Some team members play a limited but important role, performing repetitive tasks at a high level.
They show up, do their work, and go home. They have no desire for more responsibility.
They lack the leadership skills and ambition to move up. They are steady hands doing a hard job that many others don’t want to do.
They are worker bees. The organization can’t exist or excel without them.
These hard workers typically get overlooked, passed over, and taken for granted.
They serve an important function for the team or organization, but often resist learning new skills and adapting to workplace changes.
Over time, they sometimes become second-class citizens in the swirl of promotions, advancements, and strategic changes.
They sit on the sidelines, watching the organization evolve, while performing repetitive, often monotonous tasks.
Because these worker bees are highly engaged with their work but disengaged from the pace of change and evolution of the organization, they are often excluded from conversations and discussions that define the future.
Leaders sometimes fear that these workers dilute the enthusiasm and momentum needed for change.
Leaders also worry about whether the team members are satisfied with running in place.
The worker bees sometimes express a desire to get involved, but normally retreat to what they know and do best.
Over time, as their compensation increases with marketplace calibrations, they become more expensive than younger workers who can do the same tasks.
At some point, leaders face a choice: replace the worker bee with fresh talent or reward their loyalty and consistency by overcompensating them.
Approaching the issue as purely a cost problem underplays the institutional knowledge these workers bring to the team.
Treating them as fungible resources that can be replaced or upgraded risks damaging the morale and spirit of the team.
They are likely deeply interwoven into the relationship network of the organization.
On the other hand, overpaying these workers relative to the market isn’t rational or fair to others.
Their expectations naturally rise with the success of the organization.
So, they normally extract more benefits, support, and resources than new hires.
This can drain finances needed for other areas. So, how do the best leaders and organizations resolve this dilemma?
They require worker bees to use their wings — to learn new skills and own the processes — or to be replaced after a set time.
Gradually, they incorporate judgment into their daily execution, setting priorities and improving processes they run.
Leaders involve them in every facet of team change, treating them as valued colleagues with opinions that matter.
They won’t allow them to just run in place and go home.
They don’t have to lead teams, but they must own team problems and work diligently to fix them. In other words, they must continually increase their contribution, just like everyone else on the team.
When this occurs, they stop being worker bees.
Those who can’t step up will eventually price themselves out of a job.
This can take several years, but it should never surprise anyone. Growth determines increased compensation, and without it, they are susceptible to replacement. T
he best organizations refuse to create second-class citizens.
Good leaders always ask team members to do more. The opportunity to grow is essential for all team members.
The best leaders insist on it.
