1-25-10 Shoulda Told Me #5

Ah, the age of entitlement…… Time to go down the "shoulda told me" bunny trail again.

Some years back, I had one shop area that had recently undergone an analysis of the work performed relative to the job descriptions and grades assigned to the employees. For the most part, it seemed as though everything and everyone aligned. There was, however, one job where the work that the employees were doing did not match well with the grades assigned to the various employees. This spurred a review of all employees in that job code. As a result, there was a significant realignment of employees within the job code -- not only in my factory area, but also across the division.

Because of that activity, some employees had a grade increase and some employees had a grade decrease. Since wages were tied to the grade, you can imagine the furor that caused.

I learned many management lessons from that episode, but the one that sticks out in my mind just now is illustrated by one employee’s comments (or rant, depending on your point of view).

This employee, along with his union rep, stopped me in the factory one day. The employee proceeded to vocally tell me how unhappy he was with the grade change. He just couldn’t believe that after all the years he had given the Company, that we would take away his grade. After all, he told me more than once, he was ENTITLED to it!

Someone shoulda told me that there are people out there that feel they don’t have to earn something --- that they are entitled to it because of longevity or other factors!

I guess that I already knew that, but it wasn’t something that I espoused or lived, so I naively believed that others had the same ethic I did. Sheesh, was I wrong.

I’ve pretty much had to earn everything I’ve gotten. When I was 16, no one walked up and handed me the keys to a car -- I had to earn it. When I was in school, no one walked up and offered me an A in a class -- I had to earn it. And when I was working, no one walked up and offered me a promotion. You guessed it, I had to earn it.

And you know what? That is just fine with me. I feel my best when I feel that I’ve truly earned something. So I find it hard to understand and deal with people that feel they should have something because they are entitled to it. To me, that is just WRONG.

So how did I deal with the upheaval that the grade changes caused? Well, it goes back to treating people fairly. (1-11-10 What is Your People Policy?) For many, I worked to change their jobs so that the work being performed was descriptive of the higher grade. Once they were reliably performing the new work, I was able to get them re-promoted. In my mind, they earned it. They took on new responsibilities and demonstrated capability.

But for others, I had to explain that they didn’t have the skills or abilities to perform the higher grade work --- regardless of their tenure with the Company. I stressed that they weren’t entitled to any special consideration. And they could continue on in the current job/grade, or perhaps it was time for them to move on to other opportunities -- outside the Company. Sound cold of me? Maybe. But I had to be fair to them and, as importantly, the people around them by truthfully letting those employees know how they stood. No false hopes or promises.

You know, being an executive isn’t always fun. Having those conversations was difficult. But it had to be done.

But mostly, my lesson learned was that I wouldn’t/couldn’t reward that entitlement mentality. That I had to reward those that earned it, by learning new skills and demonstrating their proficiency.

So remember, “they” don’t owe you anything. You have to EARN it!

Cheers!