Why Bother? I heard this from Two Young Millennials

Why bother is an expression we hear often from someone who is frustrated about someone they either work with or live with. Yet this can be a very poor attitude when it comes to feeling inspired to work hard and contribute to quality results.

When employees are hired, they don’t start their new job with a why bother attitude. But for some it does grow over time as a result of specific circumstances.

According to the two young millennials with whom I was exchanging, the cause was lack of feedback and recognition for the contribution they were making. The young man who was working part time at a retailer said he was the top performing salesperson. Yet over time he became discouraged due to the lack of recognition and positive feedback.

This is a very simple problem to solve and I have written about this often. All it requires is an informed leader who understands the leader’s role and appreciates the efforts people make in the company. It means acting to recognize and give praise employees.

This powerful leadership behaviour is free, no cost to the leader or company. It is not hard to do. What is hard is breaking the habit of not doing it. This could be due to shyness or even lack of skill. But those things are easy to overcome with a little effort.

As I have suggested in many articles and videos, leaders just need to adjust their leadership style to become a coach rather than a director. Coaching means taking the time to meet with each direct report to discuss how they are doing, clarify what is most important and provide support for them to do their job well and achieve their goals.

Start now to recognize what employees are doing well and give praise. You can download my performance record form to track their positive performance contributions. You can also track where they need improvement and provide coaching in those areas.