In last week's episode of "The Office," the character Michael Scott (the Manager) was under scrutiny by a new regional VP. He called his top boss in New York and complained:
"It was my understanding I was not going to be managed." He then tells his new boss, "I think I thrive under a lack of accountability."
The reason this is so funny is that it has become all too common.
There are some very positive, yet unintended consequences to the current state of affairs with regard to the economy. One of them is that hiring and review practices will change significantly.
Over the past few decades companies have gotten fairly sloppy about their hiring and retention practices, allowing the measurement of peoples' productivity to fall by the wayside. When money flows freely and growth occurs effortlessly, a great deal of fat (in the form of non-productive workers) is tolerated because the urgency to measure everyone's direct contribution to the bottom line doesn't exist.
As companies tighten to squeeze out profits there will be much greater pressure to demand that each person demonstrate their value to the company. This will be achieved through greater accountability. Employees will be expected to meet measured expectations toward helping the company achieve its goals.
Below par performers will be churned out faster and replaced with people who are a more natural fit and want to do their best. I know some of you might believe this to be a harsh statement. On the contrary – I believe that it is the most compassionate thing that you can do for your employees. Deep down inside, everyone strives to exercise the best of who they are. We all aspire to contribute to something bigger than ourselves. We all want to be part of trying to attain that incredible goal.
Allowing people to stagnate and become complacent about their performance is to enable them to give up on themselves. If they aren't wanting their performance to be measured they are either in the wrong position, or they have already given up on themselves. And if they've given up, don't fall into the trap of spending too much time trying to save them.
More tomorrow…
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