How to help your staff overcome complacency

1. Viewpoint

"People rest on their laurels and never notice that they're losing ground. I don't know how many times I've seen very talented people get short-changed on a promotion or new job because they rested on their laurels. They think that because they're doing a great job, it should be obvious to the people who control their future that they deserve success. This is a most dangerous type of complacency…

Paul Austin, the late chairman of Coca-Cola, once told me: 'The worst thing that can happen to a CEO is to enjoy his company's position in the marketplace - especially if it's the dominant position. Anytime you become content with where you are, then that's like issuing a corporate decree to stand still."

2. Don't forget

Most people are more comfortable with old problems than with new solutions.

3. Here's an idea

Perhaps your employees are no longer quite clear about what you or the organisation expects of them. If so, and if it has been quite some time since you clarified your expectations and stand-ards, maybe now is the time. In this way you attack the foundations of complacency by depriving employees of the excuse that they didn’t know what you require of them. …