Leaders value individuals who will step up to the plate and provide support to complete a project or meet a deadline. Organizations value and need these people. But lurking among them are individuals who wear the disguise of a supporter or helper, but who are in fact "organizational martyrs."
Organizational martyrs are employees who believe they must do everything because no one else can do it as well as them. They tend to volunteer for tasks, and then complain about how much work they have to do. Martyrs may not take vacations or may come into work sick because they believe "the place will fall apart without them." Martyrs spend hours of their day telling people how much work they have to complete, and then complain about working late or having to take work home to finish. Organizational martyrs are comfortable being victims, and behavior changes will not occur unless they are presented with a compelling reason.
Organizational martyrs are bad for business. These individuals may get things done, but their attitudes, comments and general dispositions can cause friction among the team. When team members constantly hear about how overburdened they are, or how “no one else will step in and help,” it impacts the morale and production of the team.
Up-and-coming leaders within the organization may view organizational martyrs as the prototypes for success. Employees who do not work closely with the organizational martyr may believe that adopting their behavior is what is necessary for climbing the ladder within the organization. High-potential employees may either shy away from leadership roles or leave the organization altogether, believing the path to success is paved in servitude to the company.
Organizational martyrs stifle creativity and tend to do things in the same way every time. Therefore, getting a martyr to think about how to approach situations in a new and different manner can be impossible. They thrive on the status quo to feed their toxic behavior. Organizational martyrs are not going to be the employees who strive for improvement, so if you are in desperate need of the next big idea or ways to reduce expenses, these employees are likely not going to provide solutions.
For the health of the organization as a whole, leaders must address the organizational martyr. How?
1. Recognize martyr-like behaviors, and stop them immediately. When you find employees complaining about a new assignment they begged to take on, or you hear an employee complaining about how much they have to do or how late they stayed the night before, you need to address the employee immediately. These individuals are doing nothing more than engaging in passive-aggressive behaviors.
Take the employee’s power away by telling them that you can reassign the project they asked for, or that you want them to make a personal commitment to be out of the office by 5 p.m. for the remainder of the month. If the employee can’t or won’t commit to these proposals, then you either have the wrong person in the wrong role, or the job has become too big for one person.
2. As the leader, it is your responsibility to set the tone for what is important with your team or work group. If work-life balance is important, you need to not only deliver this message, but display this message with your actions. By showing that leaders and managers are valued for what they produce and not how many hours they work, you will help to negate the message being sent by the martyr that one must be at work 24/7 in order to be successful.
3. Challenge the martyr to think in new and different ways. If you see that someone on your team is constantly staying late or complaining about their workload, ask about their ideas to improve processes or procedures. Tell them they are empowered to think of new and innovative ways to increase their level of efficiency. If the employee appears resistant to change during the conversation, continue to challenge them by asking for a written plan. This will force the martyr to reframe the situation and devote more of their energy to being more productive, rather than acting as a drain on the team’s productivity.
If the organizational martyr cannot or will not change, the leader is faced with two choices: tolerate the behavior or coach the employee out of the organization. A leader must assess the return on investment when working with team members, and technical competence is not a compelling reason to retain someone who is toxic to the team or the organization.
