Red-ink behavior: how to spot it, and stop it from staining your bottom line.

• Author: Briles, Judith

Picture this: Brenda has been late to work at least once a week for the past six months; Patricia knows more about the customers she works with than anyone could imagine, gleaning the information in chatty phone calls with them; Dennis doesn't respond to any issue until it moves into chaos; Caroline habitually withholds information from her co-workers; Martha is cryptic in her communications, leaving her co-workers and managers to "guess" what she really means; Tim hates to lose control of anything--he lays "traps" for his staff by giving them inadequate information, thus requiring him to ride to the rescue when failure is imminent; Tom waits until the last minute to do any project, then gets others to drop whatever they are doing to assist him; and Bertha is just cynical about every new idea that is presented at a staff meeting.

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Does any of this sound familiar? Welcome to "red-ink behavior"--the working manners, habits and styles that can directly and negatively impact the bottom line of a company unit, department, or the entire firm. Red-ink behaviors range from outright arrogance to withholding information. In between, there are individuals who firehose and shoot down others' ideas, don't confront issues that need to be confronted, communicate in a cryptic fashion, or just walk around with a chip on their shoulders.

Sometimes these behaviors are unconscious--people are truly not aware of what they are doing and what impact they have on others, their department and the organization. Most times, though, the creator is aware of the behaviors that irritate others and how they disrupt the "normal" flow of the workplace. In either case, productivity suffers. It takes more time to complete tasks, so the company has to pay for overtime or hire additional personnel or bring in temps to complete a project.

THE MONEY PIT

When red-ink behavior is in action, money is lost--sometimes lots. Most organizations are not aware of the cost, but few companies in Colorado can claim they are so flush with cash that disruptive and marginal employees are no big deal and can be ignored.

Can a manager reasonably guesstimate what bad behaviors cost? A manager must. And as an employee, it's a smart thing to do as well. That colleague/co-worker who routinely leaves work unfinished for his or her teammates because of slacking off, not following through or just having a rotten attitude in general not only impacts himself...