“Make it work.” I
love this phrase. It brings to mind
those hard-nosed, over-working small business owners who are keenly aware of
the limited resources they have. They
have little time for holding hands and for coddling employees. In essence, “You can’t do it? Then get out”
is the attitude.
The major metropolitan areas on the East Cost of the US that
I have engaged with throughout my career (Philadelphia, New York, primarily) are
full of small business owners. Many
first generation citizens built their businesses on the 24/7 principle of work ethic
with little concern for how much PTO they’ve accumulated or if there is an
ergonomic chair for them to sit. They
busted their humps and created an atmosphere of hard work above all.
And while I love this (work ethic matters!), I have also
gotten to watch these family-run small businesses push their children into
roles that they have little giftedness in or desire to do. The guilt of what a grandfather and father
have done to build a company sits on the son/daughter who is primed to take over,
despite the fact that the son’s/daughter's talents do not lean towards running this
business. These conversations are very
difficult for a son/daughter to have with dad; there is so much of a personal
nature behind it. A father might preach
the painful story of how the business began and the work it took to build
it. Guilt can easily set in. Ideally, the father will understand and
support his child's choice, but often I have seen a dismissal of such a desire and
a fatherly push to take over the company.
Managers have encouraged, yelled, cried with and threatened
these employees. And to the detriment of
some companies, some of these employees have been promoted through the years
and now serve in leadership-type roles (supervisors or managers). Why are these flakes promoted? How is it that the apparent reward of
knowledge solely over the full package of long-term connection is quality
enough to promote someone like this?
Companies find themselves stuck to do this. Well, get un-stuck!
Our places of employment are not Guantanamo. We are not holding prisoners, but employing
people (I know, some employees think the former, but don’t you believe
them!). If someone is not the right fit,
then plans need to be made to transition this person out. Employment at will is still a valid policy in
the US and is allowed to be used, as long as it does not conflict with other
legislation and policy. So, set up
knowledge-sharing opportunities so that those who you do see a future with can
learn from those who should go. The
words here are simple, but the action of them is tough. Managers think about the chaos that might
occur when so-and-so is fired. If our
employees are not prisoners, then why is management? The work-relationship is not about that.
If your father said, “you have to work this company and that’s
final,” there is more to work through emotionally and relationally rather than
just professionally. In our workplace,
most of our relationships are not familial.
We’re not disappointing two or three generations. Management has a job to do. Finding and keeping talent that will move the
company forward is part of our responsibility, just as moving out that talent
that is destroying or, at the least, stagnating the mission. And to be honest, we’re not doing any favors
to that individual employee who doesn’t fit.
Let that person discover what he/she should connect to in a new
organization. It’s okay; we’re not
their father.
