Coaching Staff Who Are Chronically Late to Work

By Rose O. Sherman, EdD, RN, NEA-BC, FAAN

Recently in a leadership development session, a manager presented the problem of a highly competent nurse who is often late to work. She told the group that she did counseling and when it worked – it was only for a short period of time. Her dilemma is that the employee involved is one of her best nurses who gives 100% of herself when she is on duty. She had discussed the impact of the lateness with the nurse along with the potential short and long-term consequences. To the manager, the behavior seemed self-sabotaging and she could not understand why it continued. Why couldn’t the nurse fix it by giving herself more time to get to work. She began to wonder if the behavior was passive-aggressive.

This manager’s frustration is understandable but there are other factors in play when the behavior of staff member does not change. It is very likely that this nurse is stressed by her own behavior. Given the amount of stress their lateness causes them, one would think that she would take steps to improve her time management and stop the perennial battle with the clock. Researchers at the Neuroleadership Institute (NLI) contend that awareness alone can’t effect a change in behavior because of something psychologists call the “intention-implementation gap.” Sometimes it’s also known as the “knowing-doing gap.” In repeated studies, scientists have found little to no correlation between a person’s intention to do something and their actually doing it. NLI’s research around behavior change has shown that there are two other components that must be present to effect behavioral change. These are new habits and different systems.

When coaching a staff member who is chronically late, the first step is to identify their blindspots such as underestimating how much time things actually take. A good coaching approach would be to have her walk through her commute to the office step by step including what time she leaves and when she arrives.

Once any blind spots are identified, then the second step is to focus on specific behaviors that contribute to lateness and need to be changed. The behaviors around lateness can become ingrained habits that are hard to break. It could be that this nurse does not want to arrive early and times it too close to the margin to avoid that from happening. While some individuals see being early as a virtue, many others don’t. I was a Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellow and the motto of our program leader was that “to be on time is to be late.” The behavior of being early was a strong value in the program. A new behavior to implement would be to plan to arrive 15 minutes early each shift and get coffee before the day begins.

The final step is that faulty systems that the nurse is using to plan her schedule need to be discussed along with ideas to strategically change them. It may be that the nurse has challenges waking up with a current alarm system. It could be that the transportation used to get to work is not reliable and needs to be reconsidered. It might be that she tries to cram too many activities in her schedule before she comes to work – like getting gas for the car or taking a morning run that never ends on time.

Great nurses need to understand that habitual lateness can be a career derailer. Although 10-15 minutes may not seem like a big deal, the act of walking in late regularly is viewed as unprofessional and excuses will not change that perception. So instead of placing all the focus on the problem, coach the nurse around the behaviors and systems that lead them to the problem. Work like life is after all – a series of habits.

Read Rose Sherman’s new book available now – The Nurse Leader Coach: Become the Boss No One Wants to Leave