My
recent article, a
response to a readers question about her potential promotion and how
to deal with her coworkers performance issues, prompted a strong
reaction. Here is one reader’s opinion:
Dear Joan:
I found it hard to believe that the
potential manager would be writing to you about this, for a ‘promise’
of a promotion in three to five years! My first reaction was, are you
kidding me? Do you have anything in writing? Are you content to wait
three to five years to get a promotion? The whole premise for the
article seemed flawed to me. As you responded, three to five years is
a looooonnnng time. I could understand if she wrote you about a
promise in three to five months, but not years. And it’s just a
promise – completely worthless.
As to the issue she raises [her coworkers
make long personal calls and surf the net], it is totally valid. Last
September, I was promoted to manager of my peers (12 staff) after
working for my company for over nine years, so I totally relate to her
issue. Our offices are scattered around our building, plus three
people work offsite. In our main office here, we do not have cubes –
each person has their own office (no doors). But I see the chatting
going on, and the phone calls, and the other non-work activities.
I’ve already made two general
announcements to my group about being expected to work 40 hours per
week. I have always believed in leading by example, and not
micro-managing people, and my previous manager was of the same
mindset. We effectively handled all our tasks on time, with high
quality. I’m mostly ok with my staff’s behavior and work ethic--
mostly.
We have flexible hours, and people are
also allowed to work from home on a limited basis. In return for this
‘trust,’ people are expected to meet their deadlines, and when
crunch time is upon us, people are expected to work extra hours (we
are salaried, not hourly). I won’t accept excuses when the crunch
time starts because I’ve found my company to be very generous to me,
to all of us, with time. So, I expect the same of me, and my staff. I’ve
not led us through this cycle yet in my new capacity, so navigating it
when we get to crunch time will be a challenge for me. But I do have
plans to talk to two staff to clarify my expectations. And I’ve
already talked to another staff about my concerns regarding work hours
and quality.
I’m finding management to be very
challenging, because you need to balance the carrot versus stick
approach. Yes, I’ve read the 1 Minute Manager, and I’ve just read
StrengthFinder, and I have read a few other new manager articles. In
the end, I’m finding that I have to cater my approach to the
individual. Some want to be told what to do, so I need to be more
hands on. Others want to lead their own way, and I stand back and
offer guidance. And in the end, I try to reward the top performers
with a bigger salary increase. Management is very challenging!
Finally, to the submitters point about the
strong workers getting unhappy about the slackers. I’d like to ask
you how a manager can ‘reward’ the strong performers without
making it seem like favoritism. The only official reward I have is my
praise, my ability to assign higher visibility projects, and my
ranking input that I can use to award top people with a higher
percentage salary increase, when we are giving increases. Can a
manager do more? Unfortunately, bonus payouts are part of the newer
employees’ contracts, so they are fixed percents. I never
thought much of that ‘employee of the month’ stuff, because it
seems like that is something that everyone eventually gets when it’s
their turn.
I’d appreciate if you have any
suggestions on how managers can provide incentive to staff, especially
if salary increases are minimal, and I have no ability to influence
bonuses.
Answer:
It sounds as if you are off to a good
start in your new leadership role. I agree with your assessment-- that
you have to get to know each person to figure out how to walk the fine
line between too hands-on and too hands-off. I also like the fact that
you have stated your expectations to the whole group, and you are also
following up with one-on-one expectation-setting meetings with
violators. Now the real work begins: holding them to the expectations.
You have already mentioned your expectations about work hours twice in
a general meeting—you shouldn’t have to mention it again. If you
keep talking about it in general, and do nothing, it will make you
look like all talk.
You specifically asked about how to reward
good performers so it doesn’t look like favoritism. Whoa! Let’s
back up. “Favoritism” is when someone is granted something special
because the boss likes the person more than the other employees. Good
performers deserve to be rewarded and if the poor performers don’t
like it—too bad. So, your praise, special projects, extra
visibility, extra salary dollars are all great ways to reward good
performers. Another way to make strong performers feel their hard work
is worthwhile, is to confront slackers and not let them get away with
violating work rules and poor quality.
And while you are learning to manage each
person a little differently, why not have a conversation with each
person about what they find satisfying about their work and what their
short and long-term career goals are? Ask each of them what skills and
abilities they would like to develop on their current job and offer
your feedback, as well. If you really want to stand out as a good
leader, you will help your staff exceed their own expectations.
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