Proverbs 22:13 “The sluggard says, ‘There’s a lion outside! I’ll be killed in the public square!’”

Principle: Lame excuses would make good material for “Candid Camera.”

I have heard some interesting excuses in my business. The book, Excuses, has 176 pages of them, but having “a lion outside” was not mentioned.

The wording of excuses is humorous. Here are some amusing samples from some automobile insurance accident reports.

            “Coming home I drove into the wrong driveway and hit a tree I don’t have.”

            “The guy was all over the road. I had to swerve a number of times before I hit him.”

            “I was on my way to the doctor’s office with rear-end trouble when my universal joint gave way, causing me to have an accident.”

            “The pedestrian had no idea which direction to go, so I ran over him.”

These excuses have no direct connection to laziness, but lazy people have a variety of excuses.

Be wary of employees with a blaming attitude, failure to take personal responsibility for not getting the work done, or chronic tardiness. Deal with these problems directly in a timely way.

Lower the risk during the hiring process by talking to references, asking the good questions, or testing. Be a good listener during the interview to detect these attitudes. Have standards clearly stated in the employee manual. Allow new-hires time to read the manual. Hold to the standards. Be precise on deadlines and keep good records in personnel files so that you can accurately review job performance or terminations.

Practice all the good management and HR procedures you know.

Discussion:

1. What is an unusual excuse you have heard?

2. In an ideal world, how would you deal with silly excuses?

3. Are you inclined to smile, give some slack, ask for the truth or insist on the truth?