John Eades* says complacency can creep up on any individual, organisation or team, he presents concrete steps to help people recognise the signs and turn it around.
It’s hard to imagine anyone would sign up to become complacent.
Complacency conjures visuals of an unengaged workforce, boredom, and marriages on life support.
However, while deficient in many ways, complacency can be the catalyst that energises, invigorates, and propels people to meet their full potential.
It turns out that in the past few years we have been in a little bit of a complacency bubble.
Research completed in 2019 found 70.1 per cent of employees did not consider themselves ‘very engaged’,
However, only 34 per cent of those professionals had a plan to look for a different job.
While I hesitate to use any research done prior to the pandemic, it was clear employees weren’t engaged, yet they were comfortable staying where they were.
Only time will tell if this pandemic will be the catalyst for causing the complacency bubble to burst in our workplaces; this will always be a challenge.
Complacent is defined as feeling so satisfied with your own abilities or situation that you feel you do not need to try any harder.
In our research studying leaders, even those in positions of leadership or ones with great responsibility, aren’t immune to feeling satisfied with themselves.
One of the biggest causes of complacency is a lack of self-awareness that it’s happening.
If you are anything like me, you have got on a scale to weigh yourself and were caught by surprise at the inflated number.
That number didn’t happen by accident, it happened because I got complacent in my choices and habits, and I lost awareness of it.
There is a simple question to ask yourself to determine if you are embracing growth or falling complacent.
“Am I actively working on getting better at…?
The sentence could be ended by ‘leadership’ or ‘key technical skills’ or ‘my marriage’.
While the question is simple to ask, the answer can be complicated, especially if you aren’t self-aware.
The ultimate test is to pose the question to someone close to you who would give you an objective and honest answer.
The combination of your two answers is where the truth lies.
If you find yourself leading a team that has become complacent it’s not time to sit back and hope it gets better.
Hope isn’t a strategy. You need a tactical guide on how to rally a complacent team.
Accept the reality of complacency
Many leaders aren’t ready to accept that their team has become complacent.
They find a myriad of excuses for the lack of effort, energy, and intensity the team displays.
Get into the proper headspace and embrace the reality of the situation so you can look to make some changes.
Narrow down a list of causes for the complacency
The ability to become satisfied with a situation can come from many different places.
Part of your job is to identify the root causes for the team as a whole, or key individuals on the team.
A few of the typical reasons include: Being overpaid; work no longer challenging, or outcomes lose their original meaning.
Open up the lines of communication
Once you have strong suspicions for what might be causing complacency, it’s time to open up communication with the team.
Create an environment that allows people to say what needs to be said. Often this means airing out grievances or feelings people have been holding onto.
Open and honest communication allows teams to say the things that need to be said.
Reconnect the team to the cause
Reconnecting your team to the reason it exists in the first place is a great place to begin when the complacency bubble is in full effect.
The reason is simple: As time passes it’s easy to forget why we are on this mission in the first place.
Do not go another minute without being clear on why your team is doing what it’s doing.
It’s easy for people to get lost in the monotony of their everyday work without considering how their work impacts the larger organisation.
Challenge the team with smaller goals
Complacent teams or people need a challenge to get excited about.
This means you have to set a goal the team cares about achieving. Any random revenue or earning goal won’t do.
Research has revealed that setting challenging and specific goals further enhance employee engagement in attaining those goals.
Instead of looking at complacency as a dead end, it’s time to leverage it as a catalyst for growth.
If you or your team find yourself complacent, now is the time to do something about it.
*John Eades is the Chief Executive of LearnLoft a leadership development company. He is also the host of the Follow My Lead podcast. He can be contacted at johneades.com.
This article first appeared on John’s LearnLoft blog.
