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Our managers make the tough or unpopular decision when necessary. This dilemma is at the heart of our adaptive management philosophy. When should a manager defer to the collective wisdom of others and when should he or she go with his or her personal best judgment, given what is known at the time? Our managers’ solution is fairly simple. They always go with the collective wisdom of others unless they believe very strongly the other people are wrong. It is not enough to believe they are right. They have to also clearly believe that others are wrong. Having made this decision, they may still go with the collective wisdom if they believe the consequences will not be excessively problematic or can be reversed, if necessary. Others might be right; and even if they are not, their empowerment entitles them to their turn at bat, so to speak. On those few occasions when our managers clearly believe they are right and others are wrong and the consequences of going with their recommendations would be very negative and not reversible, our managers do what they have to do. They have only one responsible choice. They can handle employees’ being unhappy or upset with them at times. Our managers cannot accept failing to do what they know needs done. Even more to the point, they cannot accept failing to manage.
Our managers give employees clear, frequent, and accurate feedback. They are as quick to tell them what they have done right as they are to tell them what they have done wrong. Importantly, though, managers are also as quick to tell employees what they have done wrong as they are to tell them what they have done right. Equal attention is given to both. This requires a very sensitive balance. Finding and keeping the balance is based on taking it for granted that our employees are trying to do a good job. They do not intentionally make mistakes or perform below their abilities. Employees consciously and intentionally give the little extra to move good work into the excellent category. Their commitment to excellence is a major reason why they are our employees.
The real issue here is criticism. Our managers praise publicly and only criticize in private. They also are very careful to assure their criticism is an exact fit with the problem or issue, not overdoing it or under doing it. Criticism, no matter how well it is managed, introduces a negative element into a fast-moving, stressful environment. The effect is the employee who is criticized – as well as anyone who is coincidentally in the immediate environment – becomes apprehensive and less productive, at least for the moment. Criticism is always temporarily counterproductive. For this reason, our managers are quick to praise but very cautious when criticizing anyone, for any reason. They know providing constructive and effective criticism is a delicate management area. If the feedback is inappropriate or excessive, the employee may overreact or withdraw, and the outcome is often worse than the original problem. If criticism is not forthcoming when it is appropriate or is not focused enough, the problem or issue persists and likely will get worse. Getting criticism right is critical for our managers.
There is an additional dimension further complicating the matter. Our performance standards increase over time. Yesterday’s acceptable performance levels are under continuous review and may not be acceptable today. Employees who have performed adequately in the past may have the same quality of work criticized and judged unacceptable today. They find they have shifted from valued employees to marginal performers. At a minimum, the bar is constantly being raised and higher levels of performance are expected. The possible result is that an employee has to leave our organization. If this happens, other members then become anxious about whether they might be next. Because of this anxiety, any criticism must be managed very carefully and judiciously.
The major requirement here is that our manager must be a good teacher. Further, all incidents or situations potentially leading to criticism are redefined as teaching opportunities. Our managers seldom criticize. It is just too dangerous. Instead, they know how and when to teach and are careful to never miss a teaching opportunity.
The key here is in understanding the nature of the teaching opportunities. The most common prompt for these types of teaching opportunities stems from an inadequacy in work or work performance. The employee’s performance is not up to the expected level in one or more areas. Dealing with this is fairly easy. The appropriate manager simply sits with the employee to discuss the inadequacies and to develop a mutually agreed on plan for correcting them. This may mean more training, more attention to detail, connecting with a mentor, or anything else to reasonably get the valued employee from here to there. Our manager sets specific dates for activities, for evaluation of progress, as well as for having the deficiency corrected.
The rare and more serious challenge is if the employee either cannot or will not do what is expected or continues unacceptable behavior after having been warned. There must not be any delay. It is unfair to the employee to put off confronting the issue. Further, avoiding doing what needs done gives the employee the impression there is no problem. Do today’s work today, even if it is uncomfortable or potentially unpleasant. The task only becomes more uncomfortable and unpleasant if it is postponed until tomorrow.
When our managers do confront this type of issue, they say My problem is…. – They are quite specific. – You either will not or cannot do what we expect. If you cannot, we will talk about it. If you will not, there is nothing to discuss further. You cannot remain with us. If the employee feels capable and our manager agrees, our manager and our employee develop a plan to correct the problem. If the employee feels incapable, our manager reassigns him or her to other responsibilities, if possible. If the conclusion is that the employee has to leave, our manager makes the
arrangements, giving as much consideration to the individual’s needs and circumstances as possible. The employee is still a valued person, even though his or her employment with us is terminated. People in this situation are entitled to the same level of humanity and respectful treatment as they received while they were being recruited. Our adaptive Management Excellence basics still apply every day, every time, with everyone, no exceptions, no excuses.
People leaving the organization – for whatever reason – do so in the way that works best for them. As they disengage, some people behave and relate as they always have. There is no change. For others, their behavior and pattern of relating noticeably change. They have their own way of separating. So long as they do their work, contain their behavior within acceptable limits, and do not disrupt the functioning of the organization, it’s important to support their style of leaving. Tolerance, flexibility, and understanding are still important as people leave. They continue to be valued and deserve our respect and consideration, no exceptions, no excuses.
Now you know, so there you go. If you are the perfect employee who we aspire to hire, we hope you choose to join us; but please only come aboard if you believe working with us will be the perfect home base for you and your unique talents. We are only interested in hiring folks who share our commitment to excellence in all we do, no exceptions, no excuses.