Different categories of employees build up a team. Studying their psychology can help you to create unique strategies that can increase their work productivity. Here the employees are categorized into 13 groups according to this.
3. The Believer
Every employer's dream — the believer — is
dedicated, committed and loves his job. Such
employees are utterly motivated and give their
heart and soul to their work. Their innate element
of loyalty to the company and the team binds him
to the organisation. Believers have a way of getting
jobs done effortlessly, inspiring their colleagues
and giving their best to every task at hand.
Management strategy:
Management should not take them for granted,
and instead, nurture and encourage them.
4. The soldier
Dedicated and committed, the soldier is the most
bankable type of employee. Give him a task and
consider it done. Soldiers show unstinting loyalty to
their companies and often stick around at their jobs
for years. While their stability is a benefit, they can
be hard to manage during times of change. Soldiers
make great team players but may lack leadership
skills. Organisations love soldiers not only due to
their devotion to the job but also because of the
stability they bring to an organisation.
Management strategy:
Their managers must encourage them to take the
initiative rather than simply waiting for orders.
5. The idea champion
Constantly buzzing with new ideas and thoughts, idea
champions love taking the initiative and kick-starting
projects. They love to think big, differently and proactively
push innovative ideas to the fore. At the same time, they
find it difficult to stay with a project while it is being
executed, often jumping to other newer, more exciting
ideas instead. While they are excellent at visualising and
seeing the bigger picture, they tend to miss out on the
finer details.
Management strategy:
Such employees may seem very confident. But have
have to be very carefully guided since they may miss out
the finer details while completing the work.
6. The Invisible Cog
He never misses a day of work and always tends to arrive and leave at
the same time each day. He completes his work competently and
spends almost no time socializing with colleagues after hours. In some
ways, he’s an ideal worker. It’s hard to complain about him because he’s
a functioning cog in the wheel and doesn’t draw attention to himself in
a negative way.
Management strategy:
Every business needs people who get the job done consistently. They
aren’t particularly creative or innovative, but they function well
behind the scenes. But Invisible Cogs may have hidden talents, and as
a manager it’s your task to help your solid team players grow. Offer
this type of worker a development opportunity that’s more people-focused.
Perhaps you can pay to have him trained in a new project and
then promote him to one of the team leaders who trains others. You
may discover that your Invisible Cog has great reservoirs of talent.
7. The Climber
Focused on making it big and impatient to rise through the
ranks in corporate world, the climber can be identified in an
office owing his/ her apparent thirst to be recognised. One can
find them networking with people who matter and their
particular interest to work on the more 'visible' projects.
Climbers also tend to hop jobs frequently in their quest to swiftly
climb up the organisational hierarchy. Their glory-seeking ways
may cause resentment among other colleagues.
Management strategy:
A leader who can harness their drive will be able to get the
best out of them.
8. The Brainy Underperformer
You hired her because she was top of her class and had a resume that
made her stand out from the competition. She’s clever and picks up new
concepts quickly. But in meetings, she rarely speaks, and others on the
team treat her as if she’s invisible. Something is holding her back. She’s
timid or perhaps has low self-esteem.
Management strategy:
Don’t give up on this employee. In her own way, she’s calling out for
targeted coaching. Ask her to honestly evaluate her own performance.
You may uncover a simple lack of confidence. She may have excelled in
business school, but in the hardscrabble world of competitive
personalities, she’s falling behind. Consider sending her to a coach who
can help her develop presentation skills – thus boosting her
communication techniques and confidence level. Then ask her to run a
team meeting.
9. The Doormat
Easily bullied and pushed around, the doormat asks for
sympathy but always gets the raw deal. Very often, they are new
to a team and hence branded as naive.
Management strategy:
Doormats need to learn to stop avoiding confrontation and
speak up when injustice is meted out to them.
10. Mr. Temper Tantrum
This talented employee does almost everything right. He’s creative and
smart, hard-working, and reliable. But he has a sarcastic edge and is often
short-tempered with his co-workers. Not surprisingly, he doesn’t respond well
to constructive criticism. When you offer him feedback, he just clenches his
jaw and nods, as if you’ve just given him a pink slip.
Management strategy:
Point out to him that he could very easily be promoted to a management
position based on his skill set and accomplishments. However, managers
need to become “people” people. They must learn how to take constructive
feedback, get along with others, and intuit others’ feelings and emotional
needs. Ask him to define resilience – a critical competency for your fast-moving
business. Help him see that producing at the top is great – but only
if he’s flexible enough to manage critical relationships.
11. The Splicer and Dicer
She has a carefully calibrated sense of what does fall within
her job description and what doesn’t, and she is unwilling to
touch anything that doesn’t. The problem is, between layoffs
and new technology, everyone needs to embrace new tasks –
even this talented employee.
Management strategy:
Call a staff meeting and spell out what the new
expectations are. Tell your employees that they will be
evaluated partly on their ability to help out in these new
areas. If possible, invest in training for your workers so they
can take on new challenges with confidence. If the Splicer and
Dicer still resists, schedule a one-on-one meeting to find out
what will help her feel more comfortable taking on these new
tasks.
12. The Troublemaker
Troublemakers don't like their job and ensure that everyone around them is
well aware of this resentment. This makes them quite difficult to handle.
Their ire for the job is obvious in such signs as reporting late to work, taking
time off at the drop of a hat, lagging behind on deadlines, not taking initiative
and frequently speaking ill about the company and team.
Management strategy:
The presence of a troublemaker on a team can be toxic. People dealing
with such colleagues should try and find the root cause behind their
dissatisfaction and resentment and address it. Communicate to them that
their behavior is not acceptable. Sometimes, a change of profile or team can
be helpful.
13. The Ravenous Superstar
She is super talented. She comes in early, works late, seems to
get more done in less time, and her ideas are smart and mostly on
target. The problem is, even though she treats you, her boss, with
the proper amount of deference, she is hungrier for more
assignments, recognition, boss time, and training than her peers –
and they resent it.
Management strategy:
Find an employee whom she can mentor: someone who’s
talented and ambitious, but deserving of more attention. Put your
superstar in a role where she’s not only doing her work, but she’s
responsible for developing a true peer. This will help foster co-operative
rather than competitive skills. Since this type of
employee tends to “go it alone,” be sure she’s working closely with
her protégé and not just assigning her difficult tasks and letting her
flounder.
14. The Materialist
This is the employee who works just for the salary. They have lost their
interest in the job and lack the motivation to work. Yet, they stay put in a
company because they have reached a comfortable place in the organisation
and need the money to trickle in every month. He does the least amount of
work possible and leaves office exactly when official working hours end.
Management strategy:
Challenging as it may be, team leaders and companies should look for
ways to motivate them. A good way is to link performance to monetary
benefits.
15. Mr Perfectionist
This talented employee is so detail-oriented he puts you to shame. Every
report he hands in is perfect, and every task he does, he does well.
However, his need to dot every “i” has, on occasion, held up projects, and
other employees find him difficult to work with because he’s never
satisfied with their contributions. In a team-oriented culture, he’s just not a
team player, and complaints about him abound.
Management strategy:
Perfectionists burn out quickly. They often enjoy less job satisfaction
than their peers. Talk to this employee about aspects of his job that he
finds frustrating. You might learn, for example, that a particular process is
inefficient – and he can suggest a better way to get the job done. Or you
might discover that he’s better suited for a different department. Above
all, praise his high level of competence, but try to get him to identify
aspects of his work style that delay his performance.
