Facing Difficult Staff Changes
While I loved almost every minute of managing a large department with several business lines, there were times that were really hard. Like terminating or laying people off. Reduction in force, they so elegantly call it today. I always struggled with the appropriate tone to take particularly if it was someone we were terminating for cause.
I remember eons ago when I started working for a big company, whenever someone got fired or laid off there was this one executive who was tagged to do it. We called him ‘the henchman’. He was eager to please the higher ups and they knew it. It didn’t even fall under his responsibility and he wasn’t good at it from what I hear. It was lousy of them to take advantage of him and even worse that the senior people didn’t have the guts to do it themselves. Sometimes you just can’t delegate that type of responsibility.
Striking the right tone
Nobody really teaches you how to handle those scenarios in the nonexistent ‘how to be an executive’ school. I had to learn to keep my personal feelings about the person (positive or negative) separate from the actual issues at hand.
When terminating an employee I never wanted to appear too sympathetic since I was the ultimate decision maker about their fate based on many write ups and infractions. I also didn’t want to say I was sorry multiple times, because in fact I wasn’t too sorry or I wouldn’t be doing it. Sometimes it was such a relief to move them along that I had to make sure I didn’t seem relieved. I was always sad, however, because I never like to see anyone fail under my watch.
Sometimes the role wasn’t a fit for what we needed at that time or their performance suffered based on an evolving business need. But sometimes they just could not meet the basic requirements we held the other staff to as much as we tried to help them do it. And you can’t have a separate set of guidelines for those that choose to not make the effort or are unable to meet the performance standards. By allowing that to happen, it disrespects the other employees. Positions can evolve and sometimes people can’t.
Don’t ignore the obvious
I speak with many leaders of brokerages and relocation and business development departments that tell me they have some of the wrong people on staff. They go on and on about it, but I can feel the hesitancy in their willingness to actually do something about it. I hear them make excuses for the person that all come back to their own feelings of guilt. They also quietly worry how they will be perceived if they terminate an employee who may be well liked. The key to remember is that the workplace isn’t a family, it’s a community. And as a leader you are responsible to make sure the community is in sync for employee satisfaction and peak performance.
We can’t let the burden of guilt or loyalty keep us from moving people along. At some point we have to remember it is for the overall good of the business and for them too. Just because someone has dedicated years to a role or is related to someone in the company, doesn’t mean the role is the same one they were originally hired for. If they sense your dissatisfaction, imagine how much pressure they feel if they are unable to meet your expectations. When they try harder to meet expectations they do not have the ability to meet, it is only prolonging the inevitable.
It is challenging to hire and retrain new people, particularly with the war for talent. But finding the perfect person for a specific role can propel not only that person, but the department forward in ways you never imagined. Our loyalty to people who work for us is important, but we can’t let it blind us.
The position will dictate the person
I encourage you to create an avatar for the perfect profile for each of your positions. What skills and attributes would each role have? What type of experience would be beneficial? What tasks would you like to fall under that role? Then compare it to the people you actually have in those roles. Do you have the right people in the right seats on the bus? If your current person doesn’t check all of the boxes, then it may be time to look at making a change or work with the person to get them to where you need them to be if possible. Sometimes they need a nudge to make a move they know in their heart needs to happen.
Maybe they are better suited in another role in the company or with a sister company or ancillary service provider. You can see if helping them with their resume or LinkedIn profile or encouraging them to take a class to improve their skills might help place them somewhere else or up their game in their current role. With so many open positions today, there are many options that might be a better fit.
It’s easy to be blinded
What I have learned is that if you aren’t happy with them, the likelihood is they aren’t happy in their role either. I have the luxury of a neutral outsider who can easily sort through the issue without the burden of guilt or loyalty. I take a clinical approach to it which allows me to see things very clearly for my clients. By doing that, I can help others see clearly as well.
Many people are looking to change companies or careers right now. The reason often goes back to feeling out of sync with the direction of the company. Do they understand the ‘why’ behind the mission? If you have staff that feel heard and valued and they bond with their coworkers around shared values and goals, you won’t lose the very ones you want to keep.
Being a leader means having the guts to do the hard stuff. I learned a long time ago, we can’t let the feeling of guilt keep us from doing the right thing as a leader as long as we do it with empathy and kindness. While it is more important today than ever to have loyal employees, if they don’t meet your business needs, then loyalty may get in the way of progress. It means taking responsibility that may be hard, but as long as it’s not personal and solely based on their performance, then there should not be a question about the right thing to do.
“It’s not the people you fire who make your life miserable. It’s the people you don’t.” ― Dick Grote, author, consultant in performance management
