4-19-10 Cleaning Out the Dead Wood

Springtime around my place means cleaning out the numerous flower beds of all the dead wood and debris from the winter. Hard, but satisfying, work to be sure. And it pays off over the course of the next few months with more productive and healthier plants.

The same can be said for your workforce. What? Yep, cleaning out the workforce is sometimes required. In fact, there are companies out there which mandate to their managers that they let go the bottom 10% of employees every year. No, I don’t recommend anything quite that draconian. But I have seen the benefits of identifying low-performing employees --- and then, if necessary letting them go.

A manager or executive has many difficult jobs. But perhaps the second-most difficult job is to sit down with an employee and tell him/her that they are not performing as expected. It is never an easy conversation. But you owe it to that employee to be forthright and honest about what you observe in their performance. And then you owe them the opportunity to improve. And finally you owe them your assistance on that improvement plan.

And if the improvement doesn’t happen, the executive’s most difficult job is to let that employee go. I don’t know if you have ever had to fire someone, but believe me, it is an extremely difficult task.

So why would you let someone go? Even if he/she wasn’t performing up to par, it just puts more work on the folks that are left behind, right? Well, yes, it probably does. But here is where one of the benefits come in…….

Look, everyone in your organization likely knew that this person wasn’t pulling his/her weight. And likely resented it. So when you suck it up and do the right thing by letting that person go, the people in your organization actually breath a sigh of relief. They recognize that you don’t have your head up somewhere and aren’t really oblivious to what is going on in the organization. And they will (at least silently) applaud your efforts. You’ll hear things like, “hey, she really IS paying attention to what is going on here”. And some will even thank you for getting rid of someone that is bringing down the whole organization.

Another benefit? You will likely fill that position, right? You’ll promote someone else into the job, and give their career a boost. Or you’ll hire someone off the street, infusing new life and ideas into your organization.

So no, cleaning out the dead wood isn’t easy. But in the long run, your organization (and your garden) will be better off for the effort.

Cheers!

2-20-10 Tiger and His Apology

We all saw Tiger Woods apologize today. I know, some of you don’t care, but the fact is, it DOES matter to many people. For me, I’ve always felt that it was none of my business what he (or any other public figure) does in his personal life. But….. There all things that we, as executives, can learn from his debacle. Some of which I’ve mentioned here before, but all of which bear repeating.

First, apologize when you hurt someone. Fortunately, most of us won’t ever have to do it in front of the cameras like Tiger just did. But the fact is, there will be times in our lives that we have to apologize for our behavior. Part of the apology is making sure that you clearly take the blame --- and not shifting it to others. Tiger was perhaps a bit late with his apology (at least in public). Apologies are always better served early rather that late.

Second, no one is entitled to anything. Let me repeat that, we ARE NOT entitled to anything (1-25-10 Shoulda Told Me #5). Tiger admitted that he had gone beyond playing by the rules, feeling that he was entitled to live the life he had created. He is certainly paying the price now. Granted, most people don’t always play by the rules. Yep, I’m guilty of that too. The difference is that successful executives are VERY careful as to which rules they flout. And, they work diligently to change the rules that are stupid, or useless, or outdated.

Third, your private life is never quite as private as you think it is. For Tiger and for many executives there is a constant blurring of the line between private and public lives. There is a very fine line between the two (2-10-10 A Fine Line), where your personal or private life will ultimately reflect on your public life.

As a corollary, I have been impressed by Tiger’s attempt to shield his family from the public glare. He is absolutely right, his wife and kids shouldn’t have to suffer the public scrutiny because of his mistakes or even because of his success. For the executive, how many of you have drug your spouse to events because “it must be done”? Sure, there are times when our families need to participate in our professional lives. But remember, your career is your choice, not theirs.

Fourth, Tiger demonstrated that it is okay to get help. Whether it is a professional, structured program or friends or your pastor or your spouse, it doesn’t matter. What matters is reaching out to someone that can give you perspective and, if necessary, the whack upside the head. (2-8-10 Shoulda Told Me #6).

Fifth, Tiger talked about seeking balance in his life, between the public, the private, the spiritual, etc. As a public figure or as an executive, this is a difficult task to do. But with balance between our jobs, our home, our church, our volunteerism, our school, etc., we will truly are better people to be around. (2-17-10 Balance)

And finally, you have to have a plan for the future. This is especially true for when you make a mistake. Perhaps Tiger was a little thin on his future plans in today’s press conference, but you could see the beginnings of his plan. And even when we aren’t working off a mistake, a vision/plan is still critical. As I’ve mentioned before, the skills related to setting a vision are the exclusive purview of the executive (1-8-10 I Have a Dream). This is not something that you can delegate to anyone else. And, having a plan applies in your personal life as well as your professional life.

Cheers!

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!