From one meeting to another, family business owners all grumble on the huge “headaches” they have with staff members. In many instances, these so called “headaches” are because they are finding it increasingly difficult to persuade staff members on how they can work better, be more efficient, improve their performance or be better team players. Many employers are actually “afraid” of tackling subjects related to improving performance with their team members, not to have anyone resign their post and leave the company. This ultimately starts a dangerous loop of what I call “performance erosion” where lower levels of performance constantly permeate the company culture and become a new accepted norm. So how can employers communicate effectively and persuade team members on the need to improve their performance and become more efficient?

As I have written in some other Blog Article, we generally have 3 ways of persuading others. These are logos (logic), ethos (credibility) or pathos (emotions). So we can persuade others, eithers by researching facts and building a logical argument OR by using your credibility OR by tapping into someone’s emotions. Click HERE to refresh your memory on these 3 generic ways to influence others.

However beyond the above generic ways to influence people, one has to also consider the particular characters one is dealing with, whereby with each type of character one would need to use different types of persuasive tactics. Below are some of the common characters I meet when I deal with people from various businesses. The below will likely cover the majority of character types that business owners would have to deal with, when trying to persuade a staff or team member.

The Narcissist: I chose this as first character type not by coincidence. I constantly see narcissists everywhere I go, especially in top positions. Narcissists tend to have an unrealistic, exaggerated positive views of themselves. They tend to be preoccupied with their own power and charisma. They love being praised and tend to have little or no empathy for others. When trying to influence a narcissist, there are two clear challenges. First, they will very likely get rather angry if you dare in any way hint or challenge their competence. So be cautious in suggesting that they need to change the way they operate or that may require help in any way. Second, narcissists have little or no empathy for others, so using others as examples will not cut it. To influence them, narcissists need to be persuaded that your suggested change will affect them and their reputation in a positive way. When they make an obvious mistake or you want to correct the way they operate, please make sure you confront them in a private meeting and explain to them that by not changing, their present behaviour or performance is a likely threat to their reputation. This is a high-risk situation but is likely your only chance to influence them. If you are persuasive, you will get a positive response, and the narcissist may respect you more. But if you fail, they are likely to get angry at you for daring to discuss their competence and performance.

The Herd players: Any business will always have individuals that are typically afraid to speak their mind. They are likely the ones constantly complaining privately but when confronted by anyone senior to them, they just never have the courage to publicly say what they have been grumbling about privately. Hence, they will never speak their mind out of fear that they might stand alone. Hence, to persuade such persons, it is a simple case of influencing other key persons to build a coalition of any change you want to push through. Once such persons realise that several others are backing this change they will quickly align themselves. Should they still have some concerns, the best way is to hold a private meeting to address their concerns. It should be enough.

The ones with the winning side: Many persons are very concerned with their own status because it has a direct effect on their ability to influence and persuade others. Be careful about any employee who may feel empowered as he/she is very close to top managers, owners or directors. They are the ones that tend to speak more than others in meetings, even if they are not well prepared, and getting them to admit they are mistaken or that they need to improve, can be hard. Rather than trying to get them to change their mind on any specific issue, it would be far better to frame all discussions as new ideas. Such persons are easily persuaded to change, adapt or improve if they know that this will bring them further approval from top managers.

The Over Confident: These are those who feel that they do not need to focus on improving themselves. They feel overconfident that they not require the time and application others need for them to improve. Ultimately, they believe that they have the knowledge, wits or skills to manage a decent performance without much effort. Here you need to find time for side conversations with such persons to point out blatant facts (logos). Assuming they know these facts or are aware of them is a common mistake – they just do not. However, if you push the right buttons they are then motivated to look good in front of others. So invest some time with such persons to hand hold them to get their thinking right which in turns allows you to influence them.

The Cause Champions: There are always some team members who have a particular cause close to their heart. This is many times based on a close affinity to a particular group of colleagues, be it a department or close colleagues they work with. The best way to persuade these cause champions is by helping them recognize that the company’s success is also important for the department or close colleagues they work with. Thus, your role as a business owner or leader is to work with these cause champions to try to look for win-win opportunities for the company and the group. Start by showing that you value their concern about their particular group but explain to them that focusing on the short-, medium-, and long-term impact of decisions requires a wider context view and that no one group can always benefit more or at the expense of others.

Influencing team members has become a fundamental skills for any business owners or leader. To do so you need to be aware of the type of persons you need to influence and plan how you can influence them, to maximise your chances of convincing them on what needs to be changed to improve their performance.

This topic of Persuasion will be dealt in great detail during my next upcoming Workshop entitled Navigating Workforce Management in a Constricted Labour Market. Click HERE to read about this workshop and to REGISTER.