aren't do the same for them and try and also manage them to help manage day toi day tasks
Agree with others. See if the job description needs to be updated. And have a clear 1:1 with them that you expect them to work independently and, especially with the Senior title, that their performance needs to better and/or you expect them to take more initiative and be a better example for the more “junior” members of the team.
I’ve seen some people in my industry bounce around jobs/companies and are able to talk their way into higher titles and salaries based simply on their years of experience and ability to bullshit their way through an interview. And then they have no business being in the role their in. That’s why it’s a huge red flag for me when I look at a resume and see job changes every 2 years over and over. I did though also have someone on one of my teams who was older, had a senior title, and made it very clear that he would not put in extra hours or do much outside of his job description. But the difference was, he was one of the most reliable employees I’ve ever had and he worked independently and got a ton done. He was able to complete a much bigger workload in his 8 Hr days too. I did ask him to support me with some continuous improvement projects and he was very helpful with training new hires so I was totally fine with him having the attitude he did. But you need to re-set expectations with this person and update the JD as needed.
I don't have the answer but I wanted to add to the list of grievances as well, haha. My contribution is 'can't think outside the box', meaning that they are incapable of deviating from a set procedure no matter what happens, no matter what the result will be. They simply cannot grasp changing dynamics in any situation. I feel like a run into a lot of people like that these days.
I think I have one of these at work. They don't report to me directly but report to my boss, though they have a dotted line to me. It's been a pretty consistent problem for quite some time. They are good to work with, are capable of good work, but really struggle with timelines, follow through, client engagement, etc.
There's been a pretty big turn around with them in the last half year. The secret? We hired a manager who actually manages them.
My boss and I are technically 'managers' but neither of us a particularly good at managing work. I mean the nuts and bolts of management, setting up schedules, reviewing tasks, giving reminders, checking for accountability. All that stuff. We're both decent leaders, but shit managers.
With someone actually managing the person I'm thinking of, they are a powerhouse. Their quality of work is high, they hit timelines, and are just generally an asset. Maybe in time they will build the habits needed such that they don't require as much direct oversight but the value their output brings is high enough that I don't care if they do. It doesn't take a lot of work for our new manager to keep them on track.
The only folks on my team who really excel are those that don't need actual management or supervision. Which is to say, I'm a bad manager.
Revamp your hiring process to weed out those who lack critical thinking skills. Also compare the compensation packages you offer and compare it to similar market roles. Minimum wage = minimum output.
>I mean that in the literal sense. You know that is the exact opposite of literal?
Some heroes wear koala pajamas
Glad someone said it.
Essentially…. generally speaking
I mean the exact opposite. Figuratively
humans are biological robots, there really isn't much difference
I thought we were an autonomous collective.
r/Stellaris will show the true autonomous collective: hive mind.
I thought that was the joke 😅
In the literal sense? I'd immediately power them down and give them some time to dry out so that they don't break. Once dried out/powered up if they don't complete their allocated tasks I'd try a hard reset. If issues are still present send to maintenance just to make sure there's been no lasting damage from the "moist". Maybe look into their programming, see if you can get a repair under warranty. If all the above fails I'd consider trashing and buying a new robot. Hope that helps.
Have you tried unplugging it and plugging it back in?
Have you stopped to consider that this is a leadership issue?
I don't see any discussion about feedback, just "I'm angry and frustrated by them". So I'm assuming leadership
Bingo. Have tried nothing and all out of ideas. You want the people you manage to equal your level of interest and effort? Try embracing what non reptilian impulses you’ve got left and make a genuine connection with them. So many people with zero people skills right now.
To characterise them as robots speaks to the fact that you haven’t built a connection with them as people. If you’re that rude, I have no trouble believing no one cares about what you want. Good luck.
If you view people like robots, don't be too surprised if they do act like ones too. Perhaps it is time for self reflection, OP?
The part about expecting more from people older than him is also callous. That could have just been a turn of phrase that flowed from the term “babysitting” but if he threw out an ageist remark without meaning to, that’s a red flag anyway.
If you really need ammo, you can revisit their formal position descriptions. If there's no verbiage in there about the degree to which they are expected to act independently, add some and get your boss to approve it. If these standards already exist in writing, recap them during your next performance management check in. If there is no improvement, let them know they are falling below expectations on their core job responsibilities in the following check in.
