The Virus of Business’

If you own a computer, you have likely encountered a virus. When this happens, the computer slows down, mysterious messages appear and things don’t work right. The computer doesn’t act that way that it should and it does not act the way you want it to.

Most bugs attempting to enter a computer are stopped, diverted and isolated with software developed specifically for that purpose. But sometimes a new virus gains entry because software is reactive, created after the germ has gone public and done significant damage. Many times a virus gets into a computer because it was allowed to do so because it was part of an email sent by someone known to the receiver. In this unfortunate manner, a friend has unwittingly and unknowingly done damage to your computer.

A similar disease can destroy a company, given enough time. But unlike a computer bug that surfaces and immediately does damage, the illness that can harm your company does so with stealth, almost so slow that it might be years before the damage comes to light.

Germs in a company might be at the beginning of the enterprise, arriving with a founder or one of the first employees. Others enter later when the human resources screening tools fail to detect the symptoms. Poor management interviewing skills can also be a fault.

The virus that can destroy your company is that of disengagement. If you don’t think that your company has this problem, think again. Chances are the disease exists and is much more widespread than you currently believe.

Are there people in your business who are not producing to the level they should? Are you frustrated because some people in your company who don’t seem to care about anything but collecting a paycheck and maximizing the use of their sick days to take long weekends?

The diseased employee doesn’t give their employer a second more time or a spoonful more energy than is required to stay on the payroll.

These employees show up to work, but not always on time and never early. At work, they are physically present, but not consistently mentally available. The Naval Observatory in Washington DC could set the time for the country based precisely on when these people depart. When two or more disengaged employees leave at the same time, the company parking lot can be mistaken for the start of a NASCAR event.

These people are underperforming, selfish and lazy. Sadly, they are destroying the very company that provides them with a paycheck. They do not care. They are a disease destroying your company, one day at a time.

Everyday that people with the bug are on the payroll is another day that the performance bar has been lowered. Everyday that the germ survives the potential for additional cost, lost clients and damaged supplier relationships increases. The disengaged employee does not care.

Hard working employees witness the tolerated behaviors of these diseased fellow employees with contempt. An attempt to discipline a hard working employee will result in an uncomfortable discussion because the hard working employee will simply recite the anti-company behavior, poor attitude and poor performance tolerated. Then you will be confronted with, “When are you going to do something about these people?”

Hard working employees wonder why you would pay people (as in, provide a paycheck) to those that wish to destroy your company. Every hard working employee also wonders why they should continue to remain as hard working as they are. After all, the performance bar keeps getting lowered.

The worst situation is for a hard working employee to report to a diseased manager. The hard working employee will eventually catch the bug if something isn’t done to prevent it.

What can be done about the people with the infection? There are three options. The first is to ignore the problem and hope that it is not as bad as it seems. The truth is that it is usually worse than it appears; this option is only for those that have a death wish for their own company.

The second option is to attempt to isolate the problem employees. Unfortunately, most organizations cannot do this because they are already running lean. If every employee on the payroll is in a key function, isolation as a strategy will fail because an infected employee is probably already in a critical role.

The third option is to remove the bug and all those that carry it. Identify those carrying the dreaded germ and remove them. Terminate them, fire them, lay them off, downsize them, move them out; get rid of them.

Super Job For You gives information on how to get a job and how to hire good people. If you are looking for Cast Parts Jobs look at this website. This Castings Blog will give you more information you can use for manufacturing.

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