[DavidI]

John, as a supervisor, your job is to complete the mission- whatever that happens to be. By allowing consessions for one, the others will have to pick up the slack. It is not fair because the hard workers start getting dumped on. Like the saying goes, "If you want something done, give it to a busy guy. He'll get it done."

I would have a meeting with everyone and lay out your expectations. They should be high, but reachable. After the meeting, meet with the slacker and ask him if there is anything that you can do to raise his work performance. There may be something going on at home that may be impacting his work performance. I believe that an individual's work performance is a direct reflection of their home life.

An example of this was I recently transferred into a new supervisory position. I was given the scoop on all of the employees by the outgoing supervisor. I take the information with a grain of salt and try to make my own assessment after I have been at a place awhile. This alleviates the personality conflicts that may have tainted the judgment of the outgoing supervisor. I was told by the outgoing supervisor that one particular employee had begun slacking off 6 months prior. He was showing up to work late and seemed unfocused. The outgoing supervisor was at wits end, but never confronted the employee. My style is much different from the outgoing guy and I wanted to talk to the employee and see if there was something going on. The employee told me that his wife of 20 years was recently diagnosed with cancer. The reason the employee was late was because he was taking the kids to school and taking his wife to medical appointments. We adjusted his hours and he became one of the best employees!

Before you rush to judgment, you may want to meet with the employee and see if there is something that may be obstructing him.

Good luck, David