I spoke a few days ago at Towson University and during the Q&A session, one of the students asked me a very important question. He asked me “How do I deal with people that are complacent?” Which to be honest, threw me a little bit. Complacency is something I do not like much because it means that someone is comfortable with where they are at. The reason this is something I do not like is partly because of the Army. While I was in the army it was instilled in all of us to never be complacent. This is because in the context of the army if you become complacent, you feel comfortable enough to not worry about what the enemy will do.

What I realized is that in the civilian or business world, complacency is almost the same just without the same level of risk. Complacency means that you have become too comfortable and have now put yourself at risk to whoever has more desire for growth than you do and because you are comfortable, you won’t even see it coming.

The way that I would define complacency in employees is when an employee is complacent they are satisfied and comfortable with the way things are progressing and do not want to take initiative to would make themselves or the business better. This type of employee exists when there is a false sense of security and misplaced comfort, which as I am sure that you can tell could be detrimental to the overall functioning of the team.

I also did the due diligence and found the definition by the Merriam-Webster Dictionary as “self-satisfaction especially when accompanied by unawareness of actual dangers or deficiencies”.

The mindset of complacency is rooted in the belief that an organization is on the leading edge of success without ensuring that it is. An employee feels like they don’t have to work harder because the company is in a comfortable place. I am a firm believer that there is always room for improvement no matter how good things may seem, there is always room for a business to grow and always room for an individual to grow.

You can go to our website to watch our video about complacency and find out more about us, how we can help your business overcome complacency in the workspace, and find ways we can help you and your business be better and do better!

Schedule a call with us to find out how to eliminate complacency in your business!