Not too long ago, I was coaching a client concerned that she wasn’t being fair enough to all of her direct reports. When I asked her what fair looked like, she replied each direct report would receive the same training and specific resources for development. This initial thought makes sense. Parents gave each sibling the same type of candy and clothes in childhood. There are few opportunities as we grow into adulthood where the demonstration of “fair” isn’t equated to “the same.”

However, in leadership development, fairness doesn’t mean the same. The same for everyone can be harmful. In a diverse workplace, sameness can offer one direct report the necessary knowledge and skill for advancement. That same approach will not benefit another direct report with the demonstrated knowledge and skill for the same advancement. Instead, fairness in leadership development means offering each direct report what they need to take advantage of the opportunities available to everyone.

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Disengaged employees often leave after their paid time off is exhausted, their performance has dropped, they’ve been verbally (and sometimes illegibly) disciplined, and their negativity has spread through the team. Essentially, 1/3 of one employee’s salary is flushed down the drain when a company chooses not to address employee disengagement. If a team’s average salary is $16/hour or $33,280 annually per team member, then one disengaged team member costs $11,093 per year. Unchecked employee disengagement can kill a team’s profitability, as the entire could be affected will be disengaged by default, negatively affecting the organization as a whole.

Below are five signs your employees are disengaged and what to do about it.

1. Sick days and time off are being taken at higher rates. At this point, taking unpaid days off doesn’t matter. Your employees would rather avoid the workplace than be paid. Firing should not be your first step. Instead, it would help if you found out what they value more and found ways to satisfy that desire.
2. Overtime pay and other incentives for extra work and higher performance are rejected. In other words, your employees wouldn’t do extra work if you paid them.
3. Teams cohesion is falling apart. What once was a strong and bonded union has now degraded to individuals out for themselves.
4. Regular productivity has taken a significant decline despite adding more support. Meeting the bare minimum requirements for the job is becoming less frequent.
5. Negative attitudes toward clients, customers, peers, and the overall craft of their profession have disappeared. Employees who once loved what they did, whom they did it for, and the people they do it with have become more complacent and irritated. They care less about their work, their clients, and their peers.

1. Ask questions, acknowledge and validate your employees’ concerns. Just asking is not enough. Your employees want to be heard. Learn about what matters most to them as well as what they need. Forego the speeches about what leadership looks like and how people should behave and start implementing improvements.
2. Provide a meaningful, fun, and relaxing team-building experience on your dime and time. Listen, if your employees are burned out and upset, they will not appreciate taking their time to attend a “mandatory fun” event. However, if you provide the same experience on your time and dime, you signal that you care about their enjoyment and want to see them have some fun.
3. Identify the poison apple and consider termination, demotion, or reassignment after you’ve attempted rehabilitation. It just takes one disgruntled teammate to spoil the entire team. Energy is contagious, and negative energy spreads like a festering rash on sensitive skin. People are happier and more productive when the bad apple is removed from the bunch.
4. Find out where the real problems exist. Is it unfair practices, poor client/customer relations, or lack of recognition?
5. Invest in your organization by hiring an expert who can do a needs assessment, develop a plan, and work with you to solve the actual problem.

Internalizing the growth and development of your direct reports is expected. As leaders, we make it a personal mission to groom and model our direct reports to be greater and wiser than we are. We want them to shine and flourish as they move up the ranks. So it's no surprise that we feel responsible when they fail to perform to standard. As a leadership development coach to Directors, Vice Presidents, and Sr. Vice Presidents of large organizations, I hear the pain they feel when discussing the poor performance of a direct report.

1. What is the problem?
2. Have you done everything you need to support them?
3. Have you shared the resources necessary to help them?
4. Have they done everything they could to help themselves?
5. If the answer is no, what could they do for themselves?
6. After support, resources, and time have been given, are the direct report's results enough?
7. What would it cost you, the team, and the employee if nothing changed?
8. Is the cost worth it?

Welcome to Women Veteran’s Leadership Podcast!

I help manufacturing and technology companies create women veterans in leadership programs to enhance diversity, equity, and inclusion metrics and employer brand reputations. Over the last 20 years, I've used coaching, consulting, and strategic planning to help women excel in their careers. This podcast will cover women veteran retention, leadership development, professional development, and much more. Make sure you never miss an episode by clicking the “follow” or “subscribe” button now. Now here’s your host, Rolande Sumner, the CEO of Life After Service Transitional Coaching LLC or LASTCo.

Our mission is to enhance organizational readiness and retention by quickly and efficiently integrating veteran new hires. Our solutions are the first step in your organization’s veterans onboarding, resulting in improved resiliency among the workforce and their teams. Your organization will retain veteran new hires by implementing an aggressively managed acclimation program.

• Enhanced veteran engagement
• Dramatic reduction in culture shock for both the veteran and the direct supervisor
• The enhanced bond between the veteran new hire and direct supervisor
• Increased productivity and early wins within the initial 90 days
• Professional and leadership development at the team level at little to no cost to the organization
• Better prepared high potential candidates for your advancement pipeline

LASTCo’s vision is to be North America’s # 1 veteran consulting firm.