How to deal with employees who dont follow instructions

My employee isn’t following directions! I’ve told her what needs to be done a million times, but no matter what I say or how I say it, she just doesn’t do it!

Sound familiar? There’s no telling how many calls like this I’ve received from managers. Managing employees can be very rewarding, but it also takes a lot of time and energy, and it can be so frustrating when they don’t follow directions. I’ve worked with managers who were so discouraged and felt like they had tried everything with no results. Once they had vented and we started discussing what to do about it, something else often surfaced – this wasn’t the first time. This had been happening for weeks (maybe months). The managers had good intentions and kept thinking things would change, but they didn’t. And now, with a whole list of infractions, the situation had escalated to where the manager wanted something done “right now – termination if possible.”

These situations can get complex very quickly. One manager I worked with had an employee who had been at the company less than 6 months but had already built quite a reputation of not following instructions, including doing the exact opposite of what her manager asked. The manager kept coaching the employee, thinking she was just new and learning the ropes, but things continued getting worse. By the time the manager was preparing disciplinary action, the employee filed a complaint that her manager was treating her unfairly, so the disciplinary action had to pause for the complaint to be investigated.

Each situation has its own nuances to it. Another manager I worked with had been in her position only a few weeks when it became apparent that some of her employees weren’t following instructions. Products weren’t stocked correctly, and items weren’t ordered when needed. When asked to do tasks, they would say they were too busy. This team had a reputation of making things difficult for their leaders, and many in the past had ultimately just allowed them to do what they wanted. The issues were so frequent that they often weren’t addressed since the manager had other work to do too. When infractions were addressed, they would blame the manager – that she hadn’t explained what to do.

Managing employees who don’t follow directions can be tough. Even Tom Cruise had to deal with film crew members not following directions! So, what’s the best way to handle it? How can you come alongside them to help and support them without enabling destructive behavior or allowing things to spiral out of control?

Remain in your role as a boss. Your role as a boss is to guide and direct your team. You’re not their parent nor a dictator, so the good news is that it is not your job to make them do anything. Your job is to provide direction and assistance and then to hold your employees accountable. It’s up to your employees what they choose to do. Your focus can be on making sure you’re creating a healthy, positive environment and doing everything you can to help your employees succeed. If you find there are things you could improve on (communicating more clearly, ensuring a realistic workload, etc.), be willing to do that.

Address issues early. If your employees don’t follow directions on something, avoid jumping to conclusions. Talk with them and ask what happened. They could have a good reason – maybe they misunderstood or need more training – and your getting their side of things will build trust. On the other hand, it could indicate an issue, in which case the fact that you’re addressing it promptly is likely to keep it from continuing.

Maintain perspective on what issues are actually “issues.” When employees develop a pattern of not following directions, it’s easy to start focusing intensely on each and every time it happens. It starts to feel personal – like they’re intentionally taking action against you – so you hone in on each time they don’t do exactly what you said. Avoid this! The difficulty with this reaction is it’s harder to find clarity on what to do about it because you’re so tangled in the weeds of it. Plus, you probably (hopefully) aren’t like that with your other employees, so nitpicking makes it easy for employees to say you’re treating them differently. Your goal is to maintain perspective on what’s really important. Remember what the responsibilities and expectations of the position are and hold accountable to that.

Stay engaged, and explain possible consequences. If more issues arise, stay engaged with the employee. Remain calm (even if you have to fake it), ask what happened, and provide any needed assistance. This way, you continually provide the opportunity for the employee to improve. Also make sure you explain what happened as a result of the directions not being followed. The employee should know the domino effect. Did this cause more work for others on the team? Be sure to mention that too. These don’t have to be lengthy conversations, but you want the employee to know that how he or she contributes to the overall team dynamic is important. If there is a continued lack of improvement, explain that you’ve provided multiple coachings and that the next step is formal disciplinary action (based on your company policies). This makes the next steps clear to the employee and keeps formal discipline from being a surprise.

Don’t allow this to continue for too long. When you coach 50 times before issuing formal discipline, I’m sure you’re trying to be extra helpful. The problem is it actually sends the message that this behavior isn’t really an issue. You open the door for the employee to be able to question any disciplinary action because they’ve “been doing this for a long time, so why now is it suddenly a problem?” For more effective performance management, provide an opportunity for improvement, and if issues persist, move to formal discipline. Again, tell the employee when you’re getting to the point of moving to formal discipline so it’s not a surprise.

Address the key issues in the formal discipline. You may have 20 examples of not following directions, but a 4-page document outlining every little thing isn’t going to be helpful for anyone. The key issues will get lost, and it makes you look like you’re not doing your job to have that many issues before addressing them. Maintain the perspective we discussed above, and document the key incidents that happened recently. You could use wording such as, “[Employee] has demonstrated a pattern of not following directions, including the following incidents” to show that there have a been a number of issues. Make sure that these are items you’ve discussed with the employee to get their side on. This helps avoid surprises (a theme of this!) and makes sure you don’t accidentally include something that had extenuating circumstances to it.

Managing employees who repeatedly don’t follow directions can be really frustrating. By addressing situations promptly, focusing on the key issues, and holding employees accountable, you’ll be able to keep this negative behavior from spiraling too far out of control. Whether you’re managing onsite or remote employees, these techniques will be helpful for you. It will still take time to manage the situation, but not as much time. Employees may still complain that you’re treating them unfairly, but you’ll be able to point to consistent responses. As an added bonus, this will help you maintain the morale of the rest of the team and safeguard the positive, healthy environment you’ve worked so hard to create.

Photo credit: By Bogdan Dreava / Canva

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