Why won't my employee's do as I ask?

What are your immediate thoughts when you ask that question to yourself?

Are they incompetent? Lazy? Rude?

My first question is- is it a capability issue, or a communication issue?

If they are not capable of doing the task, then you know it’s a training approach.

If they are capable but are choosing not too, then we need to dive deeper into understanding why.

When you set expectations, how clear are you with your communication?

Do you ask them outright - is there anything that could get in your way of achieving this task?

What timeline do you give between the meeting and the next meeting to assess how they are/or are not progressing?

If a 100% anonymous survey was put in place for your employees asking them on a scale of 1 to 10 how open and honest they could be in questioning or disagreeing with their leader/GM/CEO, what answer do you think you would get back?

There are many reasons why employees may choose not to do what you have asked of them. Breaking down the previous questions into categories they are as follows:

(1) Training and Development.

(2) Communication, Expectations and Boundaries.

(3) Having an Accountability Framework in place.

(4) Psychological Safety embedded within your culture

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