How poor staff attitude is sending your revenues to rivals
A poor staff attitude could be because the employee does not like their job, feel underpaid, have a poor relationship with their boss or sometimes it could be the staff is having a tough day because of something going on in their life.
What you need to know:
- Body language, tone of voice and our choice of words are often the greatest indicators for our attitude.
- Our stance influences how we relate to others.
- Our attitude is also manifest in our overall job performance.
- Business leaders also have a responsibility to recognise a bad apple in their team.
Most of us can pick a staff’s attitude within the first few minutes of an interaction. It could be something they say, how they utter it or their body language. A positive attitude stands out and so does a negative one.
Body language, tone of voice and our choice of words are often the greatest indicators for our attitude. Our stance influences how we relate to others.
Our attitude is also manifest in our overall job performance. Why do some businesses leaders seem careless about their staff’s poor attitude? Is it because they are not aware? Is it that they have never noticed it?
There are business premises that customers visit and are made to feel unwelcome. Some customers have been judged by their dress code and accent and treated disrespectfully.
Why do some staff assume that a customer’s style or their English diction determines the size of their wallet?
It could also be that the business leaders condone negativity thus making it commonplace. A customer may afford a product or a service but may end up walking away because of how they are treated.
There are some staff that we interact with and wonder why they still have a job. Could poor worker attitude be hurting your business? How do your staff make your customers feel?
A recent visit to an office left me wondering how many customers one of the staff had sent away. On the same day, I had a complete opposite interaction with a worker at a small business.
Their positive attitude made the entire purchase process enjoyable.
Environment where negativity thrives
Many factors influence staff stance both positively and negatively. A poor attitude could be because the staff does not like their job, feel underpaid or have a poor relationship with their boss.
Sometimes it could be the staff is having a tough day because of something going on in their life.
Business leaders also have a responsibility to recognise a bad apple in their team. What action have you taken to prevent any from spoiling the whole bunch?
Every smart company needs to be concerned about its staff’s attitude. Could it be that the leadership has created an environment where negativity thrives? Staff do not like to be told that they have an attitude problem.
Telling them that they need to change their poise might not help. Business leaders need to first model positivity at the workplace.
Further, make businesses values clear. Valuing collaboration, respect, professionalism, may keep poor staff attitudes in check.
These values need to be supported by guidelines on what is expected of each staff. Therefore, competencies such as effective communication, good interpersonal skills, accountability need to be well articulated in each job description and in the performance management program.
It is possible to eliminate negativity at the workplace if business leaders take the right action! What will you do today to curtail poor staff attitude? Do not let poor staff attitude continue to hurt your revenues!
