Overcoming Apathy

Today is your first day on the job as the manager of the department for a new employer. You feel pretty good as you walked in the door, and go about the first step of introducing yourself to your new staff. They all seem pretty amiable, and you get the feeling that things are just going to be perfect.

However, within a week you've started to notice signs that are troubling. You ask questions and you feel like you're getting short, dismissive answers. You make statements and all you get back are blank stares. You make a brief mention of some ideas you have for improvement, and you feel eyes roll as if they've heard this kind of talk before.

By the end of the week you realize that there is a general malaise throughout your department. This is not uncommon. Most employees begin a new job with the expectations of breaking down walls and conquering mountains. At a certain point, however, in most companies they come to realize that not only will they not do great things, but no one seems to be interested in their ideas. After that kind of thing has happened a few times employees will either settle into their roles and become unmotivated, or become skeptical of anything new that happens to cross their path.

Overcoming employee apathy involves more than a quick fix solution. It's definitely not impossible to overcome, and with time, perseverance, and consistency it's an obstacle that can become a benefit to not only your department but your organization.

The first that is mandatory; you have to communicate your ideas and visions to your staff. They may think your words are hollow, but they need to hear from you anyway. Try to realize that they've probably heard such proclamations before and have seen nothing change. You may find out later on that either the previous manager, or many previous managers, have created the mistrust issue you are now dealing with.

The next thing you have to do is call some sort of meeting. If you have supervisors who report to you, then you can start with them. If not, then go directly to the staff. Do not start off with a large group; you need to start slow, and a smaller group of people are easier to deal with. You need to have an idea before you start this meeting, something that you can present and elicit some kind of feedback from. What you're hoping to do is open some lines of communication and show some people that you are interested in their ideas. If you are effective in getting some conversation going, hopefully you will see a spark in some eyes that wasn't there when the meeting began. If even the smallest iota of enthusiasm has been generated, you got things started on the right foot.

What will happen after the meeting ends is someone will talk to another person in the department who was not at the meeting and tell them what happened. That person will either get enthused or remain skeptical, but that's okay; you'll be giving them their shot pretty soon. What also has to happen after that meeting, however, is that you have to find something positive that came out of that interaction and do something with it that will be noticeable by the employees in the department. At this first step, it's not as important that everything be perfect as much as showing that a valuable idea contributed by someone within the department was used. You also need to give credit and recognition to those whose ideas prompted the action.

At this point you will have some converts, but not everybody will be on board. Negative thoughts can run deep, and are harder to overcome than positive thoughts. All this means is that once you have started down the road of open communication, you have to remain ever vigilant of potholes. Having too many meetings can constrict production; having too few could kill the grapevine.

You as the manager has to be on top of the game when you're entertaining ideas. It's quite possible that what you'll discover once you start having your meetings is that the staff really isn't knowledgeable enough to be able to provide you with proper solutions. Many companies believe in the theory of only teaching employees what they feel they need to do the job they were given without taking the time to really find out if the employees understand exactly what it is they're doing. If this is the case, you need to be ready to advocate what ever educational processes are needed to make your staff more productive. This will be seen as a positive for most of your employees because they will see that you're trying to do something for them. There may be a few who take offense, those who believe they already know everything they need to know, but a refresher never hurt anybody.

Keep following the steps mentioned above and good things will start happening. Your department will grow, and you'll suddenly find that people from other departments of the company will think about finding a way to transfer into your department, other managers will come to you and ask you about your success, and upper management will take notice. For those in the department who never come along for the ride,… well, they won't last long, and you didn't need them in the first place.



Click here to return to newsletters page