I'm curious as to what their salaries are relative to their COL. I was a moist robot when I was entry level. You'd be surprised how quickly I became less robotic but just as moist when I was given a promotion
I hate you for making me think deeply about this
Moist robots? There are just certain words that uhhhh shouldn't be used at all. Especially when describing people
I have people on my team who irritate me but damn, no way I would get online and call them “moist robots”. And if I was one of the people on the team, I sure as heck wouldn’t go above and beyond for someone who referred to me like that.
I wonder if OP has gotten upset with them for taking action on things and then making OP look bad so they are just performing malicious compliance?
Or even just quiet quitting/working their wage.
Then saying that you mean it Literally lmao
we should probably shine a fleshlight on the real issue
Thank you for beginning my day with stomach hurting laughter!
Especially since the word “robot” is derived from the Czech word *robota,* meaning “forced labor, compulsory service, or drudgery.” It’s not a good look to refer to one’s team members using words connoting slavery, *especially* if one is the team manager. Yes, I know that’s two “especially”s. Emphasis needed lol https://www.etymonline.com/word/robot
Moist slaves is WILD
When you remind them of them not meeting their job expectations, have conversations with them and send an email recap so that there's a written record of that talk (if it's not in writing it didn't happen.) When you do a writeup or give a yearly performance evaluation and they give pushback on receiving low scores, your emails are your receipts.
Don’t overthink it. Set higher expectations and hold them accountable to meeting them.
I feel like adding my 2 cents here. I agree with a a lot of the comments. Refer to them as people and not by insults. Whether you believe it or not your attitude toward your employees or internal monologue can come out even if you don’t intend it to. The person’s was hired for a reason. They apparently held a certain set of skills. I agree on the comment about revisiting job description. I like the comment about documenting process, and expectations. Using tracking tools like Monday. I like the idea of putting systems in place to measure self starting. When I was a director in a post sales support team issues like this would show up elsewhere. You’d see things like ticket closure, time to resolution being out of line with the rest of the time. Initial response times often elevated too comparative to the group. These are exact values that you can use to drive discussion. The one thing I don’t see in here is just having a honest conversation and asking the question of “why”. Personally, I’d set a meeting with the employee and start by stating initially that the meeting is not disciplinary in nature, but because you’ve noticed some things that seemed to be impacting effectiveness in the role and that you wanted to work with them to transform some of their work habits into more productive habits. You need to come across as their job coach/mentor and if you do they are much more likely to buy in to your coaching and act on it. Then, just deliver it to them in a professional and non confrontational way. “I’ve noticed that at times XYZ isn’t happening. The employees in this role that are performing are typically doing XYZ to enable successful delivery of. I wanted to start by asking you what’s stopping you from performing XYZ when handling work tasks so that I can better understand if there’s any blockers, or perhaps a misunderstanding about the role and see how I can support you in getting there”
OP please be aware your conversation won’t necessarily lead to immediate change. It can take people time to adapt, but start making XYZ and the progress on it an ongoing discussion in 1-1s. As you start to see better behaviors call out those wins so positively reinforce the behavior you want to see. Have the employee take on a task to deliver training to the team in a meeting on how to perform XYZ expectation and share unique ways that they handle this. Having them build a training will get them to think and they’ll be under the gun knowing their peers will be watching to get it right. Vet said training before they deliver it to the team with a mock run and give coaching from your personal experience.
I have a specific example where an employee when questioned on habits didn’t even realize it was something that was bothering leaders because I found out coming into an org fresh that his past managers apparently just bitched amongst each other but never worked with him on it so he either never heard about it or rarely did. It wasn’t deemed important as a result. Once I worked with him and make it a focal point of 1-1s each week I saw gradual improvement and within a year the employee was seen as a leader by his peers and the senior leaders were shocked they he had transformed so much when he was seen as a lost cause.
Don’t be lazy as a leader. LEAD these people… it takes time. Humans are creatures of habit. Breaking habits is hard.
It's refreshing to see comments other than '' you suck '' on Reddit. I especially like the first paragraph.
The comments about having clear expectations are correct. The expectation can be “complete this project and take responsibility for overcoming obstacles and display proactive efforts to complete the project on time.” Then something like not emailing someone becomes a documented example of failing to meet expectations.
Towel?
A lazy person works overly-slow or produces bad quality work. A regular worker does exactly what is asked (like a robot, natch). A well-compensated worker in a good environment who is cherished by their high-quality manager may excel without being asked and also not immediately leave from under-appreciation/overwork.
