Category Archives: Accountability

Mr. Nice Guy

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

This is about the production supervisor for our company. He is generally well regarded by most of his subordinates, as easygoing, who tries to help his employees in any way he can. If a worker needs a small loan until payday, he digs into his pocket. If an employee needs some time off for a personal problem, he takes up the slack himself, doesn’t dock the time off.

At the last performance appraisal, one of his workers had experienced a large number of personal problems during the year. In the appraisal, he decided to do as much as possible to help. Although an average worker, he rated him outstanding in virtually every category. Because the firm’s compensation system is heavily tied to performance appraisal, this created a merit increase of 10% in addition to COLA.

The employee has acknowledged that his performance was no better than average, but didn’t hesitate to tell his friends about his wonderful boss.

What difficulties do you think this has created for the company? Is there anything that should be done to diminish any negative impacts?

Response:

For, now, I will leave this to our readers. Please post any comments you have using the link below. To read posted comments, follow this link to the website that supports this blog. This should be interesting. -TF

Just Say No!

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“You are right,” Byron continued. “The things that hurt us now are decisions we made a couple of years ago when times were good. It seemed like a good idea at the time. We didn’t think very hard about some of our bone-headed moves.”

“And, now?” I asked.

“And, now we have to get lean. Maybe really lean. It may get worse. We have to be able to take a couple more punches and still be able to maneuver, be able to take advantage of opportunities, but it’s difficult.”

“What is so difficult about it?”

“Well, now, everything has to be focused on a result. If it doesn’t produce a result, it has to go. It’s not pleasant. In many cases, we have to learn to say NO! So often, we try to figure out what TO do. Now we have to make decisions on what NOT to do.”
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Quick look ahead. Our next Leadership program begins in Fort Lauderdale on February 27 and on March 3 in Miami. Visit www.workingleadership.com.

Changing a Mindset

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Our next Leadership program kicks off Wednesday, January 9, in Fort Lauderdale. For registration, simply reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com.
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In response to yesterday’s post, about the Manager with problem employees rule-breaking behind his back.

I see three origins of this behavior.

  • Malicious, destructive rule breaking.
  • Lazy, non-compliant rule breaking, when the boss is not around.
  • Fun rule breaking, light hearted, poking fun at authority, when the boss is not around.

Here is one thing we understand.

The team members know the rules. People don’t break the rules without knowing the rules. So, this is not a training issue. This is a mindset issue, which is a bigger problem.

Changing a mindset rarely comes from the outside. A Manager cannot dictate that a person change a mindset. Those of you with children can attest. It simply does not work.

The solution will require a multiple set of meetings. I would recommend twice a week, 10 minutes per meeting. So, pick a Monday and Thursday, or Tuesday and Friday, first thing in the morning. As the Leader, simply ask these questions and flipchart the responses from your team. Keep your thoughts to yourself. Post the flipcharts in the break room and leave them there.

  • Meeting 1: How are we doing, working together as a team?
  • Meeting 2: What impact do we, as a team, have on the customer?
  • Meeting 3: In what way can we, as a team, have a more positive impact on the customer?
  • Meeting 4: What impact does our individual behavior have on the behavior of our other team members?
  • Meeting 5: In what way can we, as a team, have a positive impact, helping each other create a more positive customer experience?

The purpose of these meetings is to:

  • Get the team talking about behavior, not the manager talking about behavior.
  • Re-focus the energy of the team from misbehavior to customer focus.
  • Get the team to create its own accountability for behavior, even when the Manager is not around. -TF

Rule Breaking

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Our next Leadership program kicks off Wednesday, January 9, in Fort Lauderdale. For registration, simply reply to this email or visit www.workingleadership.com.
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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I am a young store manager of two and a half years with no previous managerial experience. Through this time, I have problem employees doing things behind my back, against the rules. I never have enough information to reveal the responsible person or the only information I get is confidential. Mostly, I do not have the time to be involved all day with rule breaking when I am not in the store. What can I do differently to improve this situation?

Response:

It is difficult to understand the nature of the rule breaking, so I can see three causes.

  • Malicious, destructive rule breaking, when your back is turned.
  • Lazy, non-compliant rule breaking, when the boss is not around.
  • Fun rule breaking, light hearted, poking fun at authority, when the boss is not around.

For your part, it probably doesn’t matter. If your boss was aware of the hijinks behavior, it would reflect poorly on you as the Manager. This is tricky, and the solution is likely counter-intuitive. Your efforts could easily backfire and make the situation worse.

So, let’s get some input from others. If you have a response for this dilemma, please post your comment below. If you would like to read the responses, just follow the link to today’s post. I will have some thoughts tomorrow. -TF

Speed in Essential Skills

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From the Ask Tom mailbag:

Question:

I manage a drafting department of 12 people and have been quite successful over the past 5 or 6 years in improving the quality of our work and the morale of our people.

I have a member of my team who has good skills but takes forever to get anything done. In my effort over the years to make him more productive I’ve afforded him the opportunity to become skilled at many different tasks, each time hoping that this would be the one that “clicked”. His production level, however, never improves even after the “learning curve” of any new skill is overcome.

I’m finally facing the fact that this guy will not ever make the shift from being a thinker to a doer. Letting him go is difficult for me though, since I’ve acted all this time as his “enabler”. I probably should have realized his limitations a lot sooner and avoided the situation that I’m in now, that being, having a multi-skilled individual who ironically has become a liability.

What’s your take on this?

Response:

Some people master a skill quickly; others may complete a task only after some hard work (which takes time). Your response (training him in many skills) to the amount of time for task completion may have been misguided, making matters worse, even slowing his production time.

1. Determine what you need this team member to do. This should be based on what the company needs from him. What is his role? Write this down. Instead of training him on many different tasks, focus on the essentials of his deliverables. Don’t create a role around him. Determine the role and determine his capability to fill that role.

2. Baseline evaluation of the “candidate.” This is a very serious conversation. You have had these conversations before, this one is different. Your prior conversations have been searching for something he might be good at. This conversation will focus on what the company needs from him in his role. This will be a focusing conversation. The next conversation will be your evaluation, after one day, of his baseline performance in that role.

3. Improvement metrics. Rather than looking to train him on many different skills, the focus should be on throughput speed in the essential deliverables the company needs from the role. Examine each step in the process that speeds him up or slows him down. We don’t need him to learn a whole bunch of other skills, we simply need to get him faster at the essential skills.

4. Evaluate his long term contribution. After a period of three weeks, as a manager, you will know whether his behavior is becoming more effective or staying the same. As his manager, it will be time for you to make a judgment. It will be time for you to make a decision. Is the candidate becoming more effective in the essential role that we have for him? This is a yes or no question.

5. If the answer is yes, then you have a contributing member. If the answer is no, inform your manager that you are de-selecting this person from your team. If your manager has another role which might be suitable, turn this person over to your manager for placement. If your manager has no other role, it is time to release this person to industry.

Every part of this should be explained to the candidate. There should be no secrets. The candidate should understand the consequences of underperformance. At the same time, underperformance does not make him a bad person. It is likely that he will be relieved that he can look for a position more appropriate to his speed level, rather than live in the shadow of underperformance and constant scrutiny. -TF

From Supervisor to Manager

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Our next Leadership program kicks off January 9, 2008. For registration information, visit www.workingleadership.com.
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“Do you know why you were promoted from supervisor to manager last year?” I asked.

“Because, I was the best darn supervisor the company had,” Melanie replied.

“And, being the best supervisor, what did you do that none of the other supervisors were able to do?”

“Oh, that was easy. I could see the future. I could tell when something was going to get screwed up, weeks ahead of time, and I could adjust the schedule to make sure we stayed productive. You know, if you reject some raw material because it’s out of spec, that means you have to shift some stuff around.”

“Yes, you were one of the best schedulers around.”

“What do you mean, were?” quizzed Melanie. “I still am.”

“Not exactly. Do you know why you were promoted from supervisor to manager last year?” -TF

Three Months Notice

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“This is all spilt milk, anyway,” Melanie snorted. “I know I have to buckle down, get out there, split up the work, then see if I can put an ad in the paper. I have gone through this before, third time this year.”

“I know,” I nodded. “I have read the exit interviews. Did you know that two of the three supervisors that left you this year had graduated from night school?”

Melanie’s eyes got wide. “Well, I knew they were going to school at night.”

“Did you know they had new jobs lined up three months before they graduated?”

“Well, I thought that was all talk. I didn’t pay any attention to that.”

“I know you didn’t pay attention. If you had paid attention, you would have three months advance time to prepare a new supervisor to take over. Now, you have to scramble. Melanie, the only reason you still have a job, here, as a manager, is that you are a pretty good scrambler. But, one day, you won’t be able to scramble and you’ll get sacked for a loss.” -TF

Knowing Enough to Predict

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Thanks to Larry Stamper for his response to yesterday’s post about Melanie’s dilemma.
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“Who is responsible for the team?” I asked again. “Who is responsible for the performance of the team, and all the things that affect performance?”

Melanie started looking around her office, as if someone was going to appear.

I continued. “If it’s not you, as the department manager, if it’s not you, then who?”

Melanie’s eyes stopped skirting the room. There was no hero that appeared. One last time, she floated her excuse, “But how am I responsible for one of my supervisors quitting?”

“That’s a very good question. How are you, as the manager, responsible for one of your supervisors quitting?”

“What, am I supposed to be clairvoyant?” Melanie snapped.

“That would be helpful,” I nodded. “But let’s say you don’t have supernatural powers. How could you, as the manager, know enough about your supervisors, to have predicted this departure?” -TF

I’m Not Accountable

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Ring in the new year. Our next Leadership class in Fort Lauderdale begins January 9, 2008. Registration is open at www.workingleadership.com.
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“I feel let down,” Melanie lamented. “I don’t know how I am going to explain this to the CEO. He has a short temper for this kind of thing. The worst part is, I’m just the messenger, but likely to get the brunt of it.”

Kyle, one of Melanie’s direct reports had just quit, leaving the rest of her team with more work and a tight deadline.

“Why do you feel you are just the messenger?” I asked.

Melanie moved her head back, almost startled. “I am not sure what you mean,” she said. “I’m not the one who quit. I am just the one who has to report it upstairs.”

“You’re Kyle’s manager?” I confirmed.

“Well, yes, but Kyle is the one who quit.”

“I understand Kyle is the one who quit and I am also curious to know who is responsible for the team that is now missing a member with a backlog that is going to crunch an important deadline?”

“But, Kyle is the one who quit,” Melanie protested. “You can’t hold me accountable for the pickle we’re in. I know I am the manager, but what am I supposed to do?”

System of Roles and Relationships

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“It’s the system, Derrick,” I began. “If you imagine the relationships between Managers and their direct reports, between team members and their Managers-Once-Removed. If you can see these relationships as a system of people, do you think the structure of the system has anything to do with the way that people behave inside of this system?

“It’s the way that we define those relationships, define those roles. It’s the system. Unfortunately, most managers, most VPs, most Chief Executives never sit down to think about this structure, this system. And the system has the largest impact on things like productivity, efficiency and even morale.

“There are excellent systems and there are poor systems. Tell me, what do you think is the difference? Where should we look first?” -TF