October 2024 Part 5: People who say "I'm busy" don't actually work as much
Corporate managers must be wary of subordinates who constantly claim to be busy. Such people often only appear busy when their boss is watching, and slack off when their boss is not looking. They may just want a raise and are showing off how busy they are because they want money. Or they may want to say bad things about others and try to please you, the boss, in order to bring them down.
In any case, as a manager, you need to be very vigilant and wary when your subordinates keep saying, "I'm busy."
Just because a subordinate complains that they are busy, it is not necessarily a good idea to reduce their workload. People who complain about being busy will also complain if they have less work. In other words, the problem is not being busy, but that the subordinate wants to complain about something.
It is not necessarily a good idea to increase the salary of a subordinate just because he or she complains about being busy. It is a good idea to increase the salary of a subordinate who contributes to the company's performance. The more a subordinate contributes to the company's performance, the more valuable the subordinate is. However, if you increase the salary of a subordinate who appeals to his or her superiors by saying "I'm busy," then the subordinate who appeals to his or her superiors will be treated more favorably. In fact, that subordinate may just be creating unnecessary work and making himself or herself busy unnecessarily.
Even if your subordinate complains that they are busy, don't immediately believe their badmouthing of a colleague. The subordinate may dislike another subordinate and want to bring that person down, so they want you to hear badmouthing and slander. Subordinates who badmouth their colleagues are often harmful. If a subordinate badmouths a colleague, there is a high possibility that there is a problem with both the subordinate who said it and the colleague.
Managers need to be careful and wary of subordinates who always say, "I'm busy." People who say, "I'm busy," don't actually do much work. Rather, there is something hidden beneath the superficial words "busy," such as dissatisfaction with work or salary, discord with colleagues, jealousy, and other organizational problems.
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