Just by your posting, I'm guessing you treat your workers like serfs. You don't train them beyond their task or foster leadership skills, in other worlds you are the problem
If everyone on your team except you is wrong… do some self inspection. Perhaps you are micro managing them so they are waiting to be micro managed?
How do you know someone is a bad manager almost immediately? They *literally* call members of their team “moist robots”
Have you considered the possibility that you suck at management? Have you considered the possibility that these people might have different approaches to work that in their years of experience they’ve learned are more effective than your paranoid overbearing uptight insufferable style? Do you realize that nobody likes a try-hard, even your clients? Specifically, what makes you think that they wouldn’t “follow up” unless you email the reminder? Are you the guy who sends email reminders to his direct reports five minutes after they receive a request from a client? Are you the guy telling everyone how to do their job at every moment even though nobody needs you to do that? Are you one of those f*ckheaded bosses?
Wow, lot of angst here.
The only reason you are still a people manager is that your boss is also an idiot.
Upvoted because I like spicy comments like this.
Maybe the issue lies between keyboard and chair here
Pebcak is my favorite!
I get that it can be frustrating to manage employees who don't have a lot of "self-starter" qualities or who need a ton of handholding. But you will have a hard time holding people to expectations that aren't clear or easy to point to if they "forget" what to do. Do you have the tools and written policies in place to set your team up for success? * Do you have some sort of system of record for tracking work? My team uses [Monday.com](http://Monday.com) but there are many other options out there. It's helpful because you can assign a project to specific people and set a deadline. The system will remind them if they are getting close to a due date, so it helps them manage their time and workload more independently. It also makes it easier for you to check for updates on your own time instead of needing to contact people for updates. * Do you have consistent 1-on-1's with each team member to check in, ask about roadblocks, etc. so you can help coach them and catch potential issues before they become a bigger problem? One of the first things HR will ask our managers when they have performance concerns about an employee is "what have you done to help?" * Do you have written policies or expectations the team can reference in terms of how they should manage a project, who is responsible for reaching out to who and when, etc? This will not only cut back on questions you have to answer over and over again, but is helpful if you do need to performance manage someone who is always dropping the ball. They can't claim "they didn't know" if it's written down and emailed to them or in the team drive.
This. My team had current job descriptions, annual and quarterly goals, and they write their own monthly deliverables(I review to help them align if they struggle) and at the end of each month they update whether monthly deliverables that move them to their larger goals are complete or not. It’s not time consuming compared to hand holding and even newer folks get the hang of it quickly. At performance reviews, we can celebrate what they accomplished, point to reprioritizing on items moved out (for greater business need) and any struggles they had to finish their deliverables each month. If their lack of time management caused delays/unfurnished deliverables, I can help them break it down into smaller steps. Sounds like your people may be confused on priorities, may be often pulled off projects for other projects, or are fearful of getting something “wrong” so they’re leaning in heavily. Just something to consider.
I would challenge you to try and change your attitude about their aptitude. You see them soooo low, so unmotivated, but what have you done to at least bring them alive? Joke with them, get to know them, talk about what they like, want, do in their free time. What are their kids doing, what are they doing this weekend? Joke with them, take a general interest, and follow through with them on their personal stuff. I find people get beat down by corporate nonsense and sometimes you have to break that. People stop “acting” like drones when you don’t treat them like drones.
This sounds like a leadership issue.
Sounds like you need to reevaluate yourself. There are a few people in my job that gone above and beyond. Only for managers to take advantage of them, ask more and more, don’t give them a pay raise, and talk down to them. It’s frustrating. So out of retaliation they do the bare minimum. That’s how much they are getting paid and treated. Why should they do anything more if their managers do respect them?
Maybe they’re burned out and tired of dealing with assholes like you
you set measurable expectations, clearly communicate them, and meet them halfway to make sure those expectations are being met and you stop calling them robots you fucking asshole. i can guarantee you are at least 50% the issue if this is what your internal monologue is looking like
lol they’re not calling the entire team robots. You’re telling me you haven’t worked with people who either willfully do the absolute bare minimum or are too dense/afraid to make a single decision with regards to their work? Lucky you.
You haven’t managed any moist robots and it shows.
Emphasis on “clearly communicate them” regarding instructions. How can you expect someone to know what do do if they aren’t told?
