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Taking Step 7 At HR Rehab
By Ron | January 2, 2009
We were told that Step 7 was, “Rules are for fools. We’re tossing out the rule book. We’re not hall monitors anymore. We’re going to expect grownups to act like grownups or they’re gone. Any questions?”
We all agreed except we were very skeptical on how to make Step 7 happen when we are operating in a very litigious society. One more time, we decided to brainstorm on how we could make it happen:
1. Build a culture where maturity is expected - people know what’s expected and conform.
Let me make an editorial comment here. Anybody that thinks a culture can’t be shaped or be used to form behavior… consider this story of mine - I went to work for a company which had a major position on accountability. They produced a large document describing the topic which was required reading when you came on board. Shortly after I arrived a coworker from another department asked me for some information which I told him I could deliver by Friday. Friday came and went. On Monday morning, he asked if I had read the Accountability document. He told me that he would let me slide this time, but would have to escalate my failure to produce if it happened again. At the time, he was very friendly, but firm. I never missed a commitment again. No one did.
2. Provide workshops on “Taking Responsibility,” “Handling Disputes Maturely,” and “Conflict Resolution”
3. Make the manager responsible. Managers need to coach their employees to avoid problems from occurring in the first place.
4. Hire mature people who take ownership for their actions.
5. Believe in the “At Will Employer” clause and terminate losers more often.
Editor’s note: I live in California, an “At Will” state. However, most employers are still scared to death of having costly Wrongful Discharge suits. We shouldn’t let this fear stop us from doing the right thing - get losers off your payroll. Many of us carry them way too long. If you find yourself with too many people who fall in this category, your hiring process needs to be reviewed.
6. Make expectations known before hiring and during the on-boarding process.
7. Tolerate nothing less than excellence.
8. Incorporate individual responsibility into the Performance Management system.
Remember that Frank Roche created these steps on his KnowHR blog.
Topics: HR |