Not Giving a Crap Makes a Gigantic Difference

You've worked with them, for them and above them. You've been upset, exasperated and, probably, irate. I'm discussing individuals who just don't give a crap. I'm talking about employees who go to work just to go to work, people who are not invested in the company's future or in their own personal success.

These are people who are indifferent. These are individuals who just don't give a (fill in the blank).

What Situations Can the Indifferent Person Cause?

One study discovered that 40% of Americans are indifferent about their jobs. That's a startling statistic. 40% of American employees just don't give a crap. Another well-known survey found that 68% of people stopped doing business with a company because of just one employee's perceived indifference toward them. It may not have even been real indifference, just 'perceived' indifference.

So let me ask you this: do you have even one employee that could be 'perceived' as indifferent?

Customers remember how they were treated. They tell their friends how they were treated. And, nowadays, they tell all of their LinkedIn connections, and Twitter followers how they were treated. It does not matter whether it was a receptionist that treated them badly, a front-line customer service worker or the VP of Finance. If a client was treated poorly that client will not forget it. Period.

The bottom line is: only one indifferent worker, team member (and it's a fair bet you have one or two if 40% of American workers are indifferent) will permanently damage your image and your business.

Recognize the Situation

So, maybe you realize that you have an indifferent worker. Now, you need to determine why that person does not give a crap. Is it an individual employee situation or a company-wide culture situation?

Specific Employee Situation

If merely 5% to 10% of your team member are jerks to customers, sound irritated or busy when they pick up the phone, or simply aren't getting the job done; chances are…you probably have an individual worker issue. So, how do you remedy it?

1 - Feedback - Feedback isn't a summary of who the person is and how the employee is messing up; nor, is it positive or negative; rather, feedback is facts. That's it. What are the facts? How do they sell on the phone? Are they mean to clients? What is the tone of their voice exuding when they speak to clients? (Interestingly, many managers fire someone if they are repeatedly tardy to the office, fewer bosses will fire someone if they repeatedly answer the phone with poor tone and utter rudeness.)

2 - Begin a Roadmap of Follow-up and Training - We are a sales and customer service optimitics company, which means we offer sales and customer service managementthat optimizes performance, but we also offer actual phone call recording and scoring. Training (ours or anyone else's) is just minimally effective if it's not accompanied by phone recording, phone scoring, and on-going training. This demands accountability. The same is true of your indifferent employee.

3 - Fire Them - Following formal and informal reviews, follow-ups, coaching and feedback, the employee is still in a state of not giving a crap, provide that employee with a chance to see if they will care more about another set of responsibilities. In other words: fire their butt!

Large Culture Issue

This issue is more worrisome. It means there is a systemic problem in your organization. Perhaps you aren't very proficient at hiring worker. Perhaps your culture doesn't encourage learning and education. Maybe your corporation does not have a focus or a mission. Could your workers repeat your corporate mission and vision statement? Do you even have one? Perhaps you don't even have goals?

When we work with corporations that are struggling with employees who don't give a crap, they all have one thing in common: these companies generally don't have any sort of ongoing coaching or training program. There is no opportunity for team member progress or learning. And what happens when you have workers who aren't progressing and growing? You bet, you guessed it: indifference.

Jack Welch, the former CEO of GE said the said, "An organization's ability to learn is the ultimate competitive advantage." In other words: learn and prosper. Businesses that train—whether it's customer service training, sales training, phone sales skills training or even technical training—win.

You will see indifference disappear if your company has a culture of learning, training and growing.

Progressing is the key to overcoming indifference.


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ContactPoint is the world leader in sales and customer service optimitics. Their patented technology records and scores live phone calls so businesses hear what their clients hear. For more information visit http://www.contactpoint.com or http://www.contactpoint.com/about-you/sell-with-power