Manager's Corner - Unhappy Employees Often Mean You Failed to

A client recently told me she believes one of her key employees
may be looking for a different job. My client was nervous and
a bit "defeated." Her employee is smart, efficient,
organized, and articulate. She gets along with everyone,
works on any project you ask her to, and is willing
to try new things. However, she's apparently not happy. When
my client and I talked a bit more, I discovered, Sarah (not
her real name), was the only full-time employee
left in her department besides the department manager. All other
staff had resigned over the previous year and their positions
had not yet been filled. After a bit more probing, I learned
that the department manager is very nice, but disorganized,
not able to think strategically, and not a strong manager.
Needless to say, it was becoming obvious why Sarah wasn't
happy. She was carrying the workload for an entire department
and was being "managed" by a weak manager. Would you be happy
if you were Sarah?

When you have unhappy employees, it may be an indication
there are other problems facing your organization.
When your "key" employees are unhappy,
there are usually some serious issues facing the company that
have been around for some time. Often their unhappiness is a result
of your failure to address "known" issues. Your job is to determine what's
causing your employees' unhappiness, so they don't leave and
leave you unhappy. Sometimes the cause of their unhappiness is
rather obvious; sometimes not.

After some strategy and reorganization meetings, my client
restructured Sarah's department to ensure "busy" work was
eliminated and only mission-critical tasks were still on the departmental
To Do list. Sarah's manager is receiving coaching to help her
become more organized and a stronger manager. Sarah has also
been asked to become a key player on an company-wide project.
She'll be operating within an aggressive team structure with
specific project deliverables and deadlines. Sarah's excited,
energized, and looking forward to the challenge. It sounds crazy
but she was just handed more work -- and she's happy.

In reviewing the situation and talking with Sarah, we quickly
learned she was frustrated with her manager and her current
"mind-numbing" work. Sarah likes to challenge herself mentally
as well as to "get things done." Her new work on the special project
will help accomplish that, while the reduction in non-essential busy work
will help her "get things done" quickly. In the meantime, her manager
is now more productive and is reorganizing her department and
aggressively seeking staff. My client has two employees who are
now happier and more productive, in large part because my client finally
took action. If you have unhappy employees, what action do you
need to take?


Copyright 2006 - Liz Weber, CMC - Weber Business Services, LLC.
WBS is a team of Strategic Planning and Leadership Development
Consultants, Trainers, and Speakers. Liz can be reached at
liz@wbsllc.com or (717)597-8890. Additional articles on marketing and
leadership can be found at http://www.wbsllc.com/articles.shtml or
http://www.liz-weber.com/articles.php