How to deal with employees with a sense of entitlement
- Published on 15 Jul 2015
- Niteske Marshall
Are you noticing a growing sense of entitlement among your staff? You know that feeling from employees that they have the right to have, do or get exactly what they want?
There seems to be a steadily increasing consensus among employers and managers right now that employees are becoming more and more entitled.
Is this just part of the human condition and ‘entitled’ behaviour simply manifests whenever circumstances allow, or is it a phenomenon specific to the younger generation that is now entering the workplace? I’m not sure, but what I do know is that as a business manager, I intensely dislike this employee trait.
In the workplace, entitlement appears as a narcissistic mindset that is overly concerned with how that person’s individual needs or wants can be met with seemingly little concern for making a contribution to the organisation. This is not the same as an employee with a specific, valid complaint, which employers and managers would do good to make the time to listen to.
No, entitled employees are usually a minority group within the workforce that thrives on bemoaning the company and telling this to all who are prepared to listen. Generally, this negative sentiment stems from employees having unrealistic expectations in the first place. And because it is impossible for you to meet every entitled person’s list of unrealistic expectations, this ‘you owe me’ attitude inevitably results in unhappy employees.
Once a serious case of entitlement has been identified (normally through an associated bad attitude), it cannot be ignored. This behaviour will not go away on its own, and will spread to like-minded individuals within the company.
So, how do you address it? You need to have a specific conversation with the employee in which you encourage them to open up to what is bothering them. This could be initiated with the question: ‘I’ve noticed you don’t seem as enthusiastic as you’ve been in the past and (if applicable) that you’re not performing at your full potential at the moment. Is there something specific that’s wrong that you’d like to talk about? Is there anything I can help you with?’
If the employee is evasive and not interested in discussing their concerns, they could well be disengaged to the point of no return. However, most employees value the opportunity being offered and willingly share their feelings as well as their all-important expectations of the company.
Where valid concerns are raised, acknowledge these and take the necessary actions to address them. Outside of these genuine issues, the other points raised will most likely be born out of the person’s entitlement mentality and be based on their unrealistic expectations. In such instances, use the menu analogy to help the employee understand their position and the options available to them.
The menu analogy is a simple tool: every restaurant has a menu, clearly listing the dishes available to you as the patron. If you don’t like what’s on the menu, you have two options – make the best of what is available to you, or go eat somewhere else.
Share the analogy with the staff member. Explain that their experience as an employee at a certain company is similar to that of a patron at a specific restaurant, and they should focus on what is on the menu rather than allowing themselves to feel frustrated by what isn’t. If they feel the company truly has nothing to offer them, they need to reconsider if they still want to work there or wouldn’t be better off working somewhere else. This should give the entitled employee something to think about and help shift their perspective.
Beyond that, assuming that entitlement is a feature of the 20-something generation, we can only hope that a few more years of reality will make a difference.
