More Work!
Work teams are frequently overloaded and understaffed (sound familiar?). When I ask participants in my leadership training: “What do good performers get as a result of their performance?”, the answer always come back a resounding, “More Work!!” Not a winning strategy! We call this “performance punishment”!
Performance Punishment
Managers trying to meet a tight deadline often look to their strongest workers to pitch in. This leads to a paradoxical situation where high-performing employees are “rewarded” with additional responsibilities without additional compensation (monetary or otherwise).
Performance punishment negatively affects both the individual (burnout and resentment) and the organization (stress, low morale, turnover). Adding insult to injury, the reverse is also true. The poor performer is often passed over during times of stress, knowing they won’t deliver. As a result, they leave on time, feeling relaxed, while the high performer burns the candle at both ends! We call this “slacker rewards”.
The Manager’s Dilemma
Supervisors need to get the work done. Often, calling more on high performers seems to be the only option. This dilemma is not new, but it has become more common in fast paced environments where everyone is just a text away 24/7. Workplace stress, while also not new, has been increasing significantly.
Stress
Stress can significantly undermine workforce productivity. Stress is often a direct result of the additional workload placed on top performers. According to the 2019 StressPulseSM survey by ComPsych:
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- 61% of respondents said they have high levels of stress
- 39% report their workload as the main source of the work stress
According to the 2024 results of the American Psychiatric Association’s annual mental health poll, 35% of workers say their boss is a cause of their workplace stress. That’s nearly as many as those who cited workload. So how a leader responds is key to reducing stress.
Performance Punishment – The Problem
Performance punishment occurs when managers assign more work to their best performers. While this may seem logical, the negative impacts can be severe.
Without proper support, resources, or acknowledgment, these employees will feel resentful, unappreciated and overworked.
The Solution
Here are three main strategies for addressing performance punishment:
A. Prevention: improve poor performers so you don’t over rely on high performers
B. Skilled, attentive management: increase awareness and take remedial actions
C. Additional rewards or compensation
A. Prevention: Reduce the need to rely on a few key staff by improving poor performers
1. Accountability: Supervisors need to hold all employees accountable for their performance. Poor performers should receive constructive feedback as soon as their performance falters. This should be followed by an assessment. Are they:
- Lacking in skills or knowledge? (provide targeted training and coaching)
- Feeling unmotivated? (inquire to find what would motivate them)
- Facing other barriers to good performance? (be an active listener)
If after reasonable efforts, they are unable to perform as needed, they should find a more appropriate assignment. (if you find holding people accountable is a challenge, contact me for additional ideas.)
2. Skill Development: Training should be offered proactively year-round, as well as assigned in a remediation situation. You can reduce the need to load work on the high performers by successfully increasing skills of poor performers. Training also helps top performers continue to grow and prevents them feeling stagnant in their roles.
B. Attentive Management:
1. Awareness: Managers should be trained to recognize the signs of performance punishment (and slacker rewards), and address them promptly. They should provide support to all employees, ensuring that high performers are not overburdened and that all team members have the chance to develop and contribute.
2. Fair Work Assignment: Managers should be alert to the avoidance of giving tasks to poor performers. An alarm should go off when high performers become the default choice for additional tasks because of their track record of success.
C. Improved Rewards:
1. Recognition and Compensation: Sometimes unfair work assignments are necessary, as a temporary measure. When employees take on more work, they should be recognized and compensated appropriately. This could be in the form of bonuses, promotions, or other rewards. The rewards should reflect the value they bring to the organization. And the key word here is “temporary”. If these unfair assignments continue long term, burn out and resentment will result, even with enhanced rewards.
2. Targeted, customized rewards: Many organizations don’t have the funds or process for giving bonuses and promotions are not frequently available. But there are many rewards available to the thoughtful leader! Understanding that people value different opportunities can provide new avenues for reward. Rather than giving “more” work, give different work that both helps the organization and is valued by the employee.
The key is to tailor these rewards to each individual’s work style. We’ll pick that up in our next blog, but here are a few ideas:
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- “People oriented” employees can coach/mentor new workers
- Creative employees can work on innovative solutions
- Analytical employees can tackle challenging problems
You can get more information about work and communication styles here.
If done right, these strategies get important work issues addressed and actually motivate the high performer to keep doing more. “Done right” includes giving them employee recognition and meaningful appreciation for this extra effort. (And a bonus is always welcome, if available!)
Results
By fostering a culture of employee development, fair work distribution, and appropriate recognition, organizations can ensure that their best performers remain engaged, motivated, and productive. For more leadership tips check out our other blogs.
