What do you do if your team members are resistant to development and mentoring efforts?

Being reluctant to change is common. Facing uncertainty by stepping out of your comfort zone is a completely normal reaction in front of the unknown. At the same time, becoming stagnant or losing motivation with your daily activities and short-term accomplishments can also lead to frustration and becoming disconnected from your duties at work. As a manager, it is important to provide help and provide tailored support to each team member during their career steps. Understanding how conservative or how progressive they truly are and obtain an optimal balance to continue growing.

First, understand why your team is resistant. Communicate the benefits of development clearly and tailor plans to fit their needs. Lead by example and provide support and resources. Address any concerns and celebrate successes. Hold them accountable but be supportive. Lastly, be patient and persistent in promoting growth.

Know and understand the reasons for the resistance, and encourage the team to build on teamwork and united efforts, emphasizing the values and benefits of working together. Also making sure that each voice of the team members has equal weight.

The why is the crucial to any behavior we are trying to adjust as leaders. “Why does said employee consistently show up late?” “Why is the VP Such a weasel?” (I suppose Some answers we’ll never know) Maybe the employee has trouble sleeping, maybe they just really don’t care about their career and are simply collecting a paycheck while sucking the life out of their peers and management. Regardless, gaining insight into an employees behavior is necessary in order to make adjustments.

Whenever we work with adults, we have to a) understand and b) respect their point of view and preferences regarding help, support, training, mentoring and much more. On the other hand, it is necessary for managers and Team members to move forward. So why not offering a broad variety of development opportunities and let them choose! Treat people like they are great and you give them every chance!

A quality leader should understand their personnel and how they appreciate being approached. If you are new to leadership, and are benign to the fact that we all learn, respond, and process in our own ways: maybe it’s time to step back and take my leadership course DC101. In this course you will be taught the basic learning styles and how ones environment may may dictate reaction. In very lame man terms: this is crucial to changing behavior in a nonconformist. No, i don’t have a leadership course and no AI doesn’t write for me ;)

The good ol’ attitude adjustment… Now this is usually my last approach because i tend to be a very respectful and peaceful leader who doesn’t struggle to gain respect. However, I have only managed roughly 60-70 individuals in the last 10 years so it could be a lack of experience but every once in a a while you must demonstrate being an alpha, but only once in a blue moon if it is justified. Now take it easy Stone cold, while do this, one must still remain professional. No cursing, yelling, or any slight of disrespect. It is probably best if it is directed at a team an not one individual because nobody likes baby tears. In all seriousness this is the last approach I or anyone should take but if all else fails, try it.

At times, hesistancy comes from the pride that people have over their qualifications. To be competent as a researcher you need to dedicate hours and days to learning the particular craft behind a particular method of data collection, management and analysis. I have typically found that once a team member is competent in a technical area, they become engrossed in it to the extent of tacitly rejecting exploring areas for development and mentoring. They reject these efforts from a point of 'authority'. In order to avoid this the organization needs to make sure to hire a diverse set of individuals with different skill sets, technologies in competence and experiences.

How’s your timing? Have you been running lean and all hands on deck putting in major efforts through a crisis phase and then whoops, we have an HR KPI to tick off by EOFY? It can come across as insincere to urge people onto any random tiddly course on a deadline. Show respect for people’s own development goals and also to strategic gaps