The Reluctant Contributor - D3

 

The Reluctant Contributor - D3

Continuing forward in the Skill Will Matrix, we'll move to the "Reluctant Contributor” today.
 
We spoke about the "Enthusiastic Beginner" and “Disillusioned Learner” in the last two articles.
 
The Enthusiastic Beginner was an employee at D1 - High Will Low Skill. The ideal confluence of behaviors for an Enthusiastic Beginner is High Directive Low Supportive.

The Disillusioned Learner was an employee at D2 – Low Will Low Skill and the ideal confluence of behaviors is High Directive High Supportive.
 
We saw that the way to develop a Disillusioned Learner is to continue to provide him with clear instructions on his tasks and roles and Monitoring & Feedback as well as to ensure that you build a strong support system around him. 

Ideally he would need to be transitioned to D4 smoothly without letting him move to D3. If he does move to D3, however, it is not as alarming a transition as letting a D1 slip to a D2.

If specific behavior sets are not administered to him though, he is naturally going to move to D3. (if he does not move on or is not sacked) Let us understand how.
If the employee at D2 spends more time in the organization without any of the above two eventualities happening, he is going to obviously learn more about his roles and tasks. This would lead to his skills to move to moderate to above average levels. Still not high though; because most of his learning has been through trail & error and experimentation.
 
Let me remind you once again, that this is if he has a “manager” without an understanding of the behaviors required.

Due to his above average skill-sets his performance is now going to comparatively improve. But there would be a lot of inconsistency. He would be uncertain as to exactly what he is doing right to be able to extract the right kind of actions and behaviors that lead to favorable results. This is primarily due the lack of proper guidance from his superior.
 
This would result in him still having below average will levels due to the fact that rewards and recognition will come to him; however they’ll be as inconsistent as his performance.
 
So if you plot this employee on the matrix... this is where he would be.

His Skill levels are moderate to high; however his Will levels be inconsistent due to the lack of support that he has received resulting in inconsistent performance.
 
Once again, if the manager is a “Leader” with a firm understanding of “Situational Leadership” the employee would never have reached D3. But this would again be a case of ‘inherited employees’
 
Let us understand the confluence of Leadership behaviors that he requires. Since he is above average in his skills sets he does not require instructions on the what, how, where, why, when or constant monitoring. In fact that is going to tick him off immensely. So Directive behaviors to be on Low!
 
Since his Will levels are inconsistent, however he would need higher supportive behaviors. Now, it is interesting and important to note that the kind of supportive behaviors exhibited with a D3 would be different from those given to a D2.

Here’s when you need to start showing value in this employee through “Involvement” and “Engagement”. Involve him in the team’s decision making and problem solving process. Show him the trust you have in his abilities and skills.

 
Also, going back to the Disillusioned Learner is where the D3 may be able to play a very important role, as I had mentioned in my last post. Since his skill-sets are above average, give him a few responsibilities to groom the skill-sets of some of the D2 employees in your team. This is a perfect example of a WIN-WIN-WIN situation, where you impact the will of both D2 & D3.
 
So the ideal confluence of behaviors for a Disillusioned Learner is –
 

Low Directive High Supportive

 

This is also known as the “Supporting” style of Leadership and should be maintained to improve his skill and will levels to attempt to gradually move him into D4 or Peak Performer.
 
The Danger here is that, while you wouldn’t want to sack these employees, they would definitely be looking for other options of employment. So be careful!
 
The loss to the existing Leader is a potential Leader and his “replacement and path for growth”.
 
That’s it for now. Will "suit up" again for the “Peak Performer” soon.
 
Ciao!!