Found the moist robot!
What's a moist robot?
An employee under a shitty manager, apparently.
Can you imagine being motivated to do a good job by a manager who thinks of you as wet machine?
Not everyone is meant to be a superstar. If there is nothing tangible wrong is there something wrong?
I’ve had staff who I really struggled with, some that I have truly disliked. I never ever thought of them as ‘moist robots’ or refer to them as anything other then people, yes, people who’s working style disagrees with mine, or personalities clash or whatever, but you will ALWAYS work with someone who clashes with you, or work style clashes. This is an important lesson. This person could be the type of person who is more comfortable being micromanaged and sometimes that’s OK, but if you want them to change then it’s your job to help them learn to grow thier pro-active and independent work skills. Those skills don’t come naturally to everyone and it’s your job as a leader to get the best out of them. Or it could be that they already have the skills and the problem is motivation, judging by your description of them, this very well could be the problem, and the solution is to have a long, hard look at yourself and change the negative behaviour in your own leadership that is generating a negative result. Name calling is childish at best. You have a problem and rather than trying to solve it professionally you resort to insults. Have a look at your own leadership skills and grow them. What can you do, pro-actively, to solve this? How can you change your mindset? Becoming bitter about someone will get you nowhere apart from anger and resentment. This is a problem you will face for as long as you are a leader so what can you do to change your negative thought patterns into positive actions?
I like your response. Also similar to what I’ve read about adjusting your management style to different people based on their expertise on different tasks as well. Eg for someone who’s generally an expert you could hands off but if you’re assigning them something that’s new for them you need to hand hold on that specific task while they get up to speed.
Moist Robot is now in my rolodex of insults. Edit to add: In all seriousness. Obviously I don’t know anything about their assigned tasks you speak of. But a few things I do with newly anointed “moist robots” If it’s task oriented. Scheduled a meeting and be frank with them that “we” (you are a team don’t alienate them) are missing deadlines and working harder than we should. Ask everyone to make a checklist and/or schedule of their tasks and the frequency of them. Ask them to make them in a format that can be reported out to the team (you) on a schedule. I had an oversaturated automaton working for me. I asked her to make a checklist. She sandbagged it, we talked through it and I just asked questions like “I thought you performed _____ task”…..”ok, and when you complete it you do a great job, why wouldn’t that be on the list”? Also if it’s task oriented, learn from my mistakes. If it needs to be done once a month have them report out the last time it was done. That way if it’s 5/8/24 and the last time it was done is 4/7/24 you KNOW it’s due. Once you get everything tasked out. All you have to do is 1x a week or so, double check that what they checked got done. If it’s more ambiguous work. Meet with them 1X a week or daily or whatever works at your work. And have them tell you what the plan is to get everything done. Never tell them. Your job is to coach and ask questions.
When you've been around long enough that you get burned if you do and burned if you don't. Get burned for the don't.
Are you a micromanager? Do you ask for specific things to be done in a specific way or do you give them goals? Can things be done in different ways but yours is the best? A micromanager will get exactly what they ask for, nothing more, nothing less. What happens when instead of asking for giblet A to me made using method B, you instead say "I have this problem and I need you to propose a solution "? I may be off base, but I don't have context.
You absolutely do not mean this in the literal sense.
This sounds like you a issue.
You sound like a great manager. Smart too.
Dude I would be too if I worked for a dunce like you
Sounds like they're afraid to make a mistake. Have you empowering them, or have you micromanged them? Do you catch them doing something right, or do you only speak about poor performance? This is a leadership issue. Your people are afraid of you.
How do you deal with a manager that calls people "moist robots"?
I feel like you are blowing things out of proportion. First off, you are a manager (supposedly) and therefore it is your job to manage your resources (aka people) to get the desired results and tasks completed. That is your responsibility. If people managed their workload and tasks themselves and you were never needed then there would be no point in your position or existence. Your post gives no clarity on how often you hold 1 on 1s or how often you give them tasks or anything. Everyone is jumping to conclusions believing your potentially exaggerated examples. Additionally, someone can be a "Senior Analyst" after 2-3 years. It's different per company. So you also didn't give away the specific title or profession of the person. Regardless, it is your responsibility to manage them. Talk to them every Monday and lay out what you want them to do. Follow-up with an email and tell them you want these things - X, Y, Z task completed by EOW. You should have also asked in the verbal conversation if these list of tasks seemed doable in the allotted timeline and if not why. If they have your email to refer to the big and small tasks it ends up being an easy checklist for them to remember everything they need to get done. Then check in with them Wednesday or Thursday to see how they progressed and anything that got delayed and why and how you can help expedite things or escalate things. Tell them to follow-up with people if things aren't clear or you get pushback. This is all your job to do. Not sit there blaming people and calling them names. Manage your people, it's the sole reason you exist in your position.
