Leadership Minute: How To Spot A Slacker

A regular column devoted to developing the skills necessary to lead in the 21st century workplace.

I know it’s probably not the most politically correct way to express it, but the fact of the matter is, there is a high likelihood you have *slackers* in your corporate ranks. People who are in the office 8-9 hours a day and do about 2 hours worth of work. If there is any leadership pet peeve that I have, it’s *slackers*. As one of my mentors used to say, “these people are simply stealing from us, FLAT OUT STEALING!”

I’m offering these tips because now more than ever it’s vitally important to have people working for you that are engaged, committed, and willing to act like they own the place. The last thing any of us can afford is employees that are doing less than their part to earn the privilege to work for you.

Let me repeat that … earn the privilege to work for you.

That’s correct…it is a privilege that you have given that individual their job. The responsibility is theirs alone to continue earning the right to come back each day.

Here are some tips to help you spot a slacker among your ranks. It can actually be a lot harder than you might think.

First, you have to know where to look for slackers.

If 10% are the superstars and another 10% are on the short list out the door, that leaves you with 80% of your employee population. I know you are thinking that’s a big percentage, but that’s just the way it is.

Then, you need to know how slackers look.

Your best slackers will actually dress for success. They understand that blending in helps them go unnoticed (thus making slacking easier). So the point is … it could be anyone. Looks alone will not identify them.

So, you need to know **what** to look for. Here are a few tips to get you started.

1. A good slacker is a master of keyboard shortcuts.
   • Ever notice when you walk up to somebody’s desk and the screen super quickly changes to Word, Outlook, or Excel. That’s because a good slacker knows that handy keyboard shortcut: ALT + TAB. You can almost guarantee if the screen is changing, that previous screen was not work related.
2. Keep your eye out for mirrors (the small round, wide angle view kind).
   • The only people who need a mirror like this at their desk are people trying to hide something. And often, it is used to know when to use ALT + TAB.
3. Body language / Facial Expressions.
   • When you walk up unexpectedly, slackers get startled. I don’t mean jump out of your seat startled, more just caught off guard. They show this by adjusting themselves in their seats, quickly reaching for a pen, or something to make them “look” busy. Oh, and of course, look for that “holy crap, I can’t believe you just walked over here” look on their face. It’s a dead giveaway.
4. Slackers don’t volunteer for work projects.
   • Not surprisingly though, slackers do show a special interest in helping organize social events or running errands. Don’t let this movement fool you for real, meaningful productivity.

That’s what I look for to spot a slacker. I’ll save my advice on how to deal with slackers for another Leadership Minute. In the meantime, I would love to hear your tips on the subject.

Author: Jeremy Victor | Website | Twitter

Jeremy's the founder of Make Good Media and Editor In Chief of B2Bbloggers.com. B2Bbloggers.com is a B2B Marketing online magazine discussing the evolution of B2B marketing. Topics include content marketing, B2B social media, demand generation, marketing automation, and more. Sign up. Get all the articles via email.