The 7 Fetters of Employees

It pains me to see some employees that are so qualified and hard-working but they seem to be stuck in their careers. In fact they have the 7 Fetters of Employees that prevent them from becoming star contributors. Some of the fetters are created by their managers, others are due to organization culture, and some due to habit. Know the fetters, remove them and you will be on a different path. The 7 Fetters are:

1. Having No KPIs. Many managers do not have have KPIs for their staff at all. As a result, employees are just working on a roller coaster - many ups and downs but they will end up where they begin - no improvement at all. For without goals we will all perish. 
2. Having Too 'Ambitious' (Unrealistic) Goals. This is the opposite of Having No KPIs, but is more than that. It is about the KPIs that so far in the company's 10 year history, only 2 people out of 50 have hit the goals. In fact such high goals make many employees give up instead. 
3. Having No Teamwork. No man can succeed alone and teams can be a great leverage at work. TEAM means Together Everyone Achieve More. 
4. Having Too Good 'Teamwork'. Here the 'teamwork' is so strong that the employees ganged up against the company. Like all take leave in the same time, and all do not hit the goals so that the goals will not be raised. 
5. Having No Motivation. Yes, you need motivation to get things moving or everyone will be procrastinating. The question is: when was the last time your employees attend a motivational course?  
6. Having Too Much 'Motivation'. Here the employees are too motivated to achieve the goals that they will even cut corners and cheat. Like those who manipulated the interbank rates at all the major banks. What we are lacking here is values like integrity and honesty. 
7. Having Incorrect Understanding of What an Employee is about. This is the most serious fetter, and many people didn't even know about this. Many thought that an employee is to get things done and 'do a good job' But we know that this is not enough. An employee must add value to the employer, and not just add work and add to the payroll. If not, he is just a cost centre and the company may lose money on him. The question is: how can employees add more value without working too late? Definitely the managers must Inspire, Motivate and Lead them! 

By Andy Ng, Chief Trainer at Asia Trainers, details here. To continue receiving our articles, follow us in this blog. Readers that read this article also read the following related articles:

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