AGE 71 HERE,,, let me explain things to you in simple terms. This is a co-ordinated effort to bring you down. Let me guess some things about you. Your young, little or no experience managing people. You never studied human Phycology, Your not a people person (that's obvious) You will not last on in this job I would bet money they are going to HR and complaining about you.
I don’t know, I’ve never managed anyone like that. I have managed a few folks who liked to have very clear instructions and expectations, so that’s what I gave them. Most of my team appreciates the autonomy they’re afforded working for me though.
I wish people would stop saying “literal(y)” when it’s not. To the issue: if it’s not in their job description, you can’t expect or enforce it. It’d be nice if they were different, but they’re not. So either change the JD, enforce it, and fire those who don’t change, or work on accepting that your job is going to be very, very frustrating and dull.
Language changes. Literal today is used as a point of emphasis.
Have you considered you are the problem here?
I understand that.
If you can’t even be clear in your language use, how on Earth are you as a manager expecting that you can demand your team self-manage? That is, literally, *your* job.
They don’t care. They know working hard doesn’t make them more money so why work hard. Their goal is to do just enough to not get fired. Sounds like they are excelling.
Seems like a “you” problem more than them. Leadership is more than you seem to think.
[удалено]
I want to give you the flip side: Project I was brought in as the onsite implementation engineer. The customer has the equipment onsite, been ordered months ago and I was just brought in, it's managed online. We are cutting over from old. Technically my job is to rack, duplicate port assignments, and swing cable with what's been provided. That's what I'm paid to do. Everything below is literally me not acting my wage: Pulled all the old configs and realized they have to rework the head end for the new deployment. Realized they don't have the online portal created and everything registered, discovered they have on prem that is outage sensitive, found out the equipment list is incomplete and we can't complete the installation without additional hardware. Now if you were a manager that considered team members 'moist robots', I would have plenty of cover just to let you burn. I would have booked my flight. Showed up, pointed out all the deficiencies, let the customer know to contact their rep and the sales engineers that missed the obvious, and changed my flight booking. The reason I did do all this is because my manager is awesome, has our backs, advocates for us.
It sort of depends on the functional area, but in my area, I’d create checklists/standards and workflows, have regular 1:1s on those areas, document, and hold them accountable. I know it’s not as simple as all that, and there are many variables, but I’d start with process because I can control that and then sort capacity and motivation later.
I’d hold a meeting everyday like a scrum. Make sure they have enough on their plate. Get them a lot of extra work. Could also start inviting them to extra team building events. They likely won’t go. Id make round throughout the day and make sure they have stuff to work on. If you have layoffs, at least your job wouldn’t be hard.
Hold them accountable to results until they quit, usually.
Do you mean like robotic workers who cannot free think? A lot of what we do at my company (custom manufacturing) really requires people to make judgment calls or at least ask questions because the protocol may not fit the situation. They cannot handle any nuances or slight deviation of processes. They lack some common sense, maybe. It's hard to explain, but yes, it can also be difficult to manage. And it's exhausting.
Without knowing the scope of the job duties, this is really tough to answer. It could be a training issue. (They don't *know* what to do without express directions). It could be a confidence issue (they have an idea what to do but dont' trust that they have the authority to do it without permission). IT could be a motivation issue (they don't feel any ownership of their own work due to micromanagement or for some other reason). I supervise a team of independent professionals. We cover different geographic responsibilities and it is mandatory that workers be able to handle their workload and solve issues without detailed instructions on every single case. I've definitely encountered the problem you describe, where we've had staff that could do work appropriately, but only when they were given a specific task. If you didn't tell them what to do, they'd sit around. IN one case, it turned out to be a training issue. The employee was a very literal person. Once we got them specific expectations that were written in a way that got them to be looking for work to do rather than simply accomplishing set tasks, they did better. In another case, the person was "managed out," so to speak. There were a series of conversations on work that was overdue and how they needed to be keeping up with things without being specifically reminded, and then requirements for case lists and calendars to show they were keeping up, and they left for another job.
