The co-worker or subordinate that is a slacker is a large problem in any entity. These are the people that started early with the "Dog ate my homework" routine and have been at it ever since. We need your input on such problems. Please send us, or leave on the Tip Line (678-201-9575), your anecdotes, success stories, pleas for help, suggestions to solve pleas for help and so forth. We'll keep them anonymous.

"I am not trained for the task you are asking me to do. I have no interest in being trained." If you get a response anything like this, it is time for a heart-to-heart talk with your slacker. First, your organization may have a policy that those which don't grow don't stay. If this is the case, it is a fairly easy conversation and you start documentation for dismissal.

If you do not have such a policy, ask the person if they are going to be content with cost of living raises, as defined by your company, for the rest of their life. For it is fairly simple, if one is doing exactly the same things ten years from now that they are doing today, cost of living adjustments are their only reward.