Keeping smart, productive people

So after last weeks post on looking after smart but lazy people, I got some interesting feedback from a friend who’s a Human Resources Manager in a national organisation with a couple of thousand employees in what seems like hundreds of locations.

She agreed with me, but extended my idea even further with a number of points that she thought were fairly important. I thought it was worthwhile passing on her ideas about the whole smart/stupid versus productive/lazy thing.

I should point out firstly though that her main point was she didn’t like me using the word like ‘stupid’. Not so much because it wasn’t true (oh, boy is it true) but just because it’s not the done thing to call people stupid out loud.

I, however, strive to be a realist, plus, I generally don’t care if I upset stupid people.

Anyway, her main points were:

• If you can’t promote smart, productive people – then give them a big project they can sink their teeth into, in an area where they are passionate and watch them fly. Don’t forget though that you need to think about what will happen at the end of the project, because if it’s back to business as usual, they will fly out the window.
• Never leave a smart/lazy person idle – they will do nothing (or surf the net all day – but they’re smart so it will be within your so-called “guidelines” so you won’t be able to sack them for it). And then they’ll complain very loudly how no-one appreciates them.
• Never leave a “not so smart” but lazy person with not much on. They are guaranteed to ignore policies and procedures and get up to no good.

I just can’t resist practical advice, and this is certainly practical.

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Brendan Lewis is a serial technology entrepreneur having founded: Ideas Lighting, Carradale Media, Edion, Verve IT, The Churchill Club, Flinders Pacific and L2i Technology Advisory. He has set up businesses for others in Romania, Indonesia and Vietnam. Qualified in IT and Accounting, he has also spent time running an Advertising agency and as a Cavalry Officer with the Australian Army Reserve.