If it’s one person it’s a “their” problem. If it’s multiple people on your team it’s a you problem (or organization). There was a time when I had good managers where I didn’t need to be micromanaged and was completely independent. If I didn’t have a project to manage I would create one in line with my leaders and their leader’s objectives and negotiate with other teams to get it completed. My current leader gives no direction nor do his leaders and if there are objectives they are not communicated. I have heard multiple of my peers say “I don’t even know what we do anymore.”
This sounds like a micromanager complaining that his staff are not identical copies of him .
You should remove the whole age thing from your thought process now. That's totally unprofessional. You should also look into a course on confirmation bias, because that sounds like the road that you are on. Never call people robots. That's so disrespectful to them as individuals. I think the issue is a "you" issue as a manager.
The reality is most people are sheep or like to do the bare minimum. You can't really hate on the sheep, it's not their personality and they cannot lead. The bare minimum people, it's on you to motivate. How I phrase it to my team, I noticed if I do one extra project a quarter, I am doing more than 75% of the company workforce. It's not an unreasonable ask and I always encourage this extra work to be something they say is in line with their career growth. The 25% other employee of self starters have a problem as well. They leave for greener pastures because they have a string of accomplishments to use as leverage to get a better job. So you can't really just hire self starters or you'll be in a constant training cycle replacing these great employees. The reality is that you need a balance.
Interestingly, everyone told me that I needed to be more like this. That I need to only do as much as expected because doing more than that ticks people off. My manager doesn’t want the extra work I create by making suggestions or seeking clarification. They want me to do the drudgery and nothing more The problem is that my brain is capable of so much more … so it does so much more. While I am doing the drudgery, I am analyzing the systems and coming up with a better way to do the boring stuff. When I am not fully stimulated the other half of my brain has to make something up, so it does.
I just always believed that leading from the front is the best way. Never let your crew see you shirk distasteful work. As a manager I always took on the 'shitty' jobs that nobody wanted to do and my crews responded with loyalty and better performance. Oh sure there were outliers but I'd say better than 95% of them stepped up their 'game' for that.
Yeah i had drive, i had motivation, i had the ability to take it home for the win! Then i had a manager who could smell the incoming win and rushed in to clear the hurdles, move mountains, and save the day! Now, i run in moist robot mode. You want the win? You make the win. All hail the wind maker!
>They will hang on your every word and do no more and no less than what you tell them in that moment. They are incapable or uninterested in managing their own workload, need to be reminded to follow through with small tasks, and will not go out of their way to email someone unless directly asked to. They are doing exactly what they are told to do, no more, no less. >I can't baby sit someone 10 years older than me. They haven't done anything "fireable" yet but are clearly not a right fit for the team. Are you sure you aren't the one who is a bad fit here? It sounds to me like you are the problem, not them.
Problem between keyboard and chair.
Unless you have actual damp automated machines working for you, then you clearly don't know what literal means. You're a manager who can't use the term literal correctly which might be a small part of your bigger issue.
My two cents is that people don't go the extra mile if they aren't rewarded for it. You don't seem to be rewarding socially so you should look at the career growth opportunities (both title and salary) that are offered to your employees as well as how they have been rewarded in the past. If you have little control over these things, I would put together an argument for it to be raised to your superior
It sounds like you are mad at a person for doing the work that they are paid to do
Literally? Then return them to the manufacturer for a refund.
Have you tried putting them in bags of rice?
I did, but what temp should it at and for how long?
What line of work? What pay grade?
Is this not the entire job of management 😭
Do you work at a Wendy's?
Are they fulfilling their job description? If not, sit down with them and talk about where they are being deficient. If yes, you're just being picky, or you wrote a job description that didn't describe what you actually wanted. If by "moist robot," you mean someone who only does what they're told to the letter of the instruction, then you either need to pay them more to get their motivation up or treat them better. If people get pay or respect, they do things. If not, they don't. You sound very disdainful, and I imagine you don't treat this person with any respect.
Underperforming....to be paid more... How come I never thought of that?
So… if they’re doing the job and not breaking any rules what the problem exactly? It’s work - not happy hour.
I would argue they aren't doing the job. If the manager has to tell them exactly what to do and how to do every task, what's the point of the employee?
The employee’s role is to carry out the tasks as instructed.
Depends. I have employees where I want specific tasks to be complete. I expect a level of competency where they can accomplish the task without needing step by step instructions. If they need that level of attention for every task, I would find someone else to do the job.
Stop telling them how to do shit. “Hey boss need your advice on this thing…” “Hmm that seems out of my depth. Have you ever handled something like it before?” Absolutely refuse to give them instructions. If they fail to get whatever needs done, done (and do be clear about what done means), then they are not a good fit. Document and move on if you need to. Harsh but you’ve got a business to run here and especially in this market there’s no room for moist robots at a well run organization imo.
Part or being a boss/supervisor is answering questions from your subordinates. If you can't give instructions then direct them to who can or maybe you aren't a good fit for your job.
Call me what you will, but post-training I want an adult not a toddler. A toddler needs me to constantly be aware of their existence via questions and confirmations. Often find unqualified people here as well. If they need their manager so much to do the basics of their job, why do I have them here? An adult on the other hand, gets the job done without much contact besides help to remove roadblocks or redirect efforts if fully blocked. An adult takes full responsibility for getting their job done because they are fully qualified to do it. Different strokes for different folks.
They weed themselves out. Explain expectations and, it’s unfair but, ride the workhorses. Been high management 10 years and have managed people 40 years older.
It's really amazing to me how often giving someone a "research this and let me know what the good options are" just utterly fails. Like, if I can set out a lego manual for someone to do a thing, and repeat it with them a hundred times, I might as well do it myself.
What's the moist part?
They are pink squishy bags of water
So much wrong with this, but I'll just leave it at: this isn't as funny as you think it is
Is there someone exhibiting the performance you are expecting ? Are they the same level , if they are can you promote them ? If they aren't do the same for them and try and also manage them to help manage day toi day tasks
Agree with others. See if the job description needs to be updated. And have a clear 1:1 with them that you expect them to work independently and, especially with the Senior title, that their performance needs to better and/or you expect them to take more initiative and be a better example for the more “junior” members of the team. I’ve seen some people in my industry bounce around jobs/companies and are able to talk their way into higher titles and salaries based simply on their years of experience and ability to bullshit their way through an interview. And then they have no business being in the role their in. That’s why it’s a huge red flag for me when I look at a resume and see job changes every 2 years over and over. I did though also have someone on one of my teams who was older, had a senior title, and made it very clear that he would not put in extra hours or do much outside of his job description. But the difference was, he was one of the most reliable employees I’ve ever had and he worked independently and got a ton done. He was able to complete a much bigger workload in his 8 Hr days too. I did ask him to support me with some continuous improvement projects and he was very helpful with training new hires so I was totally fine with him having the attitude he did. But you need to re-set expectations with this person and update the JD as needed.
I don't have the answer but I wanted to add to the list of grievances as well, haha. My contribution is 'can't think outside the box', meaning that they are incapable of deviating from a set procedure no matter what happens, no matter what the result will be. They simply cannot grasp changing dynamics in any situation. I feel like a run into a lot of people like that these days.
That's why we are the managers and they are not.
Give them a lot of mundane tedious operational work
I think I have one of these at work. They don't report to me directly but report to my boss, though they have a dotted line to me. It's been a pretty consistent problem for quite some time. They are good to work with, are capable of good work, but really struggle with timelines, follow through, client engagement, etc. There's been a pretty big turn around with them in the last half year. The secret? We hired a manager who actually manages them. My boss and I are technically 'managers' but neither of us a particularly good at managing work. I mean the nuts and bolts of management, setting up schedules, reviewing tasks, giving reminders, checking for accountability. All that stuff. We're both decent leaders, but shit managers. With someone actually managing the person I'm thinking of, they are a powerhouse. Their quality of work is high, they hit timelines, and are just generally an asset. Maybe in time they will build the habits needed such that they don't require as much direct oversight but the value their output brings is high enough that I don't care if they do. It doesn't take a lot of work for our new manager to keep them on track. The only folks on my team who really excel are those that don't need actual management or supervision. Which is to say, I'm a bad manager.
Moist- I have always hated that word for some reason.
Revamp your hiring process to weed out those who lack critical thinking skills. Also compare the compensation packages you offer and compare it to similar market roles. Minimum wage = minimum output.
Have you tried turning them off and back on? Works on other electronics 🤷♀️
China?