Revealing Mediocrity

Great times allow us to ignore mediocrity. As leaders, we tend to tolerate mediocre employees when the financials of the company are good. Times have been good for so long that we’ve allowed some employees to refine the art of mediocrity. For years, they’ve shown up to work, done the bare minimum to get by, collected a paycheck, and gone home. Times were so good for so many organizations that quite often the mediocre employee was never even challenged to do more.

Tough times expose mediocrity. As leaders struggle to find ways to improve performance, the acceptance of mediocrity is no longer an option. Suddenly the bare minimum is no longer enough. Leaders are turning to productive employees to help get them through the tough times, and improving company financials by eliminating mediocre employees who aren’t contributing to the success of the organization.

It is my hope that leaders will choose to raise the bar for mediocre employees, and that employees will step up to the challenge and contribute at all new levels so we can all get through this recession together. But for those who don’t, the days of accepting mediocrity are numbered. With that in mind, what are you doing to ensure you aren’t a casualty in the War Against Mediocrity?