Savage counsel – managing people out of the business
Chris Savage takes on your career and agency dilemmas in his weekly advice column in Encore.
Hi Chris,
I’m the general manager of a Melbourne agency. One of our newer account guys is not going to make it. He’s often late, can be disruptive in the office and frankly just isn’t good enough at the job. I’m managing him out. I’ll give him every chance to turn it around, but my best guess is that he’ll be gone in three months. The thing is, I’m pretty sure his colleagues know he’s not cutting it. And I get the impression that they think I’m letting them down by – as far as they can see – not doing anything about it. So my question is this: should I speed up the process and get rid of him sooner to keep the team happy? Or does he deserve due process? Or can I have it both ways and send them some subtle signals that things are going on that they can’t necessarily see from outside my office?
Okay – I know I am a bit slow. So let me just check this again. The guy is ‘not going to make it’. He’s late, disruptive, not cutting it, not good enough. Your team feels let down that you let this slacker suck their air. And you’re wondering what to do about it? Crikey – maybe you are the problem? Seriously. Leadership is about knowing what to do, and then getting on with it and actually doing it. Now – I am all for new age love hugs and giving people who deserve it a second chance – that second chance. But come on. This is a classic time to listen to Chairman Mao: “Execute one, educate a thousand.” Fire the jerk. NOW. Face reality and take action. Get this guy out of the way and you will immediately see the shoulders of the team lift, and team spirit soar. And perhaps you need to get a bit more mongrel yourself. Times are tough. People thrive in high expectation workplaces where standards are high. Absolutely show care with those who deserve it and are working hard to meet that standard. But this guy isn’t. KAPOW. Move on, move on, nothing to see here… Move on…
Chris Savage is the chief operating officer of STW Group. His blog, Wrestling Possums with Chris Savage, can be found at chrisjohnsavage.com
This story first appeared in the weekly edition of Encore available for iPad and Android tablets. Visit encore.com.au for a preview of the app or click below to download.
Reality check. Heard of Labor’s unfair dismissal laws? THIS is why employing people is so unappealing to business owners. Fire a jerk and end up in court with said jerk for months and years.
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This is a monumentally crass response. Quoting Mao?
Advertising in general, and STW in particular, have a dismal reputation for staff support.
Here’s a red hot tip – stop being an ad wanker practise what you’ve preached here.
http://nextness.com.au/stw-gro.....ru-ok-day/
For the rest of you grunts, if someone you work with is out of sorts, then ask them “R u ok?” and read more here:
http://www.ruokday.com.au/reso.....k-at-work/
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I hope this response from Chris was rushed as he is generally excellent.
At no point does Chris question whether the staff member in question is being poorly led, badly managed, not given clear feedback, not given a fulfilling role or whether any of these issues have been brought to a head with an attempt to resolve.
The issue in these instances isn’t purely to ‘give the person a chance to get better’ … it’s generally to work out the problem. The guy was obviously strong enough skill wise to hire in the first place … what’s gone wrong.
These sorts of horrible attribution biases are generally a hallmark of a bad manager. To assume it’s all the staff member and nothing to do with the situation is short sighted and naive.
The line by Chris to “fire the jerk” and then to quote Mao as rationalisation (the strategy cliche) is disappointing.
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