“And where do you want accountability, solely on your shoulders, as the manager, or do you want the entire group accountable for their own performance?” I repeated.

“I want my whole team accountable,” Reggie replied.

“You see, Reggie, in the beginning, as a manager of a small team, you can take the brunt of the responsibility, because the responsibility is small. As time goes by, if you want to step up to larger responsibility, you will find that strategy will fail you. You, as the manager, can no longer solve all the problems, catch every package that falls off a forklift, fix every little discrepancy that comes roaring at you. If you try to do it all, by yourself, you will fail.

“So, you have managers who know they have to get their teams involved, to get their teams to hold themselves accountable. But they don’t know how. So, some consultant recommends a bonus program to get buy in. And you have seen, first hand, what that does to accountability.”

Reggie took a deep breath. “So, it was okay when things were small and times were good. But now that we are growing, more and more people are trying to game the bonus system.”

“And, lord help you, when times go bad, and they will. A bonus system during bad times is a sure-fire morale killer.”

“I think, the biggest lesson, for me,” Reggie replied, “is that, as things grow bigger and more complicated, I have to learn how to hold my people accountable to the performance standards that we set. And a bonus system doesn’t substitute for that skill.”

“Of course, no one is happy,” Reggie quickly responded. “The performance standard is not accomplished. I don’t care, as the manager, whether or not I pay the bonus. What I care about is the performance standard.”

“But, implicit in your agreement to pay a bonus for achieving a specific standard, was not paying the bonus if the standard was not achieved, so you cannot be angry, you cannot be upset and you certainly cannot hold them accountable for the underperformance. By agreeing to the bonus, you have told your team, it is okay for you to do less than your best. Accountability is out the window.”

Reggie was not happy. He did not like to hear this.

“Now, let’s go back to the conversation. You remember the conversation where you got your team talking about the performance standards instead of you?”

Reggie remembered. “This is where, instead of me telling them, I ask them questions, begin a discussion and together, we set the performance standard?”

“Yes, and what happens to accountability in this circumstance? Remember, there is no bonus, only you and your team. Where does accountability land in this conversation?”

Reggie was thinking through the conversation. Finally, he concluded, “If the group sets the performance standard, then accountability rests with the group.”

“And where do you want accountability, solely on your shoulders as the manager, or do you want the entire group accountable for their own performance?” -TF

Quick reminder. We still have space available in two of our Leadership programs. The program is six weeks (six sessions) in length, one program to be held in Fort Lauderdale FL (kicks off Wednesday, September 12), the other in Orlando FL (kicks off Monday, September 24). For more information, visit www.workingleadership.com.

Reggie and I kicked around his bonus system last week. Moving away from bonus as motivation requires a different mindthink on the part of the manager. Last Friday, we talked about the first shift, moving performance talk from the manager to the team. We talked about how the manager creates that conversation.

“Reggie, when you are barking all the orders, and telling people, if they will just perform to this standard or that standard, they will get an extra bump in their paycheck, where does that place accountability?”

Reggie looked at me for a minute, shook his head, “I’m not sure what you mean, where does that place accountability?”

“Reggie, the reason this is a difficult concept, is that most managers rarely talk about accountability. Back to the question. Where does a bonus system place accountability for performance?”

“I still don’t know what you mean?”

“The manager says, if you perform to this standard, you get an extra $100 in your paycheck this week. What happens to accountability for performance to the standard?”

Reggie was working through this in his head. “Well, the manager has done his job. He defined the performance standard and calculated the bonus, so it’s now on the team member?”

“Not quite,” I said. “The team member now has the choice to perform, or not perform and understands the consequences. If the team member underperforms, $100 of their promised pay will be withheld.

“So, the team member underperforms and does not receive the bonus. They’re okay with it, because, in the end, they didn’t have to work that hard after all. And the manager must be okay with it, because he doesn’t have to pay the $100.

“So the performance standard is not achieved. Who is accountable for the underperformance? Is everybody happy?” -TF

“But the worst part of my little bonus system,” Reggie confided, “was not that my managers were manipulating the numbers, but I think it really changed their mindset. I corrupted their thinking and digging out of that hole is going to take time. And some of them will not survive.

“And the winner, the successful candidate who gets the position as the new division VP is going to think he got the job by gaming the system. It doesn’t matter how I explain it, in his heart, his experience will tell him that he got the job by playing with the numbers.

“It is really true,” Reggie continued, “the behavior you reinforce, is the behavior you get. I created the incentive. I got the behavior.”

“If you are going to create a different environment, what has to change first?” I asked.

“All crumbs lead to the top,” Reggie said. “I have to change first.”

A good bit of the morning had passed when I met Kim in the coffee room.

“Okay, I came up with a list,” she said. “It’s not a long list, but I was able to think about some specific things that were helpful to me when I was a supervisor. It’s funny. At the time, I didn’t realize how helpful it was, but now, I can see it clearly.”

“So, what’s the biggest thing on the list?”

“We were under some pressure to get a big order pulled for shipping. I was supervising the crew. Things were hectic. I commandeered a forklift that had been pulled out of service. One of the buckles on its safety harness was being repaired. I was thinking, how stupid, not to use a forklift for a few minutes just because it didn’t have a safety harness.

“Big mistake. I told one of my crew to use it anyway, just to move some product about ten feet over in the staging area. That part was okay, but when I wasn’t looking, the crew member took the forklift over and started moving other stuff. He figured it was okay to use the machine, since I said so. He was turning a corner and ran over something, his load shifted and he came right out of the machine.

“I was lucky. No one was hurt, nothing got damaged. In fact, everyone that was there, thought it was funny. Well, except for my manager. I thought I was going to get fired. It was a stupid thing I did.”

“So, what did your manager do?”

“He never yelled at me. I remember, he just came into my office that afternoon. He said one word, ‘Lucky!’ Then, he put some safety books on my desk, said he would be very interested to attend my safety meetings for the next three months.”

“So, tell me, how did that bring value to your thinking and your work?” -TF