Q: As a leader, how do you handle situations where an employee is being or becoming too familiar?
Asked by Cindy
A: You need to re-align the employee’s interest to why they are doing the job. In order to do this, you need to understand and probe the employee to find out what’s driving them to become too familiar. Familiarity may mean they are no longer doing their job as well as they should because they seem to be taking advantage of your good nature as a leader. You may be tempted to tell the employee, “if you do not do your job, then I cannot do mine.” This is a self-interest approach on your part as a leader. You need to take the leadership approach. You need to remember the employee doesn’t care about your problems, they only care about theirs. By figuring out what’s driving them, you need to demonstrate to the employee why doing their job is important and how it helps them solve their problem – whatever it is. For instance, you can say if they do not do their job, the company will be unable to deliver a good service to customers, who may in turn terminate their contracts. What this will mean for the employee is they will lose their job and no longer have a livelihood.
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