When Your Employee Won't Do What You Want (Because She Believes Her Way is Better).

On the surface, this may sound like reason number four (The Employee Thinks Your Way Will Not Work), but the two are not the same. In this instance, the employee doesn't necessarily believe that your way won't work; they just believe they know a way that will work even better, and that is the method she is using - regardless of established policy and procedure.

1) The first thing you need to do when dealing with this kind of resistance is to make sure that your way IS better than hers. If your way isn’t better, you need to scrap your idea and stick with hers until a better way is devised. Change for the sake of change is a waste of everyone's time.  Provide the employee with an opportunity to explain to you why she feels her way is better and listen with an open mind. Wait until she has finished before you start formulating a judgment about her method. Listening is critical to any successful communication.

2) If at the end of her presentation, you still see why your way is the better of the two, you will need to make a convincing presentation to her. If you can’t clearly demonstrate where your method has the advantage, you need to go back to the drawing board and further develop your method and/or explanation. Leaders and managers must be salespeople when it comes to the presentation of ideas. Most people will do things that are advantageous to them and avoid doing things that are not. Find the advantage(s) of your method and back them up with evidence.

3) If implementing your method is mandatory, be prepared to enforce compliance. If it is presented as optional, you have no right to be annoyed if the method isn't adopted by the employee. People tend to stick with what they know unless there is a clear incentive for change (i.e., more free time, greater profitability, continued employment).  If the way you want it done is truly the best way, then non-compliance by staff equates to sub-standard performance, and substandard job performance is not acceptable